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Everything that changes in Germany in November 2019

From invoices to slot machines and patient care, there are a lot of changes in store for people living in Germany in November.

Published: 30 October 2019 10:21 CET
Updated: 20 November 2019 09:20 CET

Everything that changes in Germany in November 2019

Get ready for changes in November. Photo: DPA

Holidays in November

In some German states (but not all, unfortunately) workers can expect time off work in November. Right at the start of the month, residents in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland received an extended weekend on All Saints' Day (Allerheiligen) on November 1st.

One state can also look forward to a holiday on November 20th. The day of Repentance and Prayer (Buß- und Bettag) is a celebrated in Saxony.

Changes to identity card

Since 2017, German citizens have been able to identify themselves online using the online ID card function (eID function) their ID card (Personalausweis).

This card with the eID function can be used to provide a legally binding signature from a distance and it can be used to log in to authorities, insurance companies or for online shopping.

However, this function is not yet accessible to everyone. EU citizens and German nationals living abroad have so far been excluded. This will change in November as the federal government introduces the eID card.

This is a chip card with the most important data such as name, address and date of birth. EU citizens will be able to identify themselves electronically simply and securely. This is necessary, for example, if you want to apply for a certificate of good conduct online or submit a tax return.

Germans living abroad in other countries can also enter their foreign address.

The chip will be issued for ten years. Applicants must be at least 16 years old, reported Focus Online.

Photo: DPA

Car insurance deadline

If you have a car in Germany, you must have insurance for it. But if you'd like to change your car insurance (Kfz-Versicherung) for next year, the deadline to do so is November 30th.

It can be a way to save money if you manage to secure a cheaper tariff.

Bid to improve nursing care

On November 1st, new guidelines for inpatient care and nursing home assessments will come into force.

Up until now, nursing homes have been able to receive top marks from inspectors more easily – even if there was problems in care for individual residents. It made it difficult to find out the standard of care for the some 700,000 residents of nursing homes in Germany.

However, this will change with a new nursing care inspection system. In future, the focus will no longer be on bureaucracy and whether each step has been meticulously documented, but on whether the individual residents are doing well and what risks they face.

Quality and possible grievances will be measured in a two-stage procedure. Nursing homes must regularly collect data such as the frequency of residents' pressure sores, serious fall injuries as well as what they are doing to promote their mobility, independence, communication and social contacts.

This already came into force in October, but from November, nursing homes now have to collect data on each resident every six months and report the results to a data centre.

In addition, auditors from statutory and private health insurance companies are to examine the quality of the individual homes on 24 aspects every 14 months. They will also evaluate the data collected.

Boost for employees

It's good news for around 60,000 employees in the electrical trade sector in Baden-Württemberg: they will receive more money from November. The electrical engineering and information technology trade association, which is responsible for the employers' side, and the IG Metall trade union were able to come to an agreement with employers.

Accordingly, the salaries of employees in the industry will rise by 3.9 percent in the future. Apprentices will receive €60 more per month – which, according to IG Metall, corresponds to a pay increase of between six and eight percent. The new contract will initially run until the end of March 2021.

Cutting down on paperwork

Germany is on the road to becoming more digitized. Photo: DPA

German bureaucracy can be one of the most difficult things to deal with when you move to the Bundesrepublik. But a new law is changing the way bills are received and processed.

So for all those who issue invoices to the authorities, it's going to get bit easier next month. Since November 27th 2018, the highest federal authorities and constitutional bodies have had to accept and process electronic invoices. And from November 27th 2019, all other federal contracting authorities will also be obliged to do so.

The last step of the e-invoicing regulation will then come into force next year. From November 2020, all companies working with the public sector will also be obliged to issue invoices electronically. The aim is to reduce bureaucracy and modernize administration.

The regulation is based on a German law, but is ultimately based on European regulations. Invoices are transmitted via an administrative portal for which companies and suppliers must register with a user account.

Less slot machines allowed in pubs

In the fight against gambling addictions in Germany, an amendment to the gambling regulation (Spielverordnung) comes into force in November.

So far, operators of pubs, betting shops or restaurants have been allowed to set up three gaming machines per location. This is to change in the course of a new regulation. As of November 10th, only two machines will be allowed per location.

Major climate strike

Fridays for Future is planning strikes in Germany as part of Global Climate Strike Day on November 29th.

The alliance announced that activists from more than a hundred cities had announced actions on this date before the start of the World Climate Conference in Chile. In addition to strikes, “creative protests” are also planned in Germany and worldwide.

Bargains for shoppers

If you fancy some retail therapy, don't forget that Black Friday and Cyber Monday is approaching: Amazon, Ebay and numerous other retailers are set to offer heavy discounts.

Black Friday is on November 29th and Cyber Monday is on December 2nd.

There are new rules on the amount of slot machines in venues in Germany. Photo: DPA

Update imminent for Windows 10

The second major Windows 10 update this year is about to be released. According to Microsoft, the new update will come out on November 12th, which is a bit later than originally planned.

The update should not only make Windows 10 easier to use – Microsoft has also made some technical improvements and changes to the user interface.

Gamers take note

Google's cloud gaming streaming service Stadia is scheduled to launch in Germany on November 19th. With Stadia, video games no longer have to run on home computers or consoles. Instead, users can stream them directly from the cloud via the Internet at the push of a button.

The games run on specialized servers from Google and can be played by users on many different devices without lots of hardware requirements.

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Everything that changes in Germany in February 2023

No more Covid masks on trains

It’s one of the few remaining Covid rules that still affects day-to-day life in Germany for most people – and it’s due to end on February 2nd. In January, Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) said he’d be ending the mask-wearing rule on long-distance trains and buses a couple of months sooner than planned.

The move follows announcements from numerous federal states that they would be dropping compulsory masks on local transport around the same time. From early February, people in Berlin, Brandenburg, Thuringia, Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania and Saxony will no longer be obliged to bring an FFP2 mask with them when they take public transport.

Several other states – including Bavaria, Hesse and Schleswig-Holstein – had already taken the same step in December and January.

In Thuringia (February 3rd), Bremen, Lower Saxony (February 2nd) and Hamburg (February 1st), the obligation to isolate during a Covid infection will also be dropped.

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End of pandemic worker safety measures

Alongside Covid masks on public transport, one of the Covid regulations still in place is the so-called Arbeitsschutzverordnung, or Work Protection Regulation. This obliges employers to implement a hygiene concept in the workplace – so things like hand sanitiser and adequate ventilation – as well as supporting workers who want to get vaccinated.

That’s now due to end a couple of months early on February 2nd. In its place, there’ll be recommendations from the government on how best to protect workers from Covid.

The good news for employees is that they’ll still be able to get a doctors’ sick note over the phone if they need to take time off due to a respiratory infection. The special regulation permitting up to seven days’ ‘Krankschrieben’ over the phone has been extended until March 31st.

Short-term working will also continue if at least ten percent of the workforce is affected by the loss of work. This rule will stay in place until June 30th.

Test requirement for Chinese visitors

At the start of January, the EU came to an agreement on travel restrictions for visitors from China, which is now being implemented in Germany.

Any visitors arriving in Germany from China will require a negative Covid test to enter the country. There will also be randomised checks at the border for potential virus variants.

A Covid testing centre at Frankfurt am Main airport. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Boris Roessler

Though Germany eased its pandemic rules last year, there are fears that the current Covid wave in China could lead to new dangerous variants that could then become prevalent in Europe. In addition, China eased its own travel restrictions on January 8th, meaning tourists are likely to be visiting again and residents of China will also be travelling abroad.

Major beer brand to hike up prices

The rise in prices has many of us reaching for a beer – but there’s a bit bad news on that front. Yes, the price of some popular beer brands is also set to go up.

To put it more accurately, most of the major breweries have already raised their wholesale prices to combat increased energy and logistics costs in the last few months. But one of the few still standing – NRW’S Warsteiner Group – has now announced a series of price hikes that will come into force in February.

Crates of Warsteiner beer. Photo: pa/obs Warsteiner Brauerei | Hubertus Struchholz Fotografie

As reported by trade newspaper Getränke News, the price of bottled beer is set to rise by €6.80 per hectolitre, while the price of a barrel of draught beer will go up by €20.

If costs are passed onto consumers (which seems likely), the following brands could be affected:

Warsteiner
Herford
Frankenheim
King Ludwig
Kaltenberg
Paderborn
Isenbeck

Over-16s allowed to vote in EU elections

In the next round of European elections, the voting age will be reduced from 18 to 16. The legislation for this will come into force in February.

Unfortunately for youngsters, they won’t be able to exercise their democratic rights straight away: the next round of EU parliamentary elections is scheduled in spring 2024, so it’ll be around a year before 16 and 17 year-olds can head to the polls.

Hardship fund for pensioners

In what could come as a huge help to people struggling on low pensions, select groups of retirees will soon be able to apply for a special hardship fund.

From February until September 30th, people affected by the cost of living crisis can apply for a special one-time grant of €2,500 from the Härtefallfonds – or Hardship Fund – Foundation. The fund is primarily aimed at Jewish refugees and late repatriates or people who lost a large part of their pension when East and West Germany were reunited, but others can also access it under certain conditions. For example:

Employees of the Deutsche Reichsbahn, the Deutsche Post or in the health and social services sector
Carers of family members who have had to give up work
Ethnic German immigrants (Spätaussiedler)

States can also opt to join the Foundation and match the hardship fund provided, meaning pensioners in some states could receive up to €5,000 to assist them with their living costs. Eligible retirees can also submit an application via the Ministry for Work and Social Affairs.

A woman looks in her wallet while grocery shopping. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild | Fernando Gutierrez-Juarez

Energy-saving lightbulbs with quicksilver discontinued

For around 15 years, quicksilver (or mercury) has been banned in pretty much all forms of electronic and electrical equipment – but there have been carve-outs for certain types of lightbulbs. That’s now due to change.

From February, companies in the EU will no longer be allowed to produce energy-saving lightbulbs using mercury. But don’t be surprised if you see one or two still being sold in the shops – apparently, existing stock can still be sold and purchased even though no new quicksilver lamps can be made.

New cars to come with new first aid kits

If you’re thinking of purchasing a brand new car from February, you should be aware that there are new rules on the types of first aid kit that have to be included.

From this month, the triangular first aid kit will be discontinued and sets included for drivers will have to include at least two face masks. In return, car companies can dispense with one of the first aid cloths that are normally included.

This won’t affect older cars on the market, however, so there’ll be no retrofitting required. The legislation will only affect new cars that come on sale in February.

More public drinking water fountains

It’s not quite the weather for dunking your face in an ice-cold water fountain, but this could certainly be welcome come spring and summer.

Under new EU Drinking Water Directive, member states are required to offer more drinking fountains in parks, shopping centres and other public spaces – so don’t be surprised if you see a few more of these springing up from February.

A public water fountain in a park in Hannover. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Julian Stratenschulte

House crickets allowed in food

We may all be consuming a few more insects this year. That’s because certain types of insects are being added to list of acceptable ingredients used in food in the European Union.

Back in 2021, the dried yellow mealworm became a regulated food product, and this has more recently been followed by the grain-mould beetle larvae and the domestic house cricket. The EU points out that many cultures around the world regularly consume insects and that they can be a sustainable and nutritious source of protein.

But if you’re keen to avoid them, never fear: the rules state that food companies have to state any use of insects clearly on their list of ingredients and also include allergen information for people who are allergic to crustaceans, molluscs, and house dust mites.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article included a section on electronic sick notes coming into force in February. These were in fact introduced in January so we’ve removed this section and we’ll write a separate explainer on this topic. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

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