Minijobs, midijobs and working while studying in Germany (2026 rules)

• Minijob with an earnings limit (Minijob, geringfügige Beschäftigung): average earnings of up to €603 a month, or €7,236 a year (2026). At the minimum wage, that is roughly 43 hours a month. You pay no health, long-term care or unemployment contributions; pension contributions apply unless you opt out.
• Short-term job (kurzfristige Beschäftigung): limited from the outset to three months or 70 working days per calendar year, with no earnings limit; if you earn more than €603 a month, the work must not be your main occupation (for example, it qualifies if you also have a main job). No social contributions for you as the employee. Typical for holiday or seasonal work.
• Midijob (Übergangsbereich): monthly earnings between €603.01 and €2,000 (2026). You are fully insured but pay a reduced share of social contributions, rising gradually to the normal share at €2,000.
• Working student (Werkstudent): enrolled students who work up to 20 hours a week during the lecture period, at any pay level. They pay pension contributions but no health, long-term care or unemployment contributions on the job.

In all of these, you are an employee with full employment rights: at least the minimum wage, paid holiday, continued pay when ill and written terms of employment.

The limit: your average monthly earnings must not exceed €603 (2026), which allows up to €7,236 over the year. Fluctuations between months are fine as long as the annual total stays within the limit. If you exceed the monthly limit unexpectedly, for example because you cover for a sick colleague, this is allowed in up to two calendar months a year, with no more than €1,206 in each of those months. Because the limit follows the minimum wage, the Federal Government expects it to rise to €633 a month from 1 January 2027, when the minimum wage goes up to €14.60.

Pension insurance: minijobbers are compulsorily insured in the pension scheme. The employer pays a flat-rate contribution and you pay the difference, 3.6 % of your pay. You can apply in writing to your employer to be exempted from this. If you stay in, the job builds up statutory pension entitlements.

Employer costs and tax: the employer pays flat-rate contributions of up to 31.17 % in commercial businesses (2026) and either a 2 % flat-rate tax or deducts wage tax under your individual tax class.

Several jobs:

• With a main job: you can have one minijob alongside it that stays a minijob. A second minijob is added to your main job and becomes subject to full contributions.
• Without a main job: you can combine several minijobs, but their total must stay within €603 a month. If it goes above, all of them become fully insured jobs.

In the transition range (Übergangsbereich), you are insured in health, long-term care, pension and unemployment insurance like any employee. Your own share of contributions starts very low just above €603 and increases gradually until it reaches the normal employee share at €2,000 a month. According to Deutsche Rentenversicherung, your pension entitlements are calculated on your full earnings, not reduced because you paid less.

Note that if you earned between €556.01 and €603 in 2025 and your pay did not rise in 2026, your job became a minijob on 1 January 2026, because the minijob limit rose with the minimum wage.

The working-student rule (Werkstudentenprivileg) applies to students enrolled in a degree programme whose time and energy go mainly into their studies. If it applies:

• 20-hour rule: you may work up to 20 hours a week during the lecture period, regardless of your pay.
• More than 20 hours during the lecture period is possible only if the extra hours are in the evening, at night or at weekends and the job is limited to no more than 26 weeks (several such jobs together may not exceed 26 weeks in a calendar year).
• Semester breaks: jobs carried out only during the lecture-free period are covered regardless of the hours.
• Contributions: no health, long-term care or unemployment contributions on the job, but pension contributions are due and, unlike in a minijob, you cannot opt out.

Employers usually ask for a current certificate of enrolment each semester. If you work more than allowed, the job is treated as a normal employment for social insurance, and your student health insurance status can change.

Wage tax is deducted under the normal rules. If your income over the year is low, you may get some or all of it back by filing a tax return.

Many students under 25 are covered free of charge through a parent's statutory family insurance (Familienversicherung). In 2026, this generally ends if your regular income exceeds €565 a month, or €603 a month if the income comes from a minijob. Unexpected, occasional excess earnings in fewer than two months within a year are generally tolerated, within limits; ask your health insurer.

If you lose family insurance, or are not eligible for it, you normally take out statutory student health insurance at the fixed student rate. As a working student, your job itself does not make you liable for health insurance contributions, so you keep student or family insurance as long as the conditions are met. See the health insurance guide.

If you hold a residence permit for study (§ 16b of the Residence Act), studying is the main purpose of your stay, so work is limited to an annual working-day account (Arbeitstagekonto) of 140 working days per calendar year. The account resets each January, whenever your permit started.

How days are counted, in whichever way is more favourable for you in each calendar week:

• By day: a day with up to four hours of work counts as half a day; a longer day counts as a full day. This allows up to 280 half days.
• By week: a week in which you work up to 20 hours during the lecture period counts as two and a half days. Weeks of work outside the lecture period can also be counted as two and a half days, regardless of how the hours are distributed over the days.

What does not count:

• Student assistant jobs (studentische Nebentätigkeit), for example as a research or student assistant at a university or research institute, or as a tutor in student halls or at the students' union, are not limited.
• Mandatory internships required by your study regulations do not count. Voluntary internships are treated as employment and need approval from the immigration office.

What is not allowed without separate permission: working beyond the 140 days (this needs permission from the immigration office and approval from the Federal Employment Agency) and any self-employment or freelancing. Violations can lead to a fine of up to €5,000 and the immigration office can revoke your permit.

Holiday and sick days do not count as working days, and your income level does not matter for the account. Keep your own record of the days and hours you work, as you may be asked to prove them.

EU, EEA and Swiss students have no limits under residence law; only the social insurance rules above apply. Students with other permits, for example for family reasons, should check their supplementary sheet.