With the turn of the year 2021/2022, changes will come into force in Germany again. Kreiszeitung.de reveals what we have to prepare for January 1, 2022.
Berlin / Hanover – New year, new luck: at the turn of the year in Germany and Lower Saxony also on January 1st, 2022 many rules and regulations. While the citizens of Lower Saxony focus on the new corona regulation and have to set warning level 3 around Christmas time, citizens in Germany have to stay away from Corona regulations, from 2G in retail and stricter corona rules at schools and daycare centers on some Changes in 2022 in the supermarket, the driver’s license and when reporting sick to calm down.
This is the case every year. We took a look at the legislative changes and wrote down the most important ones.
Changes in the supermarket, driver’s license and post office in 2022: What will change at the turn of the year? An overview
- No more thin plastic bags in the supermarket: From January 2022, the Corona rules in the supermarket at Aldi, Lidl and Edeka as well as Rewe & Co. a ban on light plastic carrier bags. This applies to bags with a wall thickness of 15 to 50 micrometers. The amendment to the Packaging Act is another measure taken by the federal government to protect our environment from plastic waste.
- The deposit rule is being expanded in the supermarket: The one introduced in 2003 by the then Federal Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin (Greens) Can deposit is now also applied to other packaging. A deposit of 25 cents is charged for one-way plastic beverage bottles. There is also a standard can deposit of 25 cents. There are exceptions for milk and mixed milk drinks. There, the mandatory deposit does not apply until January 1, 2024. Beverage cartons such as Tetra Paks remain deposit-free. Due to their recyclability, they are considered environmentally friendly. A waiting period until July 1, 2022 applies to products already on the market.
- Postage at Deutsche Post is getting more expensive: After almost three years of stable letter prices Deutsche Post is raising the postage for all basic national letter products as well as for some additional letter services on January 1, 2022. The new prices are expected to apply until the end of 2024. The increases also apply to E-Post. (see table below).
- The minimum wage will be increased: The statutory minimum wage is currently EUR 9.60 per hour. In the new year it is to rise twice: on January 1, 2022, the minimum wage is to be raised to 9.82 euros and on July 1, 2022 to 10.45 euros. In addition: The traffic light government of the SPD, Greens and FDP want under Labor Minister Hubertus Heil reduced the minimum wage to 12 euros per hour raise.
- No more sick notification in paper form: The certificate of incapacity for work on yellow paper will soon be obsolete. From July 1, 2022, an electronic reporting procedure is to replace the paper form. This was actually planned for January 1, 2022, but since there are problems with the implementation, another six months have been planned as a buffer.
- Tax-free corona bonus for employees: Since March 2020 you can Employers pay their employees a tax-free corona bonus. This is still possible tax-free until March 31, 2022, after which the taxes are due again. The bonus is tax-free up to an amount of 1500 euros. However, it is a voluntary employer contribution. The nursing staff, however, also has to be patient. And under certain circumstances, only vaccinated nurses receive the corona bonus.
- The first driving licenses must be exchanged: the first old driver’s licenses expire on January 1, 2022. The last ones will then no longer be valid in January 2033. If you were born before 1953, January 19, 2033 is the key date – regardless of when your driver’s license was issued.
Deutsche Post will increase postage costs on January 1, 2022:
product | Planned price from January 1, 2022 |
Postcard: | 0.70 euros |
Standard letter: | 0.85 euros |
Compact letter: | 1.00 euros |
Large letter: | 1.60 euros |
Maxi letter: | 2.75 euros |
Priority: | 1.10 euros |
Registered mail: | 2.65 euros |
Registered mail: | 2.35 euros |
Consignments of books and goods up to 500 g: | 1.95 euros |
Consignments of books and goods up to 1,000 g: | 2.25 euros |
There are also other changes that will come into effect on January 1, 2022. For example, the Child allowance to reduce child poverty in Germany Put a stop to it. But also Gas and electricity providers will increase their prices in 2022 and accordingly the Gas prices and electricity prices to the market adjust. One of the reasons for this is that the CO₂ levy per ton increases from 25 to 30 euros. A model household will see an average price increase of 305 euros for gas and 91 euros for electricity next year. * Kreiszeitung.de, merkur.de, 24rhein.de and ruhr24.de are offers from IPPEN.MEDIA.
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