Germany: nearly one in ten businesses doesn’t apply mandatory sectoral minimum wage

One in ten businesses cheats. “If we agree on a rule, it has to be applied” declared Ursula von der Leyen when commenting the evaluation presented by the monitoring unit of the German customs (Finanzkontrolle Schwarzarbeit), which fights against illegal labor and labor code infringements. In 2009, German inspectors controlled 14,000 businesses employing 170,000 people in construction and 2,000 businesses employing about 20,000 people in industrial cleaning. In construction, 1,500 businesses didn’t apply statutory minimum wage agreed between the social partners and the government. In industrial cleaning, 200 didn’t. Gregor Asshoff, from the IG BAU (construction union) says that 80% of eastern European businesses that offer services in Germany via a subsidiary don’t respect minimum wage. They often avoid regulations by declaring fewer working hours than what is actually worked. In this case, the problem is, of course, to go after the foreign company.
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,000 businesses employing 170,000 people in construction and 2,000 businesses employing about 20,000 people in industrial cleaning. In construction, 1,500 businesses didn’t apply statutory minimum wage agreed between the social partners and the government. In industrial cleaning, 200 didn’t. Gregor Asshoff, from the IG BAU (construction union) says that 80% of eastern European businesses that offer services in Germany via a subsidiary don’t respect minimum wage. They often avoid regulations by

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