These increases follow the guidelines of the Minimum Wage Commission, which is made up of representatives of employers and trade unions. According to a company survey by the Ifo Institute, workers can expect significant wage increases in the new year due to the higher minimum wage and the increasing demand for skilled workers.

The Federal Minister of Labour, Hubertus Heil (SPD), plans to present a bill at the beginning of the year to raise the minimum wage to 12 euros before the end of 2022. In doing so, Heil wants to implement a promise made by the traffic light coalition.

However, there is still dispute about the step to 12 euros minimum wage. DGB union Executive Board member Stefan Körzell demanded at the turn of the year: "The coalition must quickly get the 12 euros on track in 2022, because in the usual minimum wage commission procedure, we would only arrive at this amount at the end of the decade." Germany's employers, on the other hand, have announced that they will consider a legal challenge to a statutory minimum wage increase.

Chamber of Craftspeople (Handwerkskammer) president Hans Peter Wollseifer had told dpa that 12 euros as early as 2022 would make numerous collective agreements obsolete. The only way out of this dilemma, he said, was to set 12 euros as a target - "but not already for 2022".

Employers' President Rainer Dulger had criticised the government's 12-euro plans as a "gross violation of collective bargaining autonomy". "Whether, when and how we have the federal government's action reviewed in a qualified legal manner depends entirely on when this political minimum wage is to be enforced," Dulger told dpa. "The autonomy of collective bargaining is constitutionally protected." 12 euros minimum wage was a central election campaign promise of the current Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).

There has been a general statutory minimum wage in Germany since 2015, when it was introduced at a level of 8.50 euros. Trade unions argue that at that time, this was already too low and that a one-time increase by law is therefore appropriate. The minimum wage commission decides on the regular increase steps on the basis of previous wage development, which is determined by the Federal Statistical Office using the wage index.

Körzell said: "A poverty-proof minimum wage is overdue". The benchmark would be 60 per cent of the average income at full employment. According to him, this would be achieved in Germany with "at least 12 euros". "At least 8.5 million people, most of them women, would benefit," he said.

In general, many workers can expect significant pay increases in 2022. According to the Ifo Institute's company survey, 78 per cent of 630 personnel managers surveyed expect "wages to rise by an average of 4.7 per cent in their workforce as a whole". Pay increases are expected to be highest in the service sector, averaging 5.8 per cent, according to the study, which was made available to German press agency dpa and previously reported on by "Der Spiegel".