Work in Germany for Ukrainians

This page is for people who are looking for work in Germany, or already work and want to check that everything has been set up correctly. You will not find vacancies or salaries by profession here: we explain the rules, we do not advertise employers.

# Do I have the right to work in Germany?

Your right to work comes from your residence permit: by law, every permit allows you to work unless the law prohibits it, and the permit must show whether there are any restrictions.

Your employer must check your permit and keep a copy of it for the whole time you work there.

# Where should you look for work officially?

The main state channel is the Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) and its local agencies (Agentur für Arbeit). If you receive the basic income support Grundsicherungsgeld, you get advice on job search and training at the Jobcenter; everyone else goes to the Agentur für Arbeit.

• The Jobsuche job portal (formerly Jobbörse) on arbeitsagentur.de.
• Registering as a job seeker. The simplest way is to register online; you can also call the free number 0800 4 555500 or go in person. The agency asks you to use only one of these ways.
• The agency’s hotline in Ukrainian and Russian: +49 911 178 7915, Monday to Thursday from 8:00 to 16:00, Friday from 8:00 to 13:00.
• The federal hotline “Arbeiten und Leben in Deutschland”: +49 30 1815-1111, Monday to Thursday from 9:00 to 16:00, Friday from 9:00 to 12:00; it also gives initial advice on the recognition of diplomas.

The hotlines’ opening hours may change, so check them on the federal portal germany4ukraine.de.

# What should you arrange before your first working day?

1. Steuer-ID. The tax identification number (Steuer-ID) is assigned automatically after you register your address and is sent to you by letter. The germany4ukraine.de portal calls it mandatory for starting work. If an employee fails to provide the number through their own fault, the employer withholds tax under class VI; if the employee is not at fault, tax can be withheld for up to three months based on the employee’s expected data.
2. Health insurance. Employees are compulsorily insured in statutory health insurance. Exceptions: a minijob comes with no compulsory health insurance, and employees who earn more than the annual limit set by law do not have to be insured in statutory health insurance. You must choose a health insurance fund (Krankenkasse) within two weeks after your compulsory insurance begins; otherwise your employer will register you itself.
3. Social insurance number. The document with the number (Versicherungsnummernachweis) is issued with your first job. If you have no number, your employer asks for one to be assigned. The document is free of charge: you can get it through the online services of the pension insurance (DRV) or through your health insurance fund.

Your tax class determines how much tax your employer withholds each month: I for single people, II for a parent raising a child alone, III and V for married couples on a joint application, IV for married couples by default, VI for a second job and any further jobs.

# What should an employment contract look like?

Your employer must write down the essential working conditions, sign this document and give it to you. Since 1 January 2025 the document may be sent electronically in text form, except in the sectors listed in the law on combating illegal employment; if you ask, the employer must give you a signed paper copy.

Deadlines by which the employer must give you the conditions:

• the names of the parties, pay and working hours: no later than the first working day;
• the start date, the term of the contract, the place of work, the job description, the probation period, and the conditions for on-call work and overtime: no later than the seventh day;
• the remaining conditions: within a month.

The mandatory conditions also include leave, the dismissal procedure with the requirement of written form, notice periods and the deadline for going to court.

The main rules on dismissal:

• the probation period is no longer than six months, and during it you can be dismissed with two weeks’ notice;
• the general notice period is four weeks to the 15th or to the end of a month; for dismissal by the employer it grows with length of service, from one month after two years to seven months after twenty;
• an employee may not have a longer notice period than the employer;
• a dismissal or a termination agreement is valid only on paper with a signature; an email or a messenger message has no effect;
• you must challenge a dismissal in the labor court within three weeks after receiving the written dismissal; general protection against dismissal applies after six months of work in firms with more than 10 employees.

# How much must you be paid, and how much must you work?

From 1 January 2026 the minimum wage is €13.90 gross per hour, and from 1 January 2027 it will be €14.60. The employer must pay the minimum wage no later than the last bank working day of the month after the month in which you worked. The minimum wage does not apply to minors without vocational training, to compulsory internships, or to the long-term unemployed in the first six months of a new job.

The law links the minijob limit to the minimum wage: the hourly rate is multiplied by 130, divided by three and rounded up to the full euro. From 1 January 2027 the limit will be €633 a month: the health insurance fund TK says so, and the formula in the law gives the same result. A minijob does not insure you against unemployment, so it does not count toward the insurance period for unemployment benefit.

Other main rules:

• a working day is no longer than eight hours; up to ten is allowed if the average over six months or 24 weeks does not exceed eight; the law counts Monday to Saturday as working days;
• paid leave is at least 24 working days a year, based on a six-day week; for a five-day week this is proportionally 20 days (this is our own calculation).

# How do you get a Ukrainian diploma recognized?

You apply for recognition to the authority responsible for your profession; the portal anerkennung-in-deutschland.de explains which authority that is, including in Ukrainian. Recognition is compulsory only for professions to which access is regulated by law, for example doctors, nurses, teachers and childcare workers, and for protected titles such as “Ingenieur”. The master craftsman title (Meister) is needed to run your own business in the crafts where the law requires it, not to work as an employee. In other professions you can work without recognition.

• The authority must decide within three months after receiving all the documents.
• If your documents were lost through no fault of your own, for example because of the war, your qualification can be checked in other ways: a trial period of work, a professional interview, or a practical or theoretical exam.
• Free advice is given by the “Integration durch Qualifizierung (IQ)” network, and on higher education by the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB). The Aidy chatbot accepts questions in Ukrainian but answers in English.

# How do you spot a fake job offer?

• Fake calls in the name of the employment agency or the Jobcenter. Scammers phone, send text messages, or write on WhatsApp or Instagram. The agency advises you to end the conversation, not to reply and not to give any personal data.
• “Financial agent”. The police warn about vacancies in which you have to receive and forward money (with titles such as “Financial Agent”, “Finanzmanager”, “Escrow Agent”). Anyone who forwards the money is suspected of money laundering.
• Paid tasks in messengers. Scammers pose as recruiters, first pay small amounts, then demand deposits, often through cryptocurrency apps. The police advise you not to take a job offered through a messenger or by text message.
• Paid “services” for a social insurance number. The pension insurance issues the document free of charge.

# Where can you turn if your rights are violated?

Report labor exploitation, forced labor or human trafficking to the customs unit that fights illegal employment (Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit), which also checks compliance with the minimum wage. If you are in immediate danger, call the police on 110.

The Faire Integration service gives free, anonymous advice on labor law in several languages; since 1 January 2026 it has operated on a statutory basis with support from the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS). The germany4ukraine.de portal says that advice is partly available in Ukrainian and Russian. Faire Integration does not deal with the recognition of diplomas.

# What happens if you lose your job?

If you were insured against unemployment for at least 12 of the last 30 months, you can get unemployment benefit from the Agentur für Arbeit. You must register as a job seeker three months before your job ends, or within three days of learning about your dismissal. The conditions and amounts are described on the page Unemployment benefit in Germany.