Since January 1, 2025, the statutory minimum wage has been €12.82 per hour.
Employees in Germany are generally entitled to remuneration equal to this minimum gross wage.
The statutory minimum wage is adjusted by a decision of the Minimum Wage Commission.
In accordance with Section 9 (2) MiLoG, the Commission bases its decision on an overall assessment, taking into account the development of collective agreements and the reference value of 60 percent of the gross median wage of full-time employees in accordance with Article 5 (4) and the criteria set out in Article 5 (2) of the EU Directive on adequate minimum wages in the European Union (EU Minimum Wage Directive) in order to achieve the objectives set out in Section 9 (2) sentence 1 MiLoG and Article 5 (1) of the EU Minimum Wage Directive.
When adjusting the minimum wage, the Minimum Wage Commission takes into account the wage index of the Federal Statistical Office based on hourly earnings in the two previous years and the gross median wage currently determined by the Federal Statistical Office. Data on wage developments up to the date of the decision-making meeting are included.
The Minimum Wage Commission may deviate from the criteria specified for decision-making if special economic circumstances exist and the Commission therefore concludes, after weighing up all factors, that the criteria specified are not suitable in this situation to achieve the objectives of Section 9 (2) sentence 1 MiLoG and Article 5 (1) of the EU Minimum Wage Directive.