Minimum wage in Germany

The legislation (German: Gesetz zur Regelung eines allgemeinen Mindestlohns) was introduced on January 1, 2015, by Angela Merkel's third government, a coalition between the SPD and the CDU.

The implementation of a minimum wage was the SPD's main request during the coalition's negotiations as its central electoral promise during the 2013 federal election campaign.

[7] There remain exceptions to the wage minimum for workers on a traineeship, employees during their vocational training, volunteers, internships up to three months, young people and the long-term unemployed.

[11] However, a study from the London School of Economics and Political Science contradicted it by demonstrating that the minimum wage did not actually lead to job losses.

The Commission introduced an infringement procedure against Germany on 19 May 2015, arguing that the minimum wage had a disproportionately restrictive impact on the transport sector, impeding freedom to provide services and the free movement of goods.

[15] The Commission issued a supplementary letter on this subject to the German authorities on 16 June 2016, initiating two months' notice of potential legal action.

[16] Relatedly, the Financial Court of Berlin-Brandenburg [de] ruled in 2019 that foreign lorry drivers must receive minimum wages when driving through Germany.