Germany minimum wage 2027: what employers must change

From 1 January 2027 the German statutory minimum wage rises from 13.90 to 14.60 euros gross per hour under section 1 of the Fifth Minimum Wage Adjustment Ordinance (MiLoV5). Fixed monthly salaries and minijob contracts need repricing before the January payroll, and written working time accounts need a separate check. January pay is due by the last bank working day of February 2027.

The contract that falls 121.10 euros short in January 2027

A contract fixing 2,404.70 euros a month for 173 hours meets the 2026 rate of 13.90 euros exactly. Nothing in the document changes on 31 December 2026, but from 1 January 2027 each of those hours must be paid 0.70 euros more, and the same salary falls 121.10 euros a month below the floor. Section 3 MiLoG voids the pay clause to the extent it undercuts the minimum. The worker keeps the claim to the difference, can waive an accrued claim only in a court settlement, and no contractual forfeiture period cuts it off.

The calendar comes from section 2(1) MiLoG. Pay for work in a given month is due at the latest on the last Frankfurt bank working day of the following month, so the January 2027 shortfall turns into a late payment if it is still open at the end of February 2027. From that point the Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit, the customs unit for undeclared work, can impose a fine of up to 500,000 euros under section 21(3) MiLoG. Bidders fined at least 2,500 euros for such a breach should also be excluded from public contracts under section 19(1) MiLoG until their reliability is restored, which weighs more than the fine for firms that bid on public construction or logistics work.

What changed against the 2026 records guide

The September 2026 guide on minimum wage and working time records worked with a single rate of 13.90 euros. The Fifth Minimum Wage Adjustment Ordinance of 5 November 2025, published in BGBl. 2025 I Nr. 268, had already fixed two steps, and the second one applies from 1 January 2027. No further ordinance is needed for the January change. The step adds 0.70 euros per hour, an increase of about 5.0 percent.

One figure in the September guide needs correcting. It put the fine for missing, incomplete or late records at up to 30,000 euros. The consolidated text of section 21(3) MiLoG read on 10 November 2026 sets up to 50,000 euros for section 17(1) records, while 30,000 euros applies to other offences, such as failing to keep section 17(2) documents available in Germany. The seven day recording deadline and the two year retention period are unchanged.

Payroll changes to make before 1 January 2027

Fixed monthly salaries come first. Payroll multiplies the contract hours of every employee by 14.60 euros and compares the result with the agreed gross pay. Where the salary falls short, a written pay amendment dated before January closes the gap and leaves a document customs can read.

Minijobs move with the rate. Section 8(1a) SGB IV derives the ceiling from the minimum wage times 130, divided by three and rounded up to full euros, and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS) publishes it. The result is 633 euros a month in 2027 against 603 euros in 2026. A minijob whose hours were set to fit the 2026 ceiling needs a recalculation at 14.60 euros, and section 17(1) MiLoG requires daily hour records for every minijob in every sector. The transition zone under section 20(2) SGB IV starts above the new ceiling and, in the text read on 10 November 2026, still ends at 2,000 euros a month.

Written working time accounts need a check of their own. Section 2(2) MiLoG allows overtime credited to such an account only where it is settled within 12 months and stays below 50 percent of contract hours, and the fixed monthly pay must still cover the contract hours at the new rate.

Sector minimum wages under the AEntG and the AÜG take priority only where they are not below the statutory minimum (section 1(3) MiLoG). A sector rate under 14.60 euros loses that priority in January. The exclusions in section 22 MiLoG stay as they were: apprentices, under 18s without a vocational qualification, long term unemployed people in their first six months of work, and certain internships of up to three months.

Foreign based employers and the contracting chain

Section 20 MiLoG binds employers based in Germany or abroad to pay the minimum wage to staff working in Germany. A posting employer in a section 2a SchwarzArbG sector, such as construction or meat processing, files a written registration in German with customs before each job starts (section 16(1) MiLoG), records daily hours within seven days and keeps them for two years (section 17(1)).

The main contractor carries part of the risk. Under section 21(2) MiLoG a contractor who knows, or negligently ignores, that a subcontractor pays below the minimum faces a fine of up to 500,000 euros. Subcontract prices agreed in 2026 for work running into 2027 should be checked against the 14.60 euro rate before January. How the Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit runs a site inspection is covered in customs inspections for undeclared work.

Third country staff and the Federal Employment Agency

For workers from outside the EU the wage also sits in the residence file. Approval by the Bundesagentur für Arbeit under section 39(2) and (3) AufenthG requires conditions no less favourable than those of comparable domestic workers. An approval issued on a 2026 salary does not shield the employer from the January rate, and pay must rise to 14.60 euros per hour regardless of the figure in the file.

Section 39(4) AufenthG obliges employers to report pay, working hours and other conditions to the agency, for seasonal work also rent and housing, and to answer its requests within one month. An employer that has repriced salaries in December can answer such a request from the payroll records and the pay amendments. Open roles with German employers are listed on the Werklist job board.