Germany’s July 2026 Reforms: Welfare Overhaul, Care Wage Hikes, and a Mercedes-Benz Conflict
Veröffentlicht: 28.06.2026 um 12:53 Uhr, Redaktion boerse-global.de
A raft of legal changes takes effect in Germany this July, reshaping everything from social welfare rules to minimum pay in healthcare. At the same time, a bitter dispute at Mercedes-Benz over delayed bonuses highlights mounting industrial tensions.
Welfare: Grundsicherung replaces BĂĽrgergeld with immediate clampdown
On 1 July 2026, a new basic income scheme called Grundsicherung supersedes the previous Bürgergeld system. The most significant shift: assets are now assessed immediately upon application, ending the previous grace period. Anyone who refuses a reasonable job offer risks losing their entire standard benefit. Only parents get a reprieve – a 14-month protective window after childbirth remains in place.
Transparency rules force public employers to disclose pay ranges
Since 8 June 2026, public-sector job ads in Germany must include a salary range, and recruiters are banned from asking candidates about their previous earnings. For existing staff at organisations with 200 or more employees, workers can request information on the average pay of colleagues doing comparable work. A landmark ruling by the Federal Labour Court in October 2025 sharpened the rules further: judges decided that an individual comparison alone can establish a prima facie case of pay discrimination, and contractual gag clauses on salary discussions are void. A national implementation law is expected in 2027, with possible retroactive effect of up to three years.
Minimum wages rise in the care sector
Also from 1 July, new minimum hourly rates apply across the nursing and care industry:
- Care assistants (without qualification): €16.52
- Qualified assistants: €17.80
- Qualified nursing professionals: €21.03
Mercedes-Benz delays €18.4% bonus payment amid profit slump
The carmaker announced it is postponing a contractual "transformation component" worth 18.4% of one month’s gross salary – originally due in July 2026 – until 2027. The company cited a dramatic situation at its German sites: first-quarter 2026 profit fell 17.2%, following a drop from €10.4 billion in 2024 to €5.3 billion in 2025. Geopolitical tensions, competition in China, and high energy costs were blamed.
The works council condemned the move as unilateral and also rejected management’s demand to extend working hours to 35 per week without pay compensation. The restructuring programme Next Level Performance continues, with fresh collective bargaining talks scheduled for autumn 2026.
Pension commission proposes radical changes
On 23 June, the government’s pension advisory commission put forward recommendations for long-term reform. It suggests linking the statutory retirement age to life expectancy after 2031, with the 1965 birth cohort being the first affected. Other proposals include abolishing the "pension at 63" and raising the minimum age for partial retirement from 55 to 58. The federal government intends to implement the package as a whole. Meanwhile, on 1 July, pensions will increase by 4.24%.
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