Internships in Germany are not a pay-free zone. Under § 22 MiLoG, interns are entitled to the statutory minimum wage unless the internship falls under one of four narrow exemptions — and where a three-month exemption is exceeded by even a single day, courts award the minimum wage for the entire internship, back to day one. Combine that with the Scheinpraktikum doctrine — sham internships that are really regular jobs get reclassified as full employment — and the fact that contractual forfeiture clauses cannot cut off minimum-wage claims, and many current and former interns are sitting on four- or five-figure back-pay claims without knowing it.
The rule: minimum wage for interns
The Minimum Wage Act expressly includes interns (Praktikantinnen and Praktikanten within the meaning of § 26 BBiG) in its scope, § 22 Abs. 1 Satz 2 MiLoG. The statutory minimum wage — €13.90 per hour for 2026, rising to €14.60 from January 2027; the Mindestlohnkommission adjusts the figure in regular cycles, so check the rate applicable to your internship period — is the same floor that applies to a Minijob. It is owed for every hour actually worked, including overtime, weekend events and „just help us finish this project” evenings.
Only four categories of internships are exempt (§ 22 Abs. 1 Satz 2 Nr. 1–4 MiLoG):
- Compulsory internships (Pflichtpraktikum): internships mandatorily required by a school curriculum, by training regulations or by a university Studienordnung. These are exempt regardless of duration — but only in the scope the regulations actually require.
- Orientation internships up to three months: voluntary internships to orient yourself before starting vocational training or a degree programme.
- Training-accompanying internships up to three months: voluntary internships alongside vocational training or university studies — but only if you have not previously had an internship relationship with the same employer.
- Einstiegsqualifizierung and vocational-preparation measures under the SGB III framework.
Everything else is minimum-wage territory: post-graduation internships, „gap year” internships, a second voluntary internship at the same company, and any voluntary internship agreed for longer than three months.
The three-month cliff: one day too long, paid from day one
The exemptions in categories 2 and 3 are hard-capped at three months. The case law is unforgiving in the intern’s favour: if the internship is agreed for longer than three months from the outset, or is extended beyond three months during its course, the prevailing view is that the minimum wage is owed for the whole duration — not merely for the excess period. A five-month „orientation internship” therefore generates a minimum-wage claim for all five months. Employers who offer to „simply extend” an unpaid three-month internship rarely realise they are creating a retroactive wage claim reaching back to the first day.
Scheinpraktikum: when your internship is really a job
Labels decide nothing in German labor law — substance does. A genuine internship is dominated by a learning purpose: structured guidance, training content, rotation through departments, supervision. Where the intern in reality fills a regular position and delivers work like any employee, the relationship is an employment relationship regardless of what the contract says. Typical red flags:
- You work independently on production tasks with little or no instruction or feedback.
- You are slotted into shift or staffing plans like regular staff.
- You replaced a departed employee, or interns rotate through the same „position” back to back.
- Your output is billed to clients or is operationally necessary for the business.
- There is no training plan and nobody is responsible for your learning.
The consequences of reclassification go beyond minimum wage: as an employee you can claim the übliche Vergütung — the customary remuneration for the role, § 612 Abs. 2 BGB — which is typically far above the minimum wage, plus vacation, sick pay and, after six months in companies above the size threshold, full dismissal protection.
Vacation, sick pay, contract and Zeugnis
Voluntary interns are „zur Berufsbildung Beschäftigte” and count as employees for the core protective statutes:
- Vacation: the BUrlG applies — at least 20 working days per year on a five-day week, pro-rated for shorter internships. Untaken days must be paid out at the end.
- Sick pay: the EFZG applies — up to six weeks of continued pay once the relationship has lasted four weeks. See our article on Entgeltfortzahlung.
- Written terms: the essential conditions of the internship must be documented in writing.
- Certificate: you are entitled to a Zeugnis at the end — insist on a qualified one covering tasks and performance; it matters for your CV.
For compulsory internships embedded in a school or university curriculum, the prevailing view is that these employee protections do not apply automatically, because the internship is part of the education rather than an employment relationship. Well-organised host companies grant them voluntarily — worth asking.
International students: mind the work-day quota
Students from outside the EU may work only within a residence-law quota (140 full days or 280 half days per year under the rules applicable to student residence permits — verify the wording of your own permit). Compulsory internships required by your Studienordnung do not count against the quota; voluntary internships generally do, even unpaid ones. Exceeding the quota endangers your residence status, so plan internships and a Werkstudent job together. The quota question is separate from the pay question: an internship that strains the quota still generates full wage claims.
How to claim unpaid or underpaid internship wages
-
Reconstruct your hours
Calendar entries, emails, chat logs, badge data, shift plans. Courts accept a coherent, plausible estimate of daily hours where the employer kept no records.
-
Calculate the claim
Hours worked × the applicable minimum wage — or the customary salary for the role, if the internship was a sham — minus what was actually paid.
-
Demand payment in writing
A dated letter with a payment deadline. This also secures claims above the minimum wage against contractual forfeiture clauses.
-
File at the labor court
Payment claims at the Arbeitsgericht carry low cost risk: in the first instance each side bears its own lawyer costs regardless of outcome (§ 12a ArbGG).
Worked example
A marketing graduate takes a six-month „voluntary internship” at a Cologne agency straight after her master’s degree: €500 per month „allowance”, 40 hours per week. From week three she runs two client social-media accounts on her own, sitting at the desk of a junior manager who left the month before.
Analysis: a post-graduation internship is not exempt at all — and this one exceeds three months anyway. At roughly 173 monthly hours and €13.90 per hour, the minimum-wage floor is about €2,405 per month, or €14,430 for six months; minus the €3,000 actually paid, the back-pay claim is roughly €11,430. Because she in fact filled a junior role, the stronger claim is the customary junior salary of around €2,900 per month: €17,400 − €3,000 = €14,400. We demand the customary salary in writing inside the contractual forfeiture window, file at the labor court, and the matter settles at €12,500 plus a qualified Zeugnis describing junior-level responsibilities — a document worth more than the money for her next application round.
Frequently asked questions
My compulsory internship lasts nine months. Do I get the minimum wage?
No — Pflichtpraktika required by your Studienordnung are exempt regardless of length. But the exemption covers only what the regulations require: if your curriculum mandates five months and you stay nine, the voluntary tail is a separate internship and payable.
I signed a contract saying the internship is unpaid. Is that binding?
Not if the internship is subject to the minimum wage. § 3 MiLoG makes any waiver invalid — the signed „unpaid” clause simply does not stop the claim.
The employer wants to extend my three-month internship. Should I agree?
Only with pay. The extension pushes the internship over the three-month cap, triggering the minimum wage retroactively from day one. Pointing this out usually converts the „extension” into a proper paid contract — see our article on fixed-term contracts before you sign one.
The internship ended a while ago. Can I still claim?
Usually yes. Minimum-wage claims are enforceable for three years (the limitation period starts at the end of the year in which the claim arose) and contractual forfeiture clauses cannot touch them. Claims above the minimum wage should be raised as fast as possible because forfeiture clauses may apply to them.
Do interns get a reference letter?
Yes. Voluntary interns have a statutory certificate right, and for compulsory internships a certificate is standard practice. Ask for a qualified Zeugnis — tasks plus performance evaluation — not just a confirmation of dates.