Mindestlohnbegleitforschung - Überprüfung der Ausnahmeregelung für Langzeitarbeitslose : Forschungsauftrag des Bundesministeriums für Arbeit und Soziales (BMAS)

"With the new minimum wage law Germany has introduced a legal nationwide hourly minimum wage of 8.50 Euro. However, workers who have been registered as longterm unemployed before taking up a new job are exempted from the law for the first six months of employment. On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS), the IAB has evaluated the economic consequences of this exemption as well as its practical impact on job placement. The evaluation project proceeds in two steps: First, it quantitatively examines effects on wages and employment prospects of the long-term unemployed using detailed administrative data and an own standardized survey conducted among unemployed job seekers who have entered employment in either 2014 or 2015. Second, it qualitatively analyses the effects of the exemption on the processes of the German employment services. This part of the project is based on interviews of experts and management staff in selected Job Centres. This report gives a summary of the evaluation results. It is well documented that long-term unemployed persons are difficult to integrate into the labour market. There are various reasons for this, like health problems, lacking qualifications as well as constraints concerning flexibility and motivation. Even if a long-term unemployed person is successfully integrated she can expect to earn relatively low wages. Against this backdrop, the exemption has been controversially discussed in the public and political debates. On the one hand, it was hoped that it would counteract potentially negative effects of the minimum wage on the labour market outcomes of the long-term unemployed. On the other hand, it was argued that it would constitute a discrimination of this particular group of workers and rather be ineffective to improve their situation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))