Temporary agreement over the minimum wage

German minimum wage, standing at €8.5 per hour, will not apply to the Polish transport companies until the matter is clarified by the EU, Andrea Nahles, German Minister of Labour, announced Friday after negotiations with Władysaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, Polish Minister of Labour and Social Policy. “We are satisfied with the information that the minimum wage law is suspended in relation to the transit companies operating on the German territory,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said. According to a law that came into force on January 1 in Germany, all employees working in German territory regardless of where their employer is based have to be paid a minimum wage of €8.5 an hour. The law would decrease the competitiveness of Polish freight and transport companies, once applied to Polish drivers.