Following a long series of scandals within Germany’s meat industry and its large slaughterhouses, the Federal Council of Ministers adopted a bill on 20 May 2020 that drastically restricts recourse to contracting work (Werkverträge, excludes workers from labour law protection) in this specific sector from 2021. The Social Democrats and some of the trade unions believe that this ‘pilot project’ should be extended to all sectors of the economy. These announcements pose serious concerns for German employers.
The meat industry ‘pilot project’. Both the domestic meat industry and the large German slaughterhouses are well known for their exploitative practices. Social and salary dumping, excessive recourse to low-paid Eastern European workers hired on a contracting basis (up to 80% of employees in some slaughterhouses), fuel a plethora of scandals that have been regularly publicized across the mainstream media.
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