Are students entitled to the statutory minimum wage if they have to do a mandatory internship? The Federal Labor Court (BAG) dealt with this question on Wednesday – and dismissed the claim.
Accordingly, students are not entitled to a minimum wage for an internship that, according to the regulations of a university, is a prerequisite for admission to a course of study. It is the will of the legislator that not only mandatory internships during the course of study, but also mandatory internships beforehand are excluded from the minimum wage claim, declared the highest German labor judges on Wednesday in Erfurt (5 AZR 217/21).
A young woman from Rhineland-Palatinate who wanted to study medicine at a private, state university had filed a complaint. According to the court, the study regulations of the university provide for a six-month internship in a nursing ward as a prerequisite for admission. For this period, the plaintiff demanded remuneration of around 10,300 euros, citing the Minimum Wage Act. She argued that a pre-internship is not a mandatory internship.
The prospective doctor had already failed with her claim at the state labor court in Rhineland-Palatinate – and now also at the federal labor court.
According to the judges, it does not matter that the case concerns a private university. It is state-recognized and its admission requirements are therefore equivalent to a regulation under public law.