German employers get creative

Chancellor Angela Merkel's government introduced Germany's first nationwide wage floor of 8.50 euros per hour early this year, arguing that it was a necessary response to the sharp rise in low-wage jobs over the past decade. Some 3.7 million people were expected to benefit. But in the months since it went into effect it has become clear that not everyone is taking home more pay.
The NGG food and catering union is fielding up to 400 calls a day from people who say their employers are finding ways to circumvent the law, which contains too many loopholes.
"We're seeing some employers display an awful lot of creativity to get round paying the minimum wage," Burkhard Siebert of the NGG said.
Some workers are no longer getting paid for overtime.  
Others are charged for drinks and clothing they are required to wear on the job.
Butchers must pay a fee of up to 100 euros per month to use knives they need to cut meat.
A solarium and a gym are giving staff coupons to use on site rather than paying the minimum wage.
Bakers are paid in buns and bread instead of cash. A baker who refused such an offer was told to give the vouchers to her husband, the NGG said.
Other workers have had their holiday entitlement reduced or premiums for working nights, holidays and Sundays slashed.
Bernd Bischoff, who runs an advice center for contractors in the city of Oldenburg, said the meat industry was especially affected.
Last week a survey showed 15 percent of Germans had heard about employers sidestepping the minimum wage from friends and family. Some 3 percent said they were directly affected. 
Juergen Schluens  is one of these cases.. He used to earn around 6.30 euros per hour delivering papers in the village of Witzwort close to the North Sea. Once the new wage law took effect,  his boss reduced the premium he received for starting work at 4.45 a.m. and told him to get the job done in half the time. He wrote a note of complaint to his boss and his contract was subsequently terminated without notice, prompting him to take his employer to court.
Firms breaking the law face fines of up to 500,000 euros.
But it's not bad news for everyone. Uwe Schlegel, a Cologne lawyer, advises small firms on how to get around the minimum wage legally. Demand for his services is "extremely high".

Members of a trade union move a giant police signalling disc demanding a country-wide minimum wage in Berlin, June 18, 2014. The writing reads: ''Minimum Wage''

edited from Reuters