出版社：Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung
摘要：With the new minimum wage law Germany has introduced a legal nationwide hourlyminimum wage of 8.50 Euro. However, workers who have been registered as longtermunemployed before taking up a new job are exempted from the law for the firstsix months of employment. On behalf of the Federal Ministry for Labour and SocialAffairs (BMAS), the IAB has evaluated the economic consequences of this exemptionas well as its practical impact on job placement. The evaluation project proceedsin two steps: First, it quantitatively examines effects on wages and employmentprospects of the long-term unemployed using detailed administrative data andan own standardized survey conducted among unemployed job seekers who haveentered employment in either 2014 or 2015. Second, it qualitatively analyses theeffects of the exemption on the processes of the German employment services. Thispart of the project is based on interviews of experts and management staff in selectedJob Centres. This report gives a summary of the evaluation results.It is well documented that long-term unemployed persons are difficult to integrateinto the labour market. There are various reasons for this, like health problems, lackingqualifications as well as constraints concerning flexibility and motivation. Even ifa long-term unemployed person is successfully integrated she can expect to earnrelatively low wages.Against this backdrop, the exemption has been controversially discussed in the publicand political debates. On the one hand, it was hoped that it would counteract potentiallynegative effects of the minimum wage on the labour market outcomes of thelong-term unemployed. On the other hand, it was argued that it would constitute adiscrimination of this particular group of workers and rather be ineffective to improvetheir situation.The data so far show no significant effects of the exemption for the long-term unemployed neither on their employment transitions, employment stability, nor wages. It turns out that the exemption is rarely used. It is not highly demanded by the longterm unemployed themselves and also not actively promoted within the interviewed Job Centres. One reason for this is that most unemployed are not aware of its existence or applicability. There also seem to be too little incentives for both employers and employees to make extensive use of the exemption, as was argued by many interview partners. Given this background, it appears unlikely that the minimum wage exemption for the long-term unemployed will substantially gain in importance in the future.
