Hire and pay employees in
Germany, hassle-free

The employer cost is generally estimated at 22.6% of the employee salary.

• Retirement - 9.30%
• Health insurance Estimate - 8.61%
• Unemployment security - 1.30%
• Long-term insurance fee - 1.7%
• Accident security - 1.14%
• Maternity - 0.51%
• Insolvency money levy - 0.06%
• One-off Mandatory Employment Agreement Handling Fee - 80 USD

Some employers have contributions have limits, so percentages may vary.

These costs are provided as estimates and are intended solely for general informational purposes. To fully comprehend all associated costs and fees related to the terms of any employment agreement for this country, please contact our Sales team for a quote.

Standard working hours are 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week. The standard workweek is from Monday to Friday. 

Overtime payment is not mandatory. Overtime can be compensated in time off or financially, based on the employer's discretion. Hours outside of standard work hours are considered overtime. Employees can work a maximum of 2 hours of overtime a day, and 12 hours a week. For additional hours, employees are paid the same hourly wage as their regular salary. 

For planned overtime, the employee is required to inform the employer 4 days in advance.

Terminations must respect complex rules and the rules of an employee’s employment country. The off-boarding is always handled by the Employer with the primary stakeholders. It may include ad-hoc fees as well as required or recommended steps on specific termination cases.

Terminations in Germany can be complex. There is no at-will termination in Germany for employers, outside the probation period, and termination must be done for just cause.

Compliant terminations include:

• Voluntarily by the employee
• By mutual agreement
• Unilaterally by the employer based on:
  • Probation period
  • Conduct-related dismissal: breach of employment terms
  • Person-related dismissal: employee loses a license that is required for his position, e.g. lawyer's license for legal counsel role
  • Business-related dismissal: only very limited scope for EOR
• By the expiration of the contract

The minimum statutory notice period for employees is four weeks prior to either the 15th or the last day of the next month. The length will depend on how long the employee to be terminated has been working for the company. If the employee has worked for the company for:

• Up to 2 years of employment - 4 weeks notice prior to either the 15th or the last day of the next month
• Between 2 to 4 years of employment - 1-month notice prior to the last day of the next month
• Between 5 to 7 years of employment - 2 months’ notice prior to the last day of the next month
• Between 8 to 9 years of employment - 3 months’ notice prior to the last day of the next month
• Between 10 to 11 years of employment - 4 months’ notice prior to the last day of the next month
• Between 12 to 14 years of employment - 5 months’ notice prior to the last day of the next month
• Between 15 to 19 years of employment - 6 months’ notice prior to the last day of the next month
• Over 20 years of employment - 7 months’ notice prior to the last day of the next month

The parties may agree to set the 2 months notice, however, if the employee exceeds 7 years with the same employer, the notice period will be 3 months.

Germany celebrates 9 national holidays and up to 8 regional holidays based on the location of the employee.

National public holidays include:

1. New Year's Day
2. Good Friday
3. Easter Monday
4. Labor Day
5. Ascension Day
6. Whit Monday
7. German Unity Day
8. Christmas Day
9. Second Day of Christmas

Onboarding takes up to 4 business days after SOW signing.

Contracts must be in English or German and can be bilingual. They must be in writing and signed by both parties.

A contract must include:

• Name (Both parties)
• Address (Both parties)
• Start date
• End date (If applicable)
• Place of work
• Job description
• Salary (including all supplements)
• Payment date
• Working hours
• Duration of annual holidays
• Notice periods