Volt on work and social affairs

Volt wants to give everyone a right to be released from work for further training in future-oriented occupations. Large companies would have to pay for training when they lay people off for business reasons. The goal is for everyone to have a chance in the job market and contribute to the economy.

Volt wants a right to further training. Everyone should get time off work for it. This applies to jobs with a future, such as in technology. Big companies should pay for training when they lay people off.

The right to time off is to apply mainly to STEM fields, meaning science, technology, engineering, and math. Large companies would be required through social plans to fund retraining in future-proof occupations for laid-off workers. The platform groups both measures under lifelong qualification.

Volt wants to tie the minimum wage to the median gross wage and raise it to 60 percent of that figure. Based on 2024 data, that would be €14.61. The platform says this would secure people's livelihood and lead to adequate pension entitlements.

Volt wants a higher minimum wage. It should be 60 percent of the middle wage. In 2024 that would be €14.61 per hour. The minimum wage should be recalculated regularly. People should be able to live on their work.

The minimum wage would be set at 60 percent of the median gross wage and adjusted regularly; the platform gives €14.61 as the 2024 figure. Volt also wants to transpose the EU minimum wage directive into German law. Pension contributions for minimum wage earners would be designed so that they are enough for adequate retirement provision. The platform argues that work has to cover living costs and security in old age.

Volt wants a fundamental reform of mini-jobs (marginal employment) and wants to bring these workers into the social insurance system. The aim is to close gaps in coverage and make it easier to move into regular employment.

Volt wants to change the rules for mini-jobs. These are small jobs with low pay. People in mini-jobs should be covered by social insurance. Then they have better protection. Moving to a regular job should become easier. There should also be less paperwork.

Marginally employed workers would be covered by social insurance so that they are not worse off than other employees. Further measures would support the move from a mini-job into a regular job. Administration of these jobs would be simplified. Volt also wants to prevent work from being split into many very small jobs.

Volt wants to improve the legal position of people who work through digital platforms. Workers in fields such as passenger transport and logistics would be recognized as employees by law. Bogus self-employment and day labor would be tackled.

Some people work through apps, for example as drivers or couriers. Volt wants to protect them better. The law should treat them as employees. Then they have the same rights as other workers. They should also have social protection.

Volt plans measures against precarious work on digital marketplaces and platforms, especially bogus self-employment and day labor. Worker protection and social coverage would also apply to these newer forms of work. The platform cites Spain's "Riders Law" as a model, which guarantees delivery riders fair conditions, transparent pay and social protection. According to Volt, companies could then rely on fair conditions of competition.

Volt wants to make working-time law more flexible along the lines of the EU Working Time Directive, using average weekly working time as the reference. At the same time, worker protection would be increased where flexibility causes disadvantages.

Volt wants to change the rules on working hours. Working time should be spread more freely over the week. Working hours should fit people's lives better. Shorter rest periods should only be allowed when working from home. Where the new rules do harm, protection should get stronger.

Average weekly working time would be handled more flexibly in line with the EU Working Time Directive, so that individual working-time models become possible. In the long run, shorter rest periods would only be allowed for working from home and remote work. Where flexibility has negative effects, Volt wants to expand protection for workers. According to the platform, businesses would be better able to respond to their operational needs.

Volt wants to promote working from home and remote work and give them a clearer legal footing. Whether a job counts as a home-office position would be settled at the start of employment and become a binding part of the contract.

Volt wants to support working from home. It should be clear from the start whether a job allows this. It should be written in the work contract. Then both sides know where they stand. Work and private life should fit together better.

A job would be classified as a home-office position right when employment begins. Arrangements for working from home and remote work would count as essential contract terms and therefore be binding. The platform justifies this with more flexibility for both sides and a better balance between work and private life.

Volt wants to introduce a basic income that covers the cost of living and is designed as a negative income tax. It would replace existing welfare benefits, protect against poverty and cut administrative effort.

Volt wants a basic income. People with no income get money from the state automatically. They do not have to apply. The money replaces other state benefits.

People below a certain income threshold would receive payments instead of paying tax. The money would be paid out without an application. The basic income would replace current welfare benefits up to the poverty line and include Kindergeld (child benefit). Volt expects simpler procedures in public offices, freeing staff for other tasks. Financial security is also meant to help people at risk of poverty return to regular work.

Volt wants to restructure the Ausgleichsabgabe, the levy paid by employers that employ too few people with disabilities. It would be based on a percentage of average gross monthly income and on the size of the company.

Companies must hire people with disabilities. If they hire too few, they pay a levy. Volt wants to calculate this levy in a new way. Large companies should pay more than small ones. Companies that create extra jobs should get tax benefits.

For companies with 50 to 500 employees, the levy per unfilled mandatory position would be 40 percent of average gross monthly income if no one with a disability is employed. It would be 25 percent if up to half the quota is met and 10 percent from half upward. Smaller companies would pay 25, 15 and 5 percent, larger ones 50, 30 and 15 percent. Companies that meet the quota pay nothing. Jobs beyond the quota would be supported with tax credits.

Volt wants to abolish sheltered workshops for people with disabilities and replace them with inclusive companies that pay the minimum wage and grant employee rights. The platform points to the Netherlands as a model.

Today many people with disabilities work in special workshops. Volt wants to end these workshops. They should become companies open to everyone. There, workers get the minimum wage and normal employee rights.

The new companies would be open to everyone. They would work with municipal firms to move employees with disabilities step by step into regular jobs. The platform cites the Netherlands, where it says the minimum wage is paid regardless of the type of disability. In addition, anonymized job application procedures would be introduced and promoted to reduce discrimination in hiring.

Volt regards sex work as a legal profession and as part of bodily self-determination. It would be put on an equal footing with other work under labor law, and remaining criminal provisions and the mandatory health counseling would be dropped. The party wants to reduce discrimination against people working in the sex trade.

Volt says sex work is a job like others. The same work rules should apply to it. Required health counseling should end. Tests for infections should be free. Victims of human trafficking should be allowed to stay in Germany.

Restricted zones where sex work is banned would be set up only in exceptional cases. Tests for sexually transmitted infections and HIV prevention medication would be free. Protection plans would be developed together with professional associations and counseling centers, including private associations. Victims of human trafficking would receive residence permits even if they do not testify against the perpetrators.