Germany set to raise minimum wage to €12 an hour

The minimum wage in Germany is currently €9.82 an hour and is due to rise to €10.45 from July

Germany’s ruling coalition — lead by German chancellor Olaf Scholz and comprised of Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats — had agreed on the measures. 

Germany’s lower house of parliament approved an increase in the minimum wage to €12 an hour from October, which Labour Minister Hubertus Heil said will benefit more than six million people working in Europe’s largest economy.

The legislation, which will get final approval from the upper house of parliament next Friday, will mostly benefit women and people in the eastern states, Mr Heil said in a tweet. 

It will also help low-income workers cope with surging costs for food and heating, which have helped push Germany’s inflation rate to a record. Germany has had a base hourly salary since 2015, having previously been one of the few European countries not to introduce one. 

The minimum wage is currently €9.82 an hour and is due to rise to €10.45 from July. Ireland's minimum wage is set at €10.50 for 20 year-olds and over; €9.45 for 19-year-olds; €8.40 for 18-year-olds; and €7.35 for people under 18.       

Germany's system of collective bargaining meant that for many years labour unions saw little need for a legal minimum wage, but the increase in low-paid jobs starting in the 1990s prompted a change in policy. Germany’s ruling coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats had agreed on the measures. 

Bloomberg and Irish Examiner