German politician Sabine Zimmermann, of the left-Bundestag (Parliament), has called temporary work “second class employment” and a “motor for low-wage employment in Germany”, according to the Employers' Association of Personnel Service Providers (BAP).

Zimmerman had made a request to the Federal Agency for Labour (BA) on the wage difference for temporary workers and regular workers. The agency confirmed that temporary workers earn on average €1,300 less than full times workers on a monthly basis.

"Temporary work was and is the driving force behind low-wage employment in Germany," Zimmermann said. “Permanent low-wages had to be reduced due to temporary work and only a few of those temporary workers would be taken into regular employment. She also stated that "many normal jobs would be replaced by temporary work".

Thomas Hetz , Chief Executive Officer of BAP, has rejected Zimmermann’s claims as unsuitable.

"With her comments on temporary work, Zimmermann clearly ignores the facts and ultimately discriminates against hundreds of thousands of employees,” Hetz said. “Temporary work is not an employment relationship of second class. On the contrary, temporary workers are normal workers, with the same rights and duties as other employees. They are completely subject to the general German labour law with all its protective functions. For this reason only, "employment relationship of second class" cannot be mentioned.”

“In addition, temporary work has repeatedly shown that it can integrate groups into the labour market that previously had only a few chances in the labour market,” Hetz said. “Temporary work is an important instrument for labour market integration and to speak of it as second-class is defamatory.”

“Incidentally, temporary work is a service sector with quite normal wages,” Hetz said. “In the meantime, the tariff rates for temporary work are consistently higher than the general statutory minimum wage.

Hetz stated that between the first half of 2010 and the second half of 2016, wages in temporary employment rose by 22% in the west and by 32.4% in the east. According to the new wage agreement, temporary workers who carry out the simplest tasks and are therefore grouped in the lowest pay group will earn 34% in the West by the end of the term of the collective agreement 2019 and even 50.5% more in the east than without the industry supplements.

“The left should finally accept that temporary work is an indispensable tool on the German labor market," Hetz said.

On 1 April, a new law is set to come into effect which aims to prevent the misuse of temporary contracts and specifies that temporary workers should receive the same wages as permanent staff after nine months. Zimmermann has described the new regulations as inadequate.