Federal Constitutional Court
Low wages for prisoners objected to – unconstitutional
View of the building of the Federal Constitutional Court. photo
© Uli Deck/dpa
In many federal states, prisoners are obliged to work. But there is no minimum wage. Two prisoners have now successfully taken to court because of extremely low pay.
Hourly wages of two euros or less for prisoners are unconstitutional. On Tuesday, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled in favor of two working prisoners from Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia who had complained about the amount of their remuneration. The federal states must regulate the corresponding laws by the end of June 2025 at the latest, said the chairwoman of the second senate, Doris König, in Karlsruhe.
In most federal states, prisoners are obliged to work. It is intended for rehabilitation. Therefore, there is no minimum wage for the prisoners. According to König, in 2020 they earned between 1.37 euros and 2.30 euros per hour.