Abstract

In the fourth quarter of 2014 the German Job Vacancy Survey asked the firms for the first time for the last hired person's wage. The firms can report the gross monthly wage and/or the  gross hourly wage. If the gross hourly wage is not reported, the firms are asked to tell whether they pay exactly the new statutory minimum wage (€ 8,50 per hour) or not.

The aim of the pretest was to learn more about whether, and if yes, how exact, firms can tell - or estimate - the wage of their most recent hiring. Do firms know how high the most recently hired person' s wage is? Is it easier for them to name the hourly or the monthly wage? Do they pay the exact minimum wage or are they subject to special regulations? Do they pay more than the minimum wage?

The results show that our question concerning monthly and hourly wage is easy for firms to answer. The question aiming at the minimum wage, though, was not properly understood.