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Euro is the official currency of Germany. Its currency symbol is €, EUR.
Estimated 22% of employee’s salary
Within 48 hours with Emerald Technology
German is the official and national language of Germany and has over 95 million native speakers.
The current population of Germany is 83.24 Million in 2020 based on World bank numbers.
The payroll frequency in Germany is monthly and is usually paid on or around the 25th each month.
To start growing your team in Germany, you must establish a local entity – including an account with a local bank, a local office and an address registered as a subsidiary. This allows you to manage payroll, tax, benefits and compliance for your employees, but can take several months. Emerald can hire and payroll your workers, quickly and compliantly with their ready to go entity. Make growing your team simple with Emerald as a global partner.
Emerald can hire and payroll your workers, quickly and compliantly with their ready to go entity. Make growing your team simple with Emerald as a global partner.
Considering Germany for your next expansion move will undoubtedly benefit your business. Germany is known for having one of the world’s largest and most stable trading economies, which can be attributed to its high export quota, open economy, high performing medium-sized enterprises, and excellent employment rate. Expanding to Germany allows you to have access to its enriched consumer market, which is the largest in Europe, whilst also presenting an attractive geographic location within the EU. While all this appears to be ‘win-win’, Germany is famous for its extensive regulations and responsibilities placed on employers, which can make expansion extremely complex without a global partner.
As remote working and the ‘digital nomad’ lifestyle continues its upward trend worldwide, it is even infiltrating more traditional workforce cultures, like those in Germany. Germany’s many WiFi hotspots and co-working spaces have contributed to the country being ranked top for remote working by cybersecurity software company NordLayer. With that said, workers considering migrating to Germany must consider the complexities and risks around taxation, social security law, and residence and work permits.
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| Accident Insurance | Payable by the employer at a rate of 2% of an employee' s income. This can vary depending on the industry and risk. |
| Care Insurance | A contribution of 1.525% by both the employer and the employee (an additional 0.25% is to be payable by childless employees). |
| Insolvency Contribution | A contribution payable by the employer at a rate of 0.06% |
| Maternity Leave | A contribution of payable by the employer at a rate of between 0.14% and 0.88%. |
| Pension Insurance | A contribution of 9.3% each by both the employer and the employee. |
| Public Health Insurance | A contribution of 7.9% each by both the employer and the employee. |
| Severely Handicapped Fund | Payable by the employer at a rate of €17.50. |
| Unemployment Insurance | A contribution of 1.2% each by both the employer and the employee. |
Accident Insurance
Long-Term Care
National Health Insurance
Pension Fund
Unemployment Fund
Annual Leave
Flexible hours and hybrid working
Life Insurance
Company Pension Scheme
Discounts
Contracts in Germany must include:
Producing a contract of employment in Germany when recruiting is a legal requirement. The contract must be in English or German.
Creating a strong contract will help pacify any compliance concerns. An employer must provide the following in a contract:
A probation period allows both an employer and employee to evaluate the employment match. The probation period is typically between two and six months and may not exceed
six months.
Emerald Technology can onboard employees in Germany within 48 hours.
The majority of German citizens and residents are enrolled into the German healthcare system run by the public health insurance scheme, which is funded by taxpayers’ national contributions. This means that everyone has access to high quality, affordable healthcare regardless of income.
Under German law, all legal residents in Germany must have health insurance coverage. Germany’s health insurance system is divided into statutory health insurance (Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung) and private health insurance (Private Krankenversicherung). The type of insurance an employee is entitled to depends on salary.
The German social security system (Sozialversicherungssystem) is funded through compulsory contributions paid by employers and employees and is made up of five statutory contributions;
Expectant mothers in Germany are entitled to 14 weeks of maternity leave (Mutterschutz). Of these, 6 weeks must be taken before the due date and 8 weeks after giving birth. In some work places the expectant mother is not allowed to work at all in order to protect the unborn baby.
Mothers are entitled to maternity benefit (Mutterschaftsgeld). The amount a mother maybe entitled to depends on her earnings before maternity leave (last 3 months) and health insurance cover. The health insurance pays €13 per day during the period and the employer will contribute the difference to the amount of the average net salary based on the previous three months. The employer can then be reimbursed for the contribution by the health insurance provider. However, the amount the mother receives can vary depending on their health insurance cover.”
Fathers may apply for parental leave (Elternzeit). The allowance will not be received from the employer, the employee will need to apply for this from the government.
If an employee is unable to work due to illness, they are required to provide their employer with a sick note from a health professional such as a doctor.
The employer will pay the salary until the employee reaches the end of the 6th week of absence for the same illness within a 6 month period. After this the employee will need to apply for financial support from their health insurance.”
As the legal employer, Emerald Technology requires the following employee documents to ensure complete compliance:
ID/Passport
Proof of right to work
Health insurance certification
CV
Education certificate
When an employer dismisses an employee it must be with just cause and they must give them notice. The notice period starts from the day after the employer notifies the employee of the termination. Notice must be given in accordance with the following schedule at a minimum:
| Length of employment | Notice period |
| > 4 years | 4 weeks |
| 5-7 years | 2 months |
| 8-9 years | 3 months |
| 10-11 years | 4 months |
| 12-14 years | 5 months |
| 15-19 years | 6 months |
| 20+ years | 7 months |
If an employee is made redundant, they are entitled to a payment based on years of continuous service.
There is no legal requirement for statutory severance pay in Germany. However, it is best practice to offer severance to employees that have worked over 6 months. |
Full-time employees in Germany are entitled to a statutory minimum of 20 days of paid holiday per year, based on a five-day working week, or 25 based on a six-day working week. Annual leave is calculated on a pro rata basis for part-time employees.
Public holidays can vary depending on the region in Germany. There are 15 public holidays observed in all German states.
The German minimum wage is €12 per hour.
The average working week in Germany is between 36 and 40 hours. Most full time jobs in Germany are 7 to 8 hours per day, 5 days per week. Some companies may operate a longer working week with overtime but compensate their employees with a higher salary or additional annual holiday leave.
Employees working more than 6 hours are entitled to a 30 minute break. Employees must be given at least 11 hours of resting time between two working days.
Under the German Act on Working Time (Arbeitszeitgesetz), an employee’s working time is limited to a maximum of eight hours per working day and 48-hours per week. Daily hours can be increased to a maximum of 10. However, throughout a period of 6 months, the average daily working hours must be 8 hours.
Employees in Germany must be paid at least monthly and usually this takes place around the 25th of the month.
Some employers may pay a 13th monthly salary, which is usually either transferred in December or split equally between July and December.
Employers are not required to provide employees a bonus. Any bonuses offered are at the employer’s discretion.
The German tax year runs from January to December. It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure taxes are deducted from an employee’s salary ahead of payment.
Below is a list of tax thresholds for employees. These can vary depending on an individual’s circumstances and which of the six tax classes they fall into. Employees can check their tax class on their payslip under StKI (Steuerklasse).
Salary Tax Percentage
€0 – €9,984 0%
€9,984 – €54,596 14% – 42%
€58,597 – €277,825 42%
€277,826+ 45%
Additionally, some employees who meet a certain income tax obligation must also pay a 5.5% solidarity surcharge.
Similar to other countries, Germany has strict rules on classifying individual contractors and full-time employees differently. Misclassifying your workers can put your business at risk of fines.
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