The federal government has now announced in a press release that it will temporarily suspend the controls and fine procedures of the minimum wage law for pure transit journeys. The background to this is the impending infringement proceedings by the EU Commission.
However, the suspension should only apply to pure transit, not to cabotage journeys, and not even if loading or unloading takes place in Germany.
The suspension will suspend controls by the public authorities. Also, no administrative offence proceedings should be initiated for violations of the minimum wage law. Existing proceedings are to be closed.
Problematic suspension of the minimum wage
Long before the introduction of the legal minimum wage, we had already pointed out that it was unclear to what extent the minimum wage law also applied to transit journeys of foreign truck drivers.
However, it is still unclear on what legal basis this instruction from the Federal Minister of Labour has been issued. In this respect, it is also completely unclear what should be done if the European Union finds no violation of European law. Companies can expect a certain degree of protection of trust, but it is still unclear how far this will ultimately go.
Dieser Artikel wurde am 15. August 2018 erstellt. Die fachliche Zweitprüfung hat Rechtsanwalt Dr. Tristan Wegner durchgeführt.
