The
German parliament has approved the country's first minimum wage, in a vote in
the Bundestag on Thursday.
The
wage will be set at 8.50 euros (£6.80) per hour, which is higher than the
equivalent in the US and UK.
Angela
Merkel's Christian Democrats approved the new policy as part of a power-sharing
deal with the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
Germany
has previously relied on trade unions and business groups to fix minimum pay
instead.
At
the moment, the country is one of
