An incomplete breakthrough: Questioning the momentum and efficiency of Germany’s minimum wage law

This article reflects on how appropriately the German Minimum Wage Act— the latest national minimum wage legislation within the EU— has been constructed so as to remedy the fading role of collective bargaining in wage setting and curb the increasing in-work poverty across the country. Based on identifying four fundamental parts of a minimum wage regime, it examines successively the corresponding provisions in the German law, with frequent comparisons with the legislation of several other Member States. It is found that Germany has refrained from learning the positive legislative experiences of its EU counterparts, and has developed a minimum wage regime that is distinct in more than one aspect. Such a wage floor, however, loses efficiency and momentum before serving the original purposes of its own introduction