Refugees Paid More Than Germans? Federal Body Demands Higher Than Statutory Pay For Foreigners

By Thomas Brooke of RMX News

A decision by the Federal Employment Agency to mandate higher wages for two refugees than for their German colleagues has sparked outrage and debate over fairness in Germany’s labor market.

Schwäbische Zeitung reported on Monday how logistics company SV Druck GmbH sought to employ two refugees as shipping assistants at one of its warehouses in Weingarten last month. The company offered the prospective employees the statutory minimum wage of €12.82.

They were expected to start work on Feb. 1 but the process hit a bureaucratic roadblock when the Office for Migration and Integration refused to authorize the employment citing an objection from the Federal Employment Agency.

In Germany, employment contracts for refugees must be signed off by the relevant authorities.

According to a letter issued on Jan.20, the employment was not approved because the proposed wage was deemed too low. The agency ruled that refugees must be paid at least €14.00 per hour, as this was determined to be the “customary wage” for similar roles.

However, the company already employs numerous German citizens in the same role at the legal minimum wage of €12.82. The company’s HR department explained that approving a higher wage for refugees while German employees earned less for carrying out identical tasks would be discriminatory, but its protests were ignored.

SV Druck GmbH ultimately decided to cancel the employment contracts of the two refugees to avoid internal conflicts among staff.

“If the refugees were paid more, our German employees would justifiably demand the same increase,” the company explained.

When questioned about the higher wage requirement, Federal Employment Agency spokesperson Eva Schmid said, “The general statutory minimum wage is only applicable when no customary remuneration can be determined. For the position of ‘shipping assistant,’ the customary wage is set at €14.00 per hour.”

She cited wage statistics that list shipping assistants as earning between €15.98 and €16.52 per hour based on reference professions such as warehouse assistants or print shop helpers.

The regulation calls into question the extent to which federal bodies should be interfering with the free market economy and stipulating levels of remuneration exceeding the statutory limit for private companies.