The German government unveils plans on Wednesday to expand a law to implement minimum wages for all foreign workers and curb the influx of low-wage workers from Eastern Europe.
The law, in place since 1996 requiring foreign construction workers in Germany to be paid at German wage levels, will be expanded to foreign workers in all sectors, the government said in a statement.
"This is to ensure all branches have a chance for fair competition with foreign companies and workers in Germany," said the statement.
The government is expected to approve the legislation in the middle of May.
A substantial number of low-wage Central and Eastern Europeans have already entered the German labour market, threatening to undermine employment of German nationals in a country where unemployment is already running at its highest levels since the
end of World War II.
Germany's jobless rate in March stood at 12.5 percent with some 5.2 million people out of work.
Average wage levels in Germany dropped 1.2 percent following the entry of Central and Eastern European countries into the European Union last year and experts say the trend will continue unless the government takes decisive steps to curb the influx of cheap Eastern European labour.