A nationwide minimum wage (Mindeslohn) has been in force in Germany since January 01, 2015. However, higher minimum wages may also be set for specific sectors.
What is minimum wage?
The minimum wage indicates the minimum amount of remuneration you must receive for your work. In principle, every employee over the age of 18 is entitled to the statutory minimum wage (this means your employer must pay you at least this wage). However, there are exceptions, for example for apprentices and volunteers.
For internships, the minimum wage is only applicable in some cases. You can find out whether the minimum wage applies to your internship on the page of the BMAS - Mindestlohn und Praktikum. You can download the statutory minimum remuneration for apprentices below.
| Minimum hourly wage rate (gross) | Effective from |
| 12 Euro | October 1st, 2023 |
| 12,41 Euro | January 1st, 2024 (planned) |
With the help of the minimum wage calculator (BMAS - Mindestlohn-Rechner) on the website of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, you can calculate how the change will affect your salary or check how high your hourly wage actually is.
Duty of Documentation
In some industries there is a duty of documentation. This means that working hours must be documented.
The obligation to document exists for example for:
- All Sideline Jobs/Mini-jobs
- Construction Industry
- Restaurants and Hotels
- Forwarding, Transport and Logistics
- Forest Industry Enterprises
- Building Cleaning
- Trade Fair Construction
- Meat Industry
- Newspaper Delivery Staff
- Workers in Parcel Services
So what does such documentation look like?
The employer must make a note of the following information or ask the employee to document it.
· Begin of working time (date and time)
· End of working time (date and time)
· Duration of daily working time
Break times are not working times and are therefore not to be included under the duration of daily working time. A sample form (ml-musterbogen.pdf (bmas.de)) can be found on the website of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
Example:
You started work at 06:30. Your work ends at 15:00. You have had a 30-minute lunch break and a 15-minute breakfast break.
Date | Begin | End | Working Time |
01.01.2022 | 06:30 am | 03:00 pm | 7:45 |
We recommend that you always record your working hours yourself, even if the employer does it for you. You can present this documentation as evidence in case of discrepancies.
Breaks are mandatory by law after a working time of at least 6 hours.
You are welcome to seek advice at the Hamburg Welcome Center if you have any further questions. You can contact the Welcome Desk:
