Recent changes to German employment law - as well as the election of a new government - will require employers to take action to ensure that they are compliant with the new legislation in 2022.
Higher minimum wage
As of January 1 2022, the statutory minimum wage has increased to EUR 9.82 gross per working hour. From July 2022, this will increase further to EUR 10.45 gross per working hour. In addition, the newly elected government has also announced that there will be an additional increase to EUR 12.00 in the future. The date that this becomes effective is currently unknown.
Implementation of the whistle-blower directive
The Federal Republic of Germany intended for the European Directive 2019/1937/EU on the protection of whistle-blowers to be implemented by no later than December 2021, but this has not yet been done. It is expected that the newly elected government will implement this directive soon (maybe as early as within the first six months of 2022) and their coalition agreement refers to a planned "legally secure and practicable" implementation of the directive into German law. The coalition agreement also gives a hint that the scope of application is broader than the EU directive and might also apply to violations against national law (and not only EU law).
Special regulations for short-time allowance extended
The intended temporary special regulations for short-time allowances due to the Covid 19 pandemic have been extended to March 31 2022. The main effects are...
Conspiracy theories around Artemis II have spread online after the crew returned safely from its lunar mission, with fake NASA claims and old Apollo 11 hoax stories gaining traction on social medi...