The first rise in the legal minimum wage since it was introduced in January 2015, a new decree law on occupational health and safety, stronger rights for interim workers, ‘flexible retirement’… many significant initiatives formulated by Germany’s Minister for Labor and Social Affairs, Andrea Nahles have either come into force since 01 January 2017, or are due to come into force during 2017. In addition, the Social Democrat Minister is working on more, including both the right to return to full time work for those currently on part-time employment, and according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung publication, the introduction of the right to derogate from paying the minimum wage to refugees who are in the process of acquiring new skills and competences. However political campaigning ahead of the September legislative elections could thwart some of her projects.
Minimum wage rises to €8.84. On 01 January 2017 the minimum hourly wage was raised 34 cents from €8.50 gross to €8.84, marking the first increase since its ‘historic’ introduction on 01 January 2015. The 34 cent increase was voted in in June 2016 by an independent commission comprising unions and employers representatives that is tasked with setting the minimum wage on a bi-annual basis. At first view the increase appears modest, but according to Stefan Körzell, senior member of the DGB and the Federal Minimum Wage Commission, it actually represents a 4% rise and as such is a ‘respectable result’, given the fact that wages rose on average by 2.5% in 2016.
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