Recent news
Latest items of recent news relevant to Germany as reported in our fortnightly newswire ‘Dernières nouvelles’.
Germany: Business activity plummets in March 2020
Commerzbank has predicted that Germany could slightly recover in the second half of the year, provided the virus is contained during the next few months …
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Germany: Nearly one in ten foreign-controlled enterprises came from the United Kingdom in 2017
In the context of Brexit, it is useful to note that 9% of the foreign-controlled enterprises in Germany have parent companies in the United Kingdom …
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Germany: More foreign apprentices
The total number of new apprenticeship contracts fell over the decade to 2018 by 14 …
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Germany: Wages grow faster than consumer prices in 2019
Between 2018 and 2019, gross pay increased by 2 …
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Germany: Short-time working
A Bill is being debated by the German Parliament (Bundestag) which will, if passed into law, allow employers to introduce short-time working (STW) …
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Germany: Angela Merkel estimates coronavirus will hit 60% to 70% of Germans
Chancellor Angela Merkel has told the Bundestag (Parliament) that, according to her advice, 60-70% of the German population could eventually contract COVID-19 …
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Germany: Higher meal allowance
The official tax-exempt meal allowance for employees working outside of the office has increased to €14 (US$15 …
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Germany: Measles vaccination becomes mandatory
Medical and care staff at community and workplace childcare facilities must now provide proof of full measles vaccine protection under the newly introduced Measles Protection Act …
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Germany: The digital certificate of incapacity for work
With effect from January 1st, 2021, the yellow, paper-form sick leave note – officially called a Arbeitsunfähigkeitsbescheinigung (incapacity to work certificate) will be abolished and replaced by an electronic certificate, which can be accessed directly by the employer …
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Germany: Minimum wage rate for 2020
Employers are now taking stock of the 1 …
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Germany: New immigration acts to attract and retain skilled workers
Hans-Eckhard Sommer, Head of Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), believes that the attraction of well-educated young people from southern Europe into Germany is preferable to attracting refugees, as he sees them as far easier to integrate …
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Germany: Occupational pensions
Back in 2018, the Act to Strengthen Company Pensions revolutionized occupational pensions by introducing pure DC schemes …
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Germany: Rise of e-mobility puts ‘more than 400,000 jobs at risk’
A study published by the think tank “Future of Mobility (NPM)” has forecast that more than 400,000 German jobs will be at risk due to the switch to electric cars over the next 10 years …
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Germany: New law forces all retailers to issue receipts
Employees making minor expense claims no longer have the excuse that they did not receive a receipt …
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Germany: Government opens labour market for skilled workers from non-EU countries
The Skilled Immigration Act (Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz), which was adopted by the German Bundestag (national parliament) in June 2019, is expected come into force on March 1st 2020 …
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