Minimum wage in hospitality 2026: €13.90 – costs, exemptions, worked examples

Since 1 January 2026, the minimum wage in Germany has been €13.90 gross per hour, and it rises to €14.60 gross per hour on 1 January 2027. For hospitality this is no footnote: according to an estimate by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the share of jobs in the hospitality sector paying below €13.90 was 56% – based on the earnings survey of April 2024 and to be understood as an upper limit, because later wage increases are not taken into account. If you want to manage your staff costs, you need two things: cleanly defined input figures and a calculation model that reflects the mechanics – including the mini-job threshold and the practical limits of rota planning, peaks and night shifts.

Status and history of the minimum wage

The statutory minimum wage was introduced in Germany on 1 January 2015. Adjustments are decided by an independent commission of the social partners with academic advisers, usually every two years. The federal government implements the proposal by statutory ordinance – it may not set a different amount, only adopt the proposal. For 2026 and 2027, the proposal dates from 27 June 2025 and was implemented via the Fifth Minimum Wage Adjustment Ordinance (MiLoV5).

Timeline of the latest adjustments

The crucial point: you don’t just have a jump in 2026 – the next step in 2027 is already fixed. If you are doing your costings now, you should have both steps in one calculation.

Who is affected in hospitality?

The statutory minimum wage applies to all employees, regardless of hours, nationality or type of employment – explicitly also to mini-jobbers and seasonal workers, provided they work in Germany. In hospitality, this typically affects service, bar, kitchen, dishwashing, runners, hosts, breakfast service, housekeeping, banqueting and temporary staff at peak times.

Which types of employment drive costs

In hospitality it is rarely just a new hourly wage. It is a mix of:

• Full-time and part-time staff with fluctuating hours due to season, weather and events – and therefore fluctuating minimum wage exposure per pay period
• Mini-jobs with a dynamic earnings threshold and a maximum number of hours per month that matters for planning
• Temporary and on-call staff managed via hour allowances – which is why working-time records are central here

Important exemptions

The statutory exemptions are narrow. Three are particularly relevant for hospitality:

• Young people under 18 without completed vocational training
• The long-term unemployed in the first six months of employment, if they were long-term unemployed immediately beforehand
• Certain compulsory internships and certain voluntary internships, including orientation internships of up to three months

A common misconception: “Training time doesn’t count.” It does – the entitlement applies to every hour actually worked, regularly within the calendar month, and explicitly also to overtime.

A collective agreement beats the minimum wage if it is higher. The minimum wage is the floor. If you are bound by a collective agreement – through association membership, a company agreement or a collective agreement declared generally binding – a higher collectively agreed wage may apply. The DEHOGA federal association points out that collective agreements in the hospitality sector are concluded regionally and provides an overview of collective agreements.

Tips and the minimum wage

Tips cannot be counted towards the minimum wage. The minimum wage is a monetary amount the employer owes for every hour worked; tips are a voluntary payment from third parties that comes on top. According to the Federal Ministry of Labour (BMAS), statutory supplements such as night work supplements also cannot be used to meet the minimum wage.

How tips are treated for tax and social security purposes, what distinguishes a voluntary tip from an agreed service charge and how to distribute tips cleanly in your venue is covered in the article Tax-free tips: what service staff and operators need to know.

Calculating the cost impact

This section is the calculation model. You only need three figures: hours, exposure and non-wage labour costs.

Step 1: define the increase

• 2025 → 2026: €12.82 → €13.90 = +€1.08 per hour
• 2026 → 2027: €13.90 → €14.60 = +€0.70 per hour

Step 2: additional gross wage costs

Additional gross costs (month) = Δ minimum wage × affected hours per month

If you calculate internally with a 40-hour week, that is 40 × 52 / 12 ≈ 173.33 hours per month. That is pure arithmetic – what counts is your contract and your rota.

• At +€1.08/h, this gives around €187 gross per month per 40-hour employee
• At +€0.70/h, this gives around €121 gross per month per 40-hour employee

Step 3: total employer costs

For employees subject to social security contributions: employer costs = gross wage + employer social security contributions, plus levies and accident insurance depending on the situation.

There is no reliable standard figure for non-wage labour costs, because accident insurance and levies vary by provider, sector and company size. The nationally standardised part, however, can be applied cleanly:

• Pension insurance 18.6% in total, employer share 9.3%
• Unemployment insurance 2.6%, usually split equally
• Health insurance, general contribution rate 14.6%
• Additional contribution, average rate in 2026 around 2.9% as a guide – the general contribution and additional contribution are in principle split equally
• Long-term care insurance 3.6% since 1 January 2025, in principle split equally at 1.8% each, in Saxony differing with a 1.3% employer share

In practice: work with a configurable employer markup rate, store the parameters in one place and have all scenarios refer to it. That way you only have to change one line when contribution rates change.

Step 4: include mini-jobs

Since October 2022, the mini-job earnings threshold has been dynamically linked to the minimum wage and is based on ten hours per week. Since 1 January 2026 it has been €603 per month; in 2027 it rises to €633. At an hourly wage of €13.90, the €603 threshold corresponds to a maximum working time of around 43.38 hours per month.

For employer contributions on a commercial mini-job, there is a flat-rate pension insurance contribution of 15% and a health insurance contribution of 13%, plus the U1 and U2 levies and the insolvency benefit levy.

Three example venues

The following examples are deliberately built as models. They don’t replace individual payroll – their value lies in the calculation logic.

Small café, 8 to 12 employees

Assumption: 10 employees, of whom 3 are close to minimum wage with a combined 420 hours per month, and 3 mini-jobbers with 40 hours each. The rest are paid above minimum wage.

• Affected hours: 420 + (3 × 40) = 540 hours per month
• Additional gross costs: 540 × €1.08 = €583.20 per month or €6,998.40 per year

If your employer on-costs are around 20% on top of gross wages, that comes to around €699.84 per month. The factor is venue-specific; the building blocks are listed above.

Restaurant, 20 to 35 employees

Assumption: 28 employees, of whom 10 are close to minimum wage in kitchen, dishwashing and service with 1,150 hours per month, plus 6 mini-jobbers with 35 hours each.

• Affected hours: 1,150 + (6 × 35) = 1,360 hours per month
• Additional gross costs: 1,360 × €1.08 = €1,468.80 per month or €17,625.60 per year

Keep 2027 in mind: the hours still affected then will see a further jump of €0.70.

Bar with late shift

Bars often pay supplements. The key point is that not every supplement can be counted – according to the BMAS, statutory supplements such as those for night work cannot. Assumption: 22 employees, 900 affected hours per month, plus 180 night hours with a supplement that does not count towards meeting the minimum wage.

• Minimum wage basis: 900 + 180 = 1,080 hours per month
• Additional gross costs: 1,080 × €1.08 = €1,166.40 per month or €13,996.80 per year

What this means operationally

The minimum wage isn’t rising just once: €13.90 applies in 2026, followed by €14.60 in 2027. Exposure in the hospitality sector is statistically high – based on the earnings survey of April 2024, Destatis estimates up to 56% of jobs below €13.90, to be read as an upper limit. Mini-jobs remain plannable because the earnings threshold is dynamically linked.

Staff costs are one of two big cost blocks. The other is cost of goods, and it moves faster: how to calculate it and which benchmarks apply is covered in the article Calculating cost of goods. If you put both figures side by side every month, you’ll see a wage step long before the annual accounts – which metrics are suitable for this is shown in the overview of the most important hospitality KPIs.

Frequently asked questions

How high is the minimum wage in hospitality in 2026?

€13.90 gross per hour since 1 January 2026. On 1 January 2027 it rises to €14.60. There is no sector-specific minimum wage for hospitality – the general statutory minimum wage applies unless a higher collective agreement takes effect.

Does the minimum wage also apply to mini-jobs?

Yes. At the same time, the mini-job earnings threshold is dynamically linked to the minimum wage and is €603 per month in 2026.

How many hours can a mini-jobber work in 2026?

With a €603 threshold and an hourly wage of €13.90, it is around 43.38 hours per month. The annual average is what counts, so it may be more during seasonal peaks.

Can I count tips towards the minimum wage?

No. The minimum wage is the monetary wage per hour owed by the employer. Tips are a voluntary payment from third parties and cannot serve as a substitute.

Can supplements for Sundays, public holidays or night work be counted?

Partly. Supplements that are consideration for the work – such as shift or hardship allowances – may be countable. According to the BMAS, statutory payments such as night work supplements are not.

Which businesses must record working hours?

The obligation applies, among others, to mini-jobbers outside private households and to the sectors named in the Act to Combat Undeclared Work (Schwarzarbeitsbekämpfungsgesetz). The BMAS explicitly names “restaurants and accommodation” (Gaststätten und Herbergen).

How quickly must hours be recorded?

Start, end and duration of daily working time, at the latest within seven calendar days after the working day.

What fines apply for breaches?

Depending on the breach, the Minimum Wage Act (MiLoG) provides for fines of up to €500,000, in other cases up to €50,000 or €30,000.

This article is for information and business simulation purposes. It does not replace legal or tax advice or an assessment of the individual case – collective agreements, contract design, supplement rules and payroll are matters for your accountant.