Temporary work
January 11, 2010
The Schlecker drugstore mega-chain has come under heavy criticism for alleged wage dumping.
The trade union Verdi has accused Schlecker of forcing its employees to take new contracts through a temporary employment agency called Meniar, which pays only half of the usual hourly wage, about 6.70 euros ($9.73) instead of 12.50 euros ($18.17). It also said it believed Meniar was entirely controled by Schlecker.
Politicians protest
The Labor Minister in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Karl Josef Laumann, has also accused Schlecker of systematic wage evasion. The Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported that Laumann wrote a letter to Schlecker employees stating that temporary work is designed to compensate for operating peaks or in the case of vacation or illness, not to replace permanent staff.
Federal Labor Minister Ursula von der Leyen appeared on a Sunday evening talk show and said that the case would have to be examined closely to see if there abuse is abuse. She added that the federal employment agency (BA) is responsible for ensuring that every temporary employment agency has a license that must be renewed regularly.
"There is a proper procedure," she said. "We are not in the Wild West."
Is it illegal?
However, a BA spokeswoman denied that Schlecker’s actions were illegal.
"The Temporary Employment Act does not preclude sacking workers and replacing them with ones from a temporary employment agency under worse conditions," said a BA spokeswoman on Monday.
She added the government would have to change the laws in order to prohibit similar actions.
Still, the Association of Temporary Work Agencies (BZA) has been quick to distance itself from the business policies of Schlecker.
"Such business practices are not consistent with the original meaning of temporary work and hurt the reputation of all temporary employment agencies," BZA spokesman Wolfram Linke told Deutsche Welle.
Linke added that companies who are members of the BZA have to agree to pay employees an hourly wage of at least 7.51 euros ($10.51), despite the fact that Germany does not have a minimum wage.
Schlecker responds
Schlecker has denied the allegations of wage dumping and insists that its new stores pay up to 13 euros ($18.89) an hour or more. However, Head of Corporate Communications Florian Baum said Monday that Schlecker had resolved "effective immediately" not to pursue any further contracts with the temporary employment company Meniar.
Achim Neumann of Verdi was excited to hear the news.
"I think this is fantastic - obviously a tremendous amount of pressure was necessary to convince Schlecker of that misusing the temporary working laws is unacceptable. It’s a very positive sign," he told Deutsche Welle.
Schlecker has often come under criticism from the unions regarding its employment practices. It has accused Verdi of using "targeted disinformation and defamation campaigns" in the past.
With more than 50,000 employees and stores in 12 countries, Schlecker is the largest drugstore company in Europe.
Author: Sarah Harman
Editor: Michael Lawton