Signite's Magazine

The Federal Ministry of Health is currently working on a fundamental reform of the health care system. The focus is primarily on hospitals and their financing. But other ideas are also being discussed. One proposal is that there should be hospitals that are run entirely by nurses. Even if this would go very far, the […]

Since mid-March 2022, staff in care facilities and hospitals in Germany have had to prove that they have been fully vaccinated or have recovered from the Corona virus. This regulation also applied to staff in facilities for disabled people, doctors’ surgeries, emergency services or maternity facilities. Otherwise, there is the threat of a ban on […]

The German TV station “MDR” (Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk) has been broadcasting the documentary series “Die Pflegeklasse” (The Nursing Class) for a short time. You can also watch it on the internet, but unfortunately access is not possible from all countries. The documentary accompanies six young women from Magdeburg who have decided to train as nurses. In […]

In Germany, so-called lower staffing limits for nursing staff have been in force for some time in nursing-intensive areas of hospitals. In this way, the legislator wants to ensure that there are always enough qualified staff available in the departments where good care of patients by nursing staff is particularly important. These lower limits must […]

In Germany, the statutory minimum wage is the absolute lower limit for the payment of labour. In many sectors, trade unions and employers have agreed on minimum wages that are higher than the statutory minimum wage, in some cases very significantly. We show you the industry minimum wages for some sectors and explain in advance […]

The shortage of skilled labour in Germany is an issue in many sectors. In the transport sector the lack has recently grown the most in relative terms. According to a study by the Competence Centre for Securing Skilled Labour (Kofa) of the Institute of German Business (IW), which is closely linked to employers, the demand […]

The government of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg has agreed to set up a state agency for the immigration of skilled workers (LZF), which will also take on coordination and counselling tasks. As part of this reform, there will also be a central immigration authority for foreign skilled workers, replacing the 137 local immigration authorities […]

Since 1 March, the new Immigration Act for Germany has made it possible for future skilled workers to obtain a visa without a notice of deficiency. We explain exactly how this works here. Since the beginning of this month, applications for a work visa can also be submitted without a decision on deficits. Even with […]

The industry trade union IG BCE and the German Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies are warning of impending competitive disadvantages and a weakening of innovative strength. The most important reason for this is the significant shortage of labour. This applies to laboratories as well as to production halls and research departments in the industry. According […]

In a nationwide raid, the customs authorities searched for evidence of social security fraud and illegal employment in the care sector. The action was directed against a complex of companies that provide care staff for 24-hour care in private households, according to the public prosecutor’s office in Dortmund and the main customs office in Münster. […]

The shortage of skilled labour is affecting many sectors in Germany. It has now also reached the traditional branch of mechanical engineering. At the start of the new training year, many apprenticeship places remain unfilled. This is because there is a lack of qualified applicants, according to the industry association VDMA (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und […]

Germany’s Federal Statistical Office has published new statistics on the recognition of foreign professional qualifications. According to the figures, the number of positive recognition procedures increased from 52,300 in 2022 to 65,300 in 2023 (up 25 per cent). This is 11% more than in the previous year. Compared to 2016, when Destatis recorded the recognition […]

Germany is undergoing major demographic change with increasingly significant implications for the world of work. According to a forecast in the new study ‘Immigration and the Labour Market’ by the Bertelsmann Foundation, without immigration, Germany’s working population would decline by 10 percent by 2040 and by as much as 20 percent by 2060, meaning that […]

Collectively agreed salaries for trainees are rising. Thanks to a 6.4 percent increase in collectively agreed training allowances in the current 2024/25 training year, there are now only a few sectors in which trainees receive less than €1,000 per month in their first year under the collective agreement. According to the results of a recent […]

On 1 July, the national minimum wage for nursing care in Germany will increase. This is the third and final stage of the increase decided by the Nursing Commission at the beginning of last year. Nursing staff will then receive at least €20.50 per hour. According to the federal government, around 1.3 million people work […]

The new German government has also brought about a change in personnel at the Ministry of Health. Nina Warken took over from Karl Lauterbach as Federal Minister of Health last week. She is calling for more powers and better working conditions for nursing staff. She believes it is important to tailor tasks more closely to […]