When wages are missing, the employer often wants the problem to stay vague: “payroll is checking,” “next month,” “you misunderstood,” “the app is wrong,” “talk to the manager later.” Vague problems are easy to delay. Your job is to make the missing pay specific.
The first rule is: check, document, do not go alone. A wage claim is not only a feeling of unfairness. It is hours multiplied by the correct rate, plus agreed extras, minus lawful deductions, compared with what was actually paid. Evidence is arithmetic with receipts.
This guide is general information for workers in Germany, including mini-jobbers, temporary agency workers, delivery riders, cleaners, hospitality staff, care workers, warehouse workers, students, interns, and people pushed into “freelance” labels. It is not individual legal advice. If the situation is already at court, if a deadline is close, or if you need representation, hand the case to the Justice Access Centre for legal route mapping.
Step 1: Freeze the facts before they move
Start a wage file today. Use a folder, notes app, spreadsheet, or paper notebook. Put the date on everything. Do not rely on an employer portal staying open after a conflict.
Save:
- your contract or any written offer
- duty rosters, shift plans, app schedules, dispatch logs, chat messages, and emails
- clock-in and clock-out records, if you can access them
- payslips, bank statements showing wage payments, and cash receipts
- notes of unpaid trial days, training, preparation, closing work, waiting time, travel between sites, or on-call time
- names of supervisors, witnesses, co-workers on the same shifts, and customers only where relevant
- screenshots from work apps showing accepted jobs, completed tasks, ratings, penalties, cancellations, or blocked access
If you are still working there, collect records calmly. Do not delete messages. Do not secretly take confidential customer data. You need proof of your work, not a second problem about privacy or trade secrets.
Step 2: Write down what you were promised
Do not start with the payslip. Start with the promise. What wage did the employer agree to pay?
Look for the rate in the contract, job offer, collective agreement, works agreement, email, message, job advertisement, or verbal promise confirmed by witnesses. Check whether the rate is hourly, monthly, per shift, per delivery, per task, or commission-based. Check whether tips, bonuses, night work, Sunday work, public holiday work, allowances, travel time, or waiting time were mentioned separately.
Germany has a statutory minimum wage under the Mindestlohngesetz. The amount changes, and some sectors also have binding collective or sectoral minimums. Do not guess the current rate from memory or old internet posts. Check a reliable current source, a union, a Betriebsrat, or worker advice. If your wage seems below the legal minimum, treat it as urgent.
If the employer says “cash plus tips,” “training is unpaid,” “the first week is a test,” or “you are paid only when clients pay us,” write down the sentence and who said it. Those phrases often hide wage theft.
Step 3: Rebuild the hours
Make one line per workday. Include the date, start time, end time, breaks actually taken, workplace or platform zone, tasks, supervisor, and any unusual event. Separate three numbers:
- scheduled hours
- hours actually worked
- hours paid
The difference matters. A roster may show six hours, but you may have worked seven because closing took longer. An app may show active delivery time, but not waiting time controlled by the platform. A care shift may include handover. A cleaning route may include travel between buildings. A restaurant shift may include setup before doors open.
Breaks are a common place for mistakes. If the payslip deducts a break you were not allowed to take, write that down. If you were interrupted during a break, note by whom and why. Do not exaggerate. A clean, modest record is stronger than a dramatic one.
For overtime, ask two questions. First: did you work more than the agreed hours? Second: did the employer know, order, tolerate, or benefit from it? Keep messages such as “stay until closing,” “finish the route,” “cover the second floor,” or “do not leave until the truck is unloaded.”
Step 4: Read the payslip like a map
A payslip should help you see gross pay, deductions, net pay, payment period, tax and social insurance items, and sometimes holiday, sick pay, or overtime. Compare the payslip to your reconstructed hours.
Check:
- Is the pay period correct?
- Are all working days included?
- Is the hourly or monthly rate correct?
- Are overtime, night work, Sunday work, public holidays, bonuses, or allowances shown where expected?
- Were sickness, holiday, or public holiday days paid correctly?
- Are deductions explained?
- Does the bank payment match the net amount on the payslip?
Some deductions are lawful; others are warning signs. Employers cannot simply subtract for till shortages, broken equipment, customer complaints, uniforms, training, accommodation, transport, app penalties, or “mistakes” because they are angry. The exact legal answer depends on the facts, but the practical rule is simple: no unexplained deduction should pass quietly.
If you received no payslip, write that down. Ask for it in writing. A missing payslip is not proof that no claim exists. It is another fact in the file.
Step 5: Calculate the gap
Make a simple table:
Date. Hours worked. Rate. Amount owed. Amount paid. Difference. Evidence.
For monthly pay, convert carefully. Do not invent a formula if you are unsure. Note the contract terms and ask a union, Betriebsrat, or advice clinic to check the calculation. For hourly pay, multiply each day or week by the correct rate, then add agreed extras and subtract payments actually received.
Keep disputed items separate. Example categories are unpaid regular hours, unpaid overtime, wrong rate, missing holiday pay, missing sick pay, unlawful deductions, unpaid trial work, unpaid last month, withheld final wages, or missing platform bonuses. Separate categories make it harder for the employer to dismiss everything as confusion.
Do not pad the claim. If one day is uncertain, mark it uncertain. You can still claim what you can prove and keep investigating the rest.
Step 6: Ask for your records
If the employer controls time records, payroll records, or app data, ask for copies. Keep the request short and written. Under GDPR data access rights, you may be able to request personal data the employer or platform holds about you, including certain account, work, pay, and performance data. That route can be useful for platform workers whose evidence is locked inside an app.
Do not wait for perfect records before acting on a wage deadline. Ask, save proof of the request, and continue with the evidence you already have.
Step 7: Speak together before the formal demand
Isolation is the employer’s advantage. Before sending a demand, check whether co-workers have the same issue. Same missing overtime, same unpaid preparation time, same app deductions, same cash gap, same wrong classification: that pattern matters.
If there is a Betriebsrat, contact it. If you are in a Gewerkschaft, contact the union quickly. If you are not a member, ask what support is available and whether joining now helps with advice. A collective demand from several workers can change the employer’s calculation. It also protects against the story that one person is “difficult.”
Do not pressure co-workers to share private documents. Ask them to keep their own records and compare categories.
Step 8: Send a written demand
A wage demand should be calm and specific. Include your name, job, workplace, pay period, amount you believe is missing, categories of missing pay, request for correction, and a clear response date. Attach or list evidence if useful. Keep proof of sending.
Use firm language, not insults. For example: “According to my records, the wages for the following hours and pay periods have not been paid correctly. Please correct the payroll and pay the outstanding amount by…” Then list the calculation.
Check your contract and any applicable collective agreement for exclusion periods or claim deadlines. Some claims must be asserted within a short contractual or collectively agreed period. Dismissal, insolvency, and court steps can have their own urgency. If a deadline may be close, get advice immediately.
Step 9: Escalate when delay becomes a tactic
If the employer does not correct the pay, routes may include union intervention, a claim before the Arbeitsgericht, insolvency-related steps if the employer cannot pay, or other formal enforcement. The right route depends on your status, amount, deadlines, evidence, and whether you are still employed.
This guide does not map court procedure in depth. For that, go to the Justice Access Centre with your wage table, contract, payslips, bank records, demand letter, and timeline. If discrimination, harassment, pregnancy, disability, racism, gender identity, religion, or age is part of the wage problem, keep the wage file here but hand the discrimination depth to Equal Voices Initiative, Women’s Equity Alliance, or Queer Safety & Belonging Network.
Step 10: Protect yourself while claiming
After you claim wages, watch for retaliation: worse shifts, threats, sudden criticism, blocked app access, dismissal, pressure to sign a settlement, or demands to repay money. Do not sign a waiver, resignation, repayment agreement, or “final settlement” without advice. Do not accept cash without a receipt showing what period and claim it covers.
Your strongest position is organized and documented. Check the pay. Document the hours. Do not sign away claims. Do not go alone.