Minijob vs Midijob: Calculating Wages and Social Security Contributions

1. What is a Minijob?

Item – Details

• Maximum earnings
  520 € per month (fixed limit)

• Number of hours
  Around 10 hours per week (at a wage of 12,41 € per hour)

• Tax
  No income tax (Lohnsteuer); in most cases fully tax-free or subject to a small lump-sum tax paid by the employer

• Social insurance
  Significantly reduced contributions

• Registration
  Mandatory with the Minijob-Zentrale

• For whom?
  Students, part-time workers, pensioners, and anyone who mainly wants an extra income

Insurance contributions for a Minijob

Payer – Insurance – Approximate rate

• Employer – Pension insurance (Rentenversicherung)
  About 15 %

• Employer – Health insurance (nur pauschal / lump-sum only)
  13 % if the employee is insured in a statutory health insurance fund (gesetzliche Krankenkasse)

• Employee (optional) – Additional pension contribution
  3,6 % (exemption can be requested)

The employee does not pay regular health insurance contributions in a Minijob; only optional pension contributions.

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2. What is a Midijob?

Item – Details

• Monthly salary
  From 520,01 € up to approximately 2.000 €

• Salary range
  Known as the “Übergangsbereich” (transition zone)

• Social insurance
  Yes – but with reduced employee contributions, which gradually increase until the income reaches 2.000 €

• Registration
  With the health insurance fund (Krankenkasse) and the tax office (Finanzamt)

Insurance contributions for a Midijob

• The employee pays only a reduced share of social insurance (lower than in a normal full-insurance job).

• The employer pays the full employer contributions.

Insurance – Employee share (approx.) – Employer share

• Pension insurance (Rentenversicherung)
  Employee: gradually from about 4 % up to 9 %
  Employer: 9,3 %

• Health insurance (Krankenversicherung)
  Employee: gradually from about 7 % up to 14 %
  Employer: 7,3 % + additional contribution (Zuschlag)

• Unemployment insurance (Arbeitslosenversicherung)
  Employee: gradually increasing (reduced)
  Employer: 1,2 %

• Long-term care insurance (Pflegeversicherung)
  Employee: gradually increasing (reduced)
  Employer: 1,525–1,775 %

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Quick comparison

Feature – Minijob (520 €) – Midijob (521–2.000 €)

• Tax
  Minijob: None or a small lump-sum paid by the employer
  Midijob: Income tax according to the employee’s tax class

• Health insurance
  Minijob: Employee does not pay their own health insurance contributions
  Midijob: Employee pays a partial health insurance contribution

• Pension insurance
  Minijob: Voluntary for the employee (opt-out possible)
  Midijob: Mandatory, but with reduced employee share

• Pension later on
  Minijob: Very low pension entitlements
  Midijob: Reasonable entitlements – fully counted towards the statutory pension

• Registration
  Minijob: With the Minijob-Zentrale
  Midijob: With the health insurance fund and the tax office

• Best suited for
  Minijob: People who only want an additional side income
  Midijob: People who work part-time on a more permanent basis and want proper social insurance

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Example calculation

Employee earning 1.000 € per month (Midijob):

• Gross salary (Brutto): 1.000 €

• Employee’s social insurance contributions: approx. –150 €

• Net salary (Netto): ≈ 850 €

• Employer’s social insurance contributions: approx. +200 €

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Tips

• For an employer, a Minijob is administratively simple and convenient, but the employee gains only very limited real social insurance protection.

• A Midijob offers the employee health, pension, unemployment and care insurance coverage and leads to better pension rights later on; it also strengthens a stable employment relationship.

• You can easily convert an existing Minijob contract into a Midijob if the working hours and earnings increase.

The editorial team of the website strives to provide accurate information based on thorough research and consultation of multiple sources. Nevertheless, mistakes may occur or certain details may remain uncertain. Therefore, please consider the information in this article as an initial reference only and always contact the competent authorities and professional bodies for binding and up-to-date information.