The German Government supports the growing labour mobility within the European Union with information and counselling services for European workers on German labour and social law. Especially mobile workers from other EU countries working in sectors with a lot of wage pressure benefit from these services. On 21 May 2016, the Office for the Equal Treatment of EU Workers was established at the office of the Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration. The goal of the office is to offer support to EU workers and their family members regarding their rights in the context of the free movement of workers.
Since 1 August 2011, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has been providing financial support to the counselling and information project "Fair Mobility - Actively promoting the free movement of workers in a social and fair manner". The project is being implemented by the German Trade Union Confederation and its partners. The free service is geared to workers from other European countries and helps them assert their rights to fair wages and fair working conditions. Fair Mobility provides information on German labour and social law and initial counselling in selected native languages of the EU workers at counselling centres in 10 major cities (Kiel, Oldenburg, Dortmund, Berlin, Frankfurt a.M., Stuttgart, Munich, Nuremberg, Mannheim and Erfurt).
Many Länder have also established information and counselling centres for mobile EU workers over the past few years. The "Fair Mobility" project, the German Trade Union Confederation and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs support these regional initiatives by providing information and advice and by promoting close cooperation with these initiatives.
The job of "Fair Mobility" does not only consist of proving counselling and information for mobile workers throughout Germany, but also of complementing the counselling centres funded by the Länder and of performing tasks of a cross-regional nature. The goal is the highest possible degree of consistency and counselling services across Germany. Cross-regional counselling is provided through outreach work as well as over the phone, by e-mail and as part of Germany-wide action. In addition, the website and information materials provide and disseminate information in multiple languages. Moreover, "Fair Mobility" has developed a concept for training counsellors from across Germany in order to ensure consistent, high-quality counselling. It regularly offers training seminars that are also open to staff from Länder-funded counselling centres.
The counselling figures and clicks on www.faire-mobilität.de show that demand for the services has risen continuously over the past few years. For this reason, Germany's Federal Government decided in 2020 that the project will be put on a permanent legal and financial footing starting in 2021 and that it will be expanded significantly.
Similar counselling services also exist for workers from countries outside the EU (third country nationals) and for refugees and persons whose deportation has been suspended. The project "Fair integration" (faire-integration.de) receives financial support from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and runs counselling centres in all 16 Länder.
Click here for further information on the "Fair Mobility" project and its counselling services.
Click here for further information on the Office for the Equal Treatment of EU Workers.