PRESS RELEASE, March 27, 2015: The German Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs replied to UNTRR letter regarding the application of Germany’s Minimum Wage Act

27.03.2015

PRESS RELEASE
 
The German Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs replied to UNTRR letter regarding the application of Germany’s Minimum Wage Act.

 
Following the National Union of Road Hauliers from Romania – UNTRR - numerous requests addressed to the German Federal Government on issues related to enforcement of the German minimum wage law – MiLoG - to the Romanian carriers, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of Germany sent our association clarifications on Romanian drivers paid per diem calculation as part of the minimum wage according to MiLoG and details of the documents that the Romanian carriers must submit to Customs Administration in Germany in checks.
 
Since the enforcement of MiLoG at the beginning of this year, our association has made numerous requests addressed to the Federal Government of Germany: UNTRR pointed out to the German Chancellor - Angela Merkel – that the protectionist provisions of German law MiLoG affect the free movement of services in the EU and UNTRR also addressed to the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of Germany and the German Customs Administration requesting clarification on the application of MiLoG to the Romanian carriers. UNTRR also reported these efforts to the Romanian Embassy in Germany.
 
The delay in receiving a response from the German Government has increased the Romanian carriers’ uncertainty, improperly required to comply with the national laws of Germany, without clear information on its application. Given this critical situation, our association has made two protests this month: UNTRR protest against MiLoG on 18.03.2015 in front of the German Embassy in Bucharest and the protest against neo protectionism in transport industry organized by UNTRR together with colleague associations from the Czech, Poland, Lithuania and Hungary in front of the European Parliament on 25.03.2015 in Brussels.

All UNTRR’s letters addressed to the German, Romanian and European authorities can be consultated on old.untrr.ro and www.stopneoprotectionism.eu
 
As a result of all these efforts made by our association, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of Germany replied UNTRR communicating clarifications on the application of the law on minimum wage in Germany in the transport sector.

Calculation of the minimum wage – clarification on daily allowance
At UNTRR’s request that the daily allowance paid to the Romanian drivers for international transport operations carried out on Germany to be considered as part of the minimum wage according to MiLog, since it has the nature of a delegation allowance which is granted under the Labour Code in Romania, in addition to the amounts of travel and accommodation expenses and usually compensates for the increased cost of living outside the place of residence,
 
- The Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of Germany states that „a daily allowance can be counted towards the minimum wage when it is paid in addition to the reimbursement of actual expenses that the employee incurs for transport and accommodation, that is to say, serves the purpose of  compensating for disadvantages resulting from the fact that the worker is not at his place of residence and cannot perform his work in his usual environment, and the amount of the daily allowance depends on the country in which the worker is deployed, and the differences between Romania and Germany in the cost of living are offset in this way.

The documents to be submitted by the Romanian carriers to the Customs Administration in Germany in checks
The Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of Germany states that usually the German Customs Administration may require the following documents:
· Employment contract or the documents that contain the essential elements of the employment relationship
· Time-sheets, Payslips and proof of payment of wages.
 
The German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs entire letter can be seen here. 

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National Union of Road Hauliers from Romania (UNTRR) is a professional and employers, non-governmental, independent, apolitical, founded in 1990 on democratic principles, promoting and defending the interests of road transport domestically and internationally, recording since its foundation to the present over 13,000 members - operators carrying out domestic and international freight transport and people