"Germany: "Minimum wage is threatening agriculture and horticulture"
"The implementation of the minimum wage and the related documentation requirements are crushing our special crop growers," says DBV President Joachim Rukwied in the context of the impact of the minimum wage for the German agriculture. Approximately 310.000 seasonal workers, mainly from Eastern Europe are working in German special culture companies for fruits, vegetables, wine or hops. The peak season of the employment is mainly during harvest time. This point in time is crucial for the economic success of a company or the grower. The DBV chairman claims: "Any additional bureaucratic burden should be avoided during this time." The documentation requirements should at least be simplified. The documentation of hours worked should be enough.
In addition, the chairman notes that many farms were dominated by the contribution of family workers. So the DBV claims, that the assisting family members should not be a subjected to bureaucratic over-regulation. The declaration of the DBV also intends to underline that the work of the growers is weather related and the work includes the harvesting of perishable foods. This specific circumstance should be considered by separate exemptions in the labour law.
For more information:
www.bauernverband.de/erklmindestlohn2015