Here’s the deal
- Every wage payment in principle needs a written payslip, for a mini-job too (§ 108 GewO).
- Exception: with an unchanged mini-job wage, a new payslip is not needed every month, one at each change is enough. But your helper is always entitled to one.
- What belongs in it: name and address, pay period, hours and hourly wage, gross wage, deductions, and net wage.
- For a mini-job the gross wage is usually the same as the net, unless your worker pays the pension insurance share of 13.6 % (exemption possible).
- For a job subject to social security you settle every month with all deductions.
"Payslip" sounds like something for an HR department and software, but it applies in a private household too. The good news: for a mini-job it is simple, and often you do not even need a new one every month. When a payslip is mandatory, what belongs in it, and how it looks for a mini-job and at a higher wage is set out here.
Do I need a payslip for my domestic helper?
In principle yes. Under § 108 GewO every employer has to issue a payslip in text form when paying the wage, and that applies to a mini-job just as to a larger job. So your domestic helper is entitled to one.
But there is a practical exception: if the details do not change compared to the last payslip, no new one has to be created. So if you pay the same fixed mini-job wage every month, one payslip is enough as long as nothing changes. As soon as the wage or the hours change, another one is due.
What belongs in the payslip?
The law requires at least the pay period and the composition of the wage. In practice it includes:
- your name and address and those of your domestic worker
- the pay period, that is the month
- the hours worked and the hourly wage
- the gross wage
- the deductions, if there are any
- the net wage, that is the payout amount
The basis for the hours is ideally a timesheet. How to keep one is in the post Timesheet.
What does a mini-job payslip look like?
Usually very simple, because gross and net are often the same. For a mini-job your worker pays no health and no unemployment insurance out of the wage, and the flat-rate tax is borne by the employer. That leaves a single possible deduction: the pension insurance share.
- With pension insurance: your worker pays 13.6% of their gross wage. At a gross salary of €590, this amounts to approximately €80, leaving about €510 net.
- With exemption: if your worker is exempt from pension insurance, this deduction no longer applies, meaning gross equals net—in this example, the full €590.
You pay employer contributions of approximately 14.6% on top; these do not appear as a deduction on your worker's payslip. The exact breakdown of gross and net pay is explained in the article Net and gross for a domestic helper.
What is different for a job subject to social security contributions?
There is significantly more to calculate. If your worker earns more than €603 per month, the job is subject to social security. This means actual employee contributions for health, pension, long-term care, and unemployment insurance apply, plus income tax depending on the wage. You must calculate these deductions correctly each month and include them on the payslip.
In this case, the payslip is neither optional nor static; it must be issued monthly. The differences between these types of employment are explained in the article Mini-job or midi-job, and registration via the Haushaltsscheck is covered in the blog post What is the Haushaltsscheck?.
How often and in what format do I need to provide a payslip?
Whenever a wage payment is made that involves a change, and it must be in text form. A PDF is sufficient; a handwritten signature is not required. You can send the payslip by email or print it out.
Keep the payslips; they serve as proof that the wages and deductions are correct and can assist your worker with various applications. For a mini-job, you will also receive an annual statement from the Minijob-Zentrale for your tax return.
What does quitt handle for me?
quitt is an app-based service that manages the employment of your domestic worker for you, including generating payslips. You simply enter the hours worked or the fixed wage, and quitt calculates the gross, deductions, and net pay, then creates and provides the payslip. You don't need to calculate percentages or worry about annual statements.
You remain the employer at all times and decide who you hire and what you pay. quitt handles the administrative work behind the scenes. How to get started is shown in the blog post Hiring a domestic helper.
Found a household helper? Start the registration and quitt handles the payslip for you. You can see our service fees on the pricing page.
quitt creates the payslip automatically
You enter the hours or wage, quitt calculates gross, deductions, and net and provides the payslip. You stay the employer, we do the rest.
