Germany is internationally envied for its dual system of training skilled workers. The apprentice is trained 3.5 days a week in the company, 1.5 days in vocational school. The monthly remuneration for an apprentice is about 600-800 euros, depending on the apprenticeship year (the average apprenticeship lasts three years) and the branch.

Attending vocational school, however, does not release the company from actually training the apprentice during practical training and not using him/her as a mere labour force.

A trainee who was only allowed to work in the company sued his employer for the difference between the training allowance and the salary of an ordinary employee before the Labour Court of Bonn (judgement of 8 July 2021, AZ 1 CA 308/2) and was proven right. The judge ordered the employer to pay according to a wage group of an existing framework collective agreement. Collective agreements also exist in Germany, but most of them are not generally binding.