The German government has approved the increase of the minimum wage to 12 euros per hour, starting in October, respecting a key commitment in the election campaign of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Germany has a national minimum wage since 2015, introduced at the insistence of Scholz’s Social Democrats, at the time they were minority partners in the government of conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel. The minimum wage started at 8.50 euros per hour, but a commission in which trade unions and employers are represented regularly reviews it, setting the current level at 9.82 euros and an increase to 10.45 euros which will enter effective on 1 July.
“Many citizens of our country work a lot but earn little and this must change”, wrote Scholz in a tweet announcing the Cabinet decision, “for me it is one of the most important laws and a question of respect”. The wage increase still needs approval in parliament, where Scholz’s tripartite coalition has a comfortable majority. According to the bill, around 6.2 million people in Germany currently work for less than 12 euros an hour. After the increase set for October 1, the commission will then set further changes to the minimum wage.