In Germany, around half of the employees know neither the exact nor the approximate amount of the statutory minimum wage.
This is the result of a study that the Minimum Wage Commission dealt with at the beginning of February, reports the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”.
Especially in the lower wage groups, knowledge about the lower wage limit is therefore low.
According to the internal paper, a total of 2,000 representative employees were surveyed in three surveys in 2018 and 2019.
Only 18 to 19 percent were able to name the amount of the minimum wage correctly.
“A further 30 percent knew the approximate amount of the minimum wage within a range of 50 cents around the actual value at the three times of the survey.
Taken together, almost half of the employees knew the exact or approximate amount of the minimum wage.
problematic ignorance
The authors describe the results of the survey as problematic because "awareness of the minimum wage is considered the key to complying with it".
According to the newspaper, they refer to British surveys of employees who illegally earned less than the minimum wage.
"Many mistakenly assumed that the minimum wage did not apply to them because of, for example, the type of work they do, their age or their industry affiliation."
In Germany, the statutory minimum wage when it was introduced in 2015 was initially EUR 8.50 per hour.
It is currently 9.82 euros.
An adjustment to EUR 10.45 is planned for July 1, and the minimum wage is to rise to EUR 12 by October 1, as agreed in the coalition agreement.
According to unions, around 8.6 million people will benefit from this.