According to an agency report, the federal government has agreed on a nursing reform that should contribute to better pay for nursing staff.
From September 2022, the approval of old people's homes and care services will be made dependent on remuneration according to the tariff, reports the Reuters news agency.
This emerges from a cabinet proposal from Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU).
The agreement was coordinated with Finance Minister Olaf Scholz and Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (both SPD), it was said from government circles.
Both had asked for a collective bargaining agreement.
The project is to be financed from 2022 onwards through a higher contribution rate to long-term care insurance for childless people.
This should increase by 0.1 points to 3.4 percent of the gross wage.
In addition, the federal government wants to contribute an annual subsidy of one billion euros.
Spahn recently requested a grant of 2.6 billion euros.
The agreement, which was first reported by "Bild am Sonntag", should be approved by the cabinet next Wednesday, as things stand.
Since it is formally a matter of changes to a draft law that has already been submitted to the Bundestag, the parliament can decide on the nursing reform in June before the summer break.
The home residents' own share of the care costs should be limited
The previous draft law also provides for a limitation of the home residents' own share of the care costs so that better pay for care workers is not at their expense.
A new addition is that from September 2022, care facilities must either be bound by collective bargaining agreements or pay wages at least as much as a care collective agreement.
This should also apply to existing care facilities. Nursing facilities that are not bound by collective bargaining agreements are given an incentive to apply collective agreements that are above the normal regional level, as the long-term care insurance funds reimburse the region's average wage plus 10 percent. According to calculations by the Ministry of Labor, around half of the approximately 1.2 million nursing staff are not paid according to the tariff. They earned about two euros less an hour.