Test Case in Münster: One Man's €195 Monthly Wage Puts Germany's Sheltered Workshop System on Trial
Published on 06/17/2026 at 20:24 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
For 40 years, Jürgen Linnemann has worked in a German sheltered workshop for people with disabilities (Werkstatt für behinderte Menschen, WfBM). His monthly pay: €195. The 57-year-old is now taking his employer to the labour court in Münster, arguing he deserves the same minimum-wage protections as any other worker — currently €13.90 an hour. Represented by the Society for Civil Rights (GFF) and the Sozialhelden organisation, Linnemann's case challenges the legal status that keeps roughly 300,000 employees in these facilities earning an average of just €233 per month. A ruling is expected in early September.
The legal basis for the low pay is a peculiar category: workers in sheltered workshops are classified as being in an "employment-like legal relationship" ("arbeitnehmerähnliches Rechtsverhältnis"), which explicitly exempts them from the national minimum wage. Critics argue the system amounts to structural discrimination. Beyond individual wages, the economic mechanics of the workshops draw fire. In 2022, companies saved around €84 million in compensatory levies by outsourcing orders to these facilities — a practice that advocates say incentivises cheap labour while masking the real value of the work performed.
Pressure is mounting on multiple fronts. On Tuesday, the so-called "dialogue process on integration assistance" (Dialogprozess Eingliederungshilfe) between federal, state and local governments concluded with results that welfare associations flatly reject. Christof Schaefers of the Federal Association of Private Providers of Social Services (bpa) warned against using integration assistance as a tool for budget consolidation. Planned changes include greater lump-sum payments for services and making group offers the default. Even the right to freely choose where to live could become subject to stricter cost restrictions. In response, the Protestant Federal Association for Participation (BeB) launched a campaign under the slogan "Don't save on people". Its chairman Frank Stefan stressed that any cuts directly reduce beneficiaries' quality of life and called instead for bureaucratic simplification and digitalisation.
The broader legal landscape has also taken a step backward, advocates say. The government's latest draft revision of the Disability Equality Act (Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz, BGG) removed a planned easing of the burden of proof that would have allowed victims of discrimination to prevail simply by making a discrimination claim plausible. Michaela Engelmeier of the Social Association Germany (SoVD) called the deletion a setback for the rights of roughly 13 million people with disabilities. The Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs cited the outcome of interdepartmental coordination as the reason. A public hearing in the Committee for Labour and Social Affairs is scheduled for 22 June.
Despite the tensions, some positive developments stand out. In Diepholz, the inclusive enterprise "ZusammenWerk" was founded, where up to 50 per cent of jobs are held by people with severe disabilities. On 24 September, the nationwide "Shift Change" action day will take place again, swapping workplaces between people with and without disabilities; last year around 4,800 people participated. And Saxony became the fifth German state to translate its constitution into plain language (Leichte Sprache). Parliament president Alexander Dierks called it an important step toward self-determination — even if the standard version remains the sole legally binding text.
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