A German employee who earns between €603.01 and €2,000 a month in 2026 holds a Midijob, and that pay band is called the Übergangsbereich (transition zone). In the Übergangsbereich, the employee's social-security contributions are calculated on a reduced base that starts near zero and reaches full pay at €2,000, while the pension is still credited on the full wage. At the bottom of the band the employer pays more than its usual half-share. The lower bound and the formula's adjustment factor (factor F) both change on 1 January 2027.
Minijob vs Midijob: where the Übergangsbereich starts and ends
The lower bound is the Minijob limit (Geringfügigkeitsgrenze), the monthly pay ceiling for a Minijob (marginal employment). Since October 2022 the limit has been tied to the statutory minimum wage (Mindestlohn): minimum wage × 130 ÷ 3, rounded up. At the 2026 minimum wage of €13.90, the result is €602.33, so the limit is €603 a month. A Minijobber pays only a 3.6% pension top-up and can opt out of it. The employer pays flat charges to the Minijob-Zentrale (the central Minijob office): 15% for pension, 13% for health where the worker has statutory health insurance, and optionally a 2% flat-rate tax. Our Minijob guide covers that regime in detail.
Above the limit, the job becomes a Midijob. The employee is insured in all four branches of social insurance (pension, health, long-term care, and unemployment), and the job is reported to the employee's health insurer (Krankenkasse) like any other job. The upper bound is fixed in law at €2,000 a month (SGB IV § 20 (2)) and does not change with the minimum wage. Three rules decide whether a job is in the band:
- Regular pay, assessed in advance. The comparison with €2,000 uses the regular monthly wage, estimated for the year ahead and including one-off payments the employee is entitled to, such as a contractual Christmas bonus.
- All jobs combined. If someone holds several jobs, their total pay is compared with €2,000.
- No apprentices. People employed for vocational training are excluded from the reduced base.
Until 30 June 2019 the band was called the Gleitzone and ended at €850; the old name is still widely used.
The two formulas in SGB IV § 20 (2a)
Section 20 (2a) of Book IV of the Social Code (SGB IV) defines two contribution bases from the actual monthly wage (AE), the Minijob limit (G), and factor F (next section).
The total contribution base (beitragspflichtige Einnahme, BE) sets the contributions for the whole job:
BE = F × G + [2,000 ÷ (2,000 − G) − G ÷ (2,000 − G) × F] × (AE − G)
The employee base sets the employee's share:
BE (employee) = 2,000 ÷ (2,000 − G) × (AE − G)
The employee base is zero at the Minijob limit and rises in a straight line to €2,000. The total base starts at F × G and also reaches €2,000 at the top of the band.
Factor F: 0.6619 in 2026
Factor F is 28% divided by the total social-security contribution rate for the year (Gesamtsozialversicherungsbeitragssatz). The 28% is the employer's Minijob flat charge for pension (15%) and health (13%). For 2026 the total rate is 42.3%: pension 18.6%, health 14.6% plus the 2.9% average supplementary rate (the average of the extra contribution each health insurer sets), long-term care 3.6%, and unemployment 2.6%. Factor F for 2026 is therefore 28 ÷ 42.3 = 0.6619, as published by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS).
Factor F prevents a jump in cost at the limit: just above €603, total contributions come to about 28% of pay, the Minijob flat charge. With 2026 values the total-base formula reduces to 1.145937223 × AE − 291.87, the form the statutory pension insurer (Deutsche Rentenversicherung) publishes.
The employer's share is the total minus the employee's part
The total contribution is calculated at the full rates on the total base. The employee pays half the rates on the employee base, and the employer pays the difference (SGB VI § 168 (1) no. 1d, with equivalent rules in the other branches).
Just above €603 the employer pays about 28% of pay and the employee almost nothing. At €2,000 each side pays the normal half, 21.15% of pay at 2026 average rates. The employer funds part of the employee's relief; the rest is a reduction in total contributions.
Pension points credited on actual pay
Since 1 July 2019, SGB VI § 70 (1a) has required pension points (Entgeltpunkte, the units that determine the future pension) for employment in the Übergangsbereich to be calculated from the actual wage, not the reduced base. A Midijobber on €1,000 a month earns the same pension entitlement as anyone else on €1,000. Wage tax (Lohnsteuer) is also calculated on actual gross pay; the reduction applies only to social-security contributions.
Worked example: €1,000 a month in 2026
Take an employee on €1,000 a month in 2026, with one child, working outside Saxony (both affect the long-term care rate), at a health insurer charging the 2.9% average supplementary rate. The employee's normal half of the 42.3% combined rate is 21.15%.
- Total base: 1.145937223 × €1,000 − €291.87 = €854.06.
- Employee base: 2,000 ÷ (2,000 − 603) × (1,000 − 603) = 2,000 ÷ 1,397 × 397 = €568.36.
- Total contribution: €854.06 × 21.15% = €180.63, rounded, then doubled = €361.26.
- Employee share: €568.36 × 21.15% = €120.21.
- Employer share: €361.26 − €120.21 = €241.05.
Without the Übergangsbereich rules, contributions on €1,000 would be €211.50 for each side, €423.00 in total. With them, the employee pays €91.29 less, the employer pays €29.55 more, and total contributions are €61.74 lower. Rounding each branch separately, as payroll does, gives the same totals.
What changes for Midijobs in January 2027
Three things change on 1 January 2027; the €2,000 ceiling does not.
The lower bound rises to €633. The minimum wage increases to €14.60 on 1 January 2027, so the Minijob limit becomes €14.60 × 130 ÷ 3 = €632.67, rounded up to €633. The band becomes €633.01 to €2,000. An employee paid €620 a month is a Midijobber in 2026 and, at the same pay, a Minijobber in January 2027, so the employer must reassess the job and report it to the Minijob-Zentrale.
A smaller employee base at the same pay. At €1,000 the 2027 employee base is 2,000 ÷ 1,367 × 367 = €536.94. At 2026 rates the employee share is €113.56, down from €120.21.
Factor F is calculated differently. The GKV Contribution Rate Stabilisation Act of 24 July 2026 (GKV-Beitragssatzstabilisierungsgesetz, BGBl. 2026 I No. 228) raises the employer's Minijob health charge from 13% to the general rate of 14.6% plus the average supplementary rate. The act also amends SGB IV § 20 (2a) so that the numerator of F is that health charge plus the 15% pension charge, instead of a fixed 28%. At 2026 rates, the numerator would be 14.6% + 2.9% + 15% = 32.5%, so F would be 32.5 ÷ 42.3 = 0.7683. The employer would then pay about 32.5% of pay at the bottom of the band, and about €264 instead of €241.05 in the €1,000 example. The official 2027 values depend on the 2027 contribution rates, including the average supplementary rate, which are not yet set. The BMAS must publish the total rate and factor F by 31 December 2026.
The government's pension commission (Alterssicherungskommission) recommended in June 2026 abolishing the Midijob reduction along with the Minijob special status. The recommendation is not law; the 2027 rules keep the Übergangsbereich.
Summary
- The Übergangsbereich covers regular monthly pay of €603.01 to €2,000 in 2026 and €633.01 to €2,000 from January 2027.
- The employee base rises from zero to full pay across the band; the total base uses factor F (0.6619 in 2026).
- The employer pays the total minus the employee's share: about 28% of pay at the bottom of the band, the normal half at €2,000.
- Pension points are calculated on actual pay.
- At €1,000 a month in 2026, the employee pays €120.21 and the employer €241.05, against €211.50 each without the reduction.
- From 2027 factor F uses a new formula; the BMAS publishes the value by 31 December 2026.
For partners running payroll for clients with part-time staff, Flux applies the current Minijob limit, factor F, and contribution rates on every pay run, calculates both bases, and switches to the 2027 values when they take effect.
Mehmood Deshmukh
CTO & Co-Founder