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Germany's minimum apprentice pay: 764 euros a month for 2027 starters, and why the start year decides

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  1. Version 1Current · created

    Story created.

    • Timeline added: For training that started in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, the law itself set the first-year minimum at 515, 550, 585 and 620 euros a month.
    • Timeline added: For training that started in 2024, the monthly minimum is 649 euros in the first year, 766 euros in the second, 876 euros in the third and 909 euros in the fourth. The notice was dated 16 October 2023 and issued on 18 October 2023.
    • Timeline added: Since 2024 the first-year minimum has been updated every 1 January. It moves by the average change in reported training pay between the two calendar years before the year of the announcement, and the result is rounded to whole euros (below half a euro down, from half a euro up).
    • Timeline added: For training that started in 2025, the monthly minimum is 682 euros in the first year, 805 euros in the second, 921 euros in the third and 955 euros in the fourth, under a notice dated 8 October 2024 and issued on 14 October 2024.
    • Timeline added: For training that starts in 2026, the monthly minimum is 724 euros in the first year, 854 euros in the second, 977 euros in the third and 1 014 euros in the fourth. The notice was dated 7 October 2025 and issued on 10 October 2025.
    • Timeline added: For training that starts between 1 January and 31 December 2027, the monthly minimum is 764 euros in the first year, 902 euros in the second, 1 031 euros in the third and 1 070 euros in the fourth.
    • Timeline added: The 2027 figures were published in the Federal Law Gazette as No. 287, in a notice dated 30 September 2026 and issued on 7 October 2026. It was signed for the Federal Ministry of Education, Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.
    • Confirmed: The 2027 figures were published in the Federal Law Gazette as No. 287, in a notice dated 30 September 2026 and issued on 7 October 2026. It was signed for the Federal Ministry of Education, Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.
    • Confirmed: For training that starts in 2026, the monthly minimum is 724 euros in the first year, 854 euros in the second, 977 euros in the third and 1 014 euros in the fourth. The notice was dated 7 October 2025 and issued on 10 October 2025.
    • Confirmed: For training that started in 2025, the monthly minimum is 682 euros in the first year, 805 euros in the second, 921 euros in the third and 955 euros in the fourth, under a notice dated 8 October 2024 and issued on 14 October 2024.
    • Confirmed: For training that started in 2024, the monthly minimum is 649 euros in the first year, 766 euros in the second, 876 euros in the third and 909 euros in the fourth. The notice was dated 16 October 2023 and issued on 18 October 2023.
    • Confirmed: Since 2024 the first-year minimum has been updated every 1 January. It moves by the average change in reported training pay between the two calendar years before the year of the announcement, and the result is rounded to whole euros (below half a euro down, from half a euro up).
    • Confirmed: The responsible federal ministry must publish the amounts for all four training years in the Federal Law Gazette by 1 November of the year before they apply.
    • Confirmed: Apprentices must receive appropriate pay, and it must rise as the training progresses, at least once a year.
    • Confirmed: An employer bound by a collective agreement may pay the rates that agreement sets, even where they are below the statutory minimum. After the agreement expires, its pay terms still count as appropriate for apprenticeships already under way until a new agreement replaces them.
    • Confirmed: Pay that meets the minimum is still normally not appropriate if it is more than 20 per cent below the rates of a collective agreement that covers the apprenticeship but does not bind the employer.
    • Confirmed: In part-time training, pay may fall below these amounts, but the percentage cut in pay may not be larger than the percentage cut in daily or weekly training time. Where part-time training is extended, pay does not have to rise further for the extra period.
    • Confirmed: For training that started in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, the law itself set the first-year minimum at 515, 550, 585 and 620 euros a month.
    • Confirmed: These rules come from the Vocational Training Act (BBiG), which covers vocational training outside the vocational schools run under state school laws. It does not cover training in degree courses at universities, training in a public-service employment relationship, or training on most German-flagged merchant ships. For training in craft trades (Handwerksordnung), the Act lists the sections that the Handwerksordnung replaces, and the pay rules are not among them, so the same minimum applies.
    • Confirmed: For training that started in 2020 to 2023, the law gives the second, third and fourth year only as the start-year amount plus 18, 35 and 40 per cent. It sets no euro amounts or rounding rule for those years, so any euro figures for them are calculations, not official amounts.
    • Source added: Bekanntmachung zur Fortschreibung der Höhe der Mindestvergütung für Berufsausbildungen nach dem Berufsbildungsgesetz (2027) vom 30. September 2026, BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 287 (Bundesgesetzblatt (Federal Law Gazette))
    • Source added: § 17 BBiG - Einzelnorm (Gesetze im Internet (Federal Ministry of Justice))
    • Source added: BBiMindVergFBek 2025 - Bekanntmachung zur Fortschreibung der Höhe der Mindestvergütung für Berufsausbildungen nach dem Berufsbildungsgesetz (2025) vom 8. Oktober 2024, BGBl. 2024 I Nr. 305 (Gesetze im Internet (Federal Ministry of Justice))
    • Source added: Bekanntmachung zur Fortschreibung der Höhe der Mindestvergütung für Berufsausbildungen nach dem Berufsbildungsgesetz (2026) vom 7. Oktober 2025, BGBl. 2025 I Nr. 235 (Bundesgesetzblatt (Federal Law Gazette))
    • Source added: Bundesgesetzblatt Teil I - Bekanntmachung zur Fortschreibung der Höhe der Mindestvergütung für Berufsausbildungen nach dem Berufsbildungsgesetz (2025) - Bundesgesetzblatt (Bundesgesetzblatt (Federal Law Gazette))
    • Source added: Bekanntmachung zur Fortschreibung der Höhe der Mindestvergütung für Berufsausbildungen nach dem Berufsbildungsgesetz (2024) vom 16. Oktober 2023, BGBl. 2023 I Nr. 279 (Bundesgesetzblatt (Federal Law Gazette))
    • Source added: § 3 BBiG - Einzelnorm (Gesetze im Internet (Federal Ministry of Justice))