Trainees will be entitled to higher minimum pay next year. As announced by the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) on Monday, trainees in dual vocational training programs who begin their training between January 1 and December 31, 2026, will receive a minimum wage of €724 in their first year of training, an increase of just under 6.2 percent. In the second year of training, the minimum wage will be €854, in the third year €977, and in the fourth year €1,014.
The minimum training allowance has been in effect since 2020 and is a legally defined lower limit for the monthly training allowance. For 2025, the rate for the first year of training is €682, with legally defined percentage increases on the first year's allowance for the following years of training.
However, according to BIBB data, most trainees are above the minimum limit. In 2024, trainees in companies bound by collective agreements would have received an average gross monthly training allowance of €1,133 across all years of training, the Federal Institute explained. However, there are differences depending on the region and occupational field.
It is also possible to pay less than the minimum training remuneration. If a collective agreement provides for training remuneration below the minimum training remuneration, companies bound by collective agreements may comply with this. For companies not bound by collective agreements, in addition to the minimum training remuneration, their remuneration may not fall below the rates applicable to their industry and region by more than 20 percent.
Since the introduction of the minimum training allowance in 2020, remuneration equal to the minimum training allowance has been agreed for “three to four percent of newly concluded training contracts” in the first year of training, according to the BIBB.
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