Minimum Wage Payments under Scrutiny: Schweinfurter Customs Office Involved in a Nationwide Comprehensive Review
In a bid to ensure fair working conditions, the Schweinfurt Customs Office recently carried out inspections across Lower Franconia and large parts of Upper Franconia. A total of 81 businesses were inspected, with the focus on checking compliance with minimum working conditions, particularly the general statutory minimum wage under the Minimum Wage Act (MiLoG).
Since January 1, 2025, the statutory minimum wage in Germany stands at 12.82 euros gross per hour. However, during the inspections, various forms of minimum wage violations were detected in 11 cases. Employees were often referred to as trainees, apprentices, or self-employed to bypass minimum wage regulations. Hours were often recorded incorrectly, incompletely, or not at all to conceal such violations.
A total of 112 officials from the Financial Control Schwarzarbeit (FKS) of the Main Customs Office Schweinfurt were involved in the inspections. The locations of the inspections were Bamberg, Schweinfurt, and Würzburg.
In addition to questioning 237 employees in various sectors such as retail, fiber optic construction sites, restaurants, car repair shops, gaming halls, bakeries, and cafes about their employment status, indications of possible minimum wage violations were also found in 43 cases. Further violations were suspected, particularly due to the suspicion of withholding and misappropriation of wages, as well as illegal residence and employment of foreign workers.
The Schweinfurt customs office conducted a targeted inspection last Thursday to combat black work and illegal employment. The Hauptzollamt Schweinfurt works closely with the police and customs investigation offices in this endeavour, as investigations of this nature typically involve coordinated efforts between customs authorities and local law enforcement agencies.
The Main Customs Office Schweinfurt is in close contact with other authorities and the pension insurance during the investigations. It is important to note that every employee has a claim to the general statutory minimum wage under the MiLoG.
For more information, please contact the Main Customs Office Schweinfurt Press Office at the provided contact information. The customs office regularly checks compliance with the minimum wage in various sectors to maintain fair working conditions. The information obtained from the interviews is being further investigated by comparing employee data with wage and financial records of the companies.
It is also worth mentioning that in addition to the general statutory minimum wage, there are special branch minimum wages in several sectors, such as nursing, building cleaning, and roofing.
No further details about the document 8_20250316_MiLoSoP.pdfPDF were provided in the paragraph. The customs office will continue its efforts to ensure that employers adhere to the minimum wage laws and provide fair working conditions for their employees.
