Rights and duties of employees

How does the labour market work in Germany? What are my rights and duties as an employee?

The integration of refugees into the labour market is absolutely crucial. It is not only about providing an easy path into paid work, it is also about providing fair working conditions.

Refugees and third-country nationals are very often employed for a salary below the standard wage; they do not work according to the legal working time regulations and are often exposed to other forms of exploitation. For the most part this is due to the fact that they are insufficiently informed about their rights on the German labour market.

As for the time being, there is no uniform information structure for refugees throughout Germany on minimum working standards and labour law. However, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has already initiated the program "Fair Integration", which will be implemented via the Network "Integration through Qualification (IQ)".

"Fair Integration" is an advisory service aimed at setting up a nationwide counselling organisation on the German labour market standards.

The counselling is free of charge and confidential.