Country file

What it costs an employer to hire in Germany

An employer in Germany pays €72,780 on a gross salary of €60,000. That is 21.3% more than the salary.

At €120,000 the employer adds 15.9%, because the contribution ceilings start to bite.

Every rate below comes from a statutory source with the date it was read. The figures are for 2026.

A mid salary of €60,000

Employer-side statutory contributions on a gross salary of €60,000 a year. Each line is capped at the range shown, so the amount is the rate applied to the part of the salary that falls inside that range.
Contribution	Rate	Annual base charged	Amount	Source
Pension insurance, employer share	9.30%	€101,400	€5,580	source checked 2026-08-21
Health insurance, employer share (7.3% general plus half the 2.9% average add-on)	8.75%	€77,400	€5,250	source checked 2026-08-21
Long-term care insurance, employer share	1.80%	€77,400	€1,080	source checked 2026-08-21
Unemployment insurance, employer share	1.30%	€101,400	€780	source checked 2026-08-21
Insolvency levy	0.15%	€101,400	€90	source checked 2026-08-21
Statutory employer contributions			€12,780

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Everything the law obliges the employer to pay. It excludes anything discretionary, anything an EOR charges, and any insurance premium that is set per employer rather than by statute.
Gross salary	€60,000
Statutory employer contributions	€12,780
Total employer cost	€72,780
Added on top of the salary	21.3%

A senior salary of €120,000

Employer-side statutory contributions on a gross salary of €120,000 a year. Each line is capped at the range shown, so the amount is the rate applied to the part of the salary that falls inside that range.
Contribution	Rate	Annual base charged	Amount	Source
Pension insurance, employer share	9.30%	€101,400	€9,430	source checked 2026-08-21
Health insurance, employer share (7.3% general plus half the 2.9% average add-on)	8.75%	€77,400	€6,772	source checked 2026-08-21
Long-term care insurance, employer share	1.80%	€77,400	€1,393	source checked 2026-08-21
Unemployment insurance, employer share	1.30%	€101,400	€1,318	source checked 2026-08-21
Insolvency levy	0.15%	€101,400	€152	source checked 2026-08-21
Statutory employer contributions			€19,066

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Everything the law obliges the employer to pay. It excludes anything discretionary, anything an EOR charges, and any insurance premium that is set per employer rather than by statute.
Gross salary	€120,000
Statutory employer contributions	€19,066
Total employer cost	€139,066
Added on top of the salary	15.9%

The formula

total employer cost = gross salary + sum over each statutory contribution of rate x max(0, min(salary, ceiling) - band floor) (zero if the contribution applies only below a wage the salary exceeds) + gross salary x (mandatory extra months / 12) + gross salary x mandatory severance accrual rate

Each ceiling above applies only to its own line, which is why the employer percentage for Germany is not the same at both salaries. Employer contribution ceilings, country by country lists where every ceiling on this site sits.

Time off, extra pay and leaving

Statutory paid leave	20 days
Public holidays	9
Mandatory extra pay	0 months
Minimum employer notice	4 weeks

The Federal Leave Act sets 24 working days on a six-day week, which is 20 days on a five-day week. Public holidays are set by each state; 9 apply nationwide and several states have more.

No statutory 13th month. Christmas and holiday pay are common by collective agreement, not by law.

No general statutory severance. Half a month's salary per year of service applies only where the employer offers it under section 1a of the Dismissal Protection Act in an operational dismissal. Collective redundancies are normally handled by a negotiated social plan instead.

What the percentage hides

Because the health and care ceiling (77,400 euro) sits below the pension and unemployment ceiling (101,400 euro), the marginal employer rate steps down twice as pay rises, and reaches zero above 101,400 euro.

Statutory accident insurance is fully employer-paid but has no national rate. It is set per trade association and risk class, so it is excluded from the totals here.

The U1 and U2 wage-continuation levies apply mainly to employers with fewer than about 30 staff and are set by each sickness fund, so they are also excluded.

Not confirmed on a statutory source, and therefore not in any figure above: a single national employer accident-insurance rate; U1 and U2 levy rates.

Using an employer of record in Germany

Everything above is what the state takes. An employer of record adds its own fee on top, and that fee is a flat monthly amount rather than a percentage, so it weighs far more on a junior salary than a senior one. The published prices are here, and the calculator will add one to the figures on this page.

Compare with another country

Written by Kaz, independent publisher. No commercial relationship with the providers named unless it is listed on the disclosure page.

Page last updated 2026-08-30. Sources: statutory bodies only, listed per figure. Rates last verified 2026-08-21. This is not legal, tax or payroll advice and we do not file anyone's payroll.

Every formula on this site is written out in full on Method. Ordering is by computed cost, never by what a provider pays us.

Corrections: contact form.