Bonn, Germany  - It's been a tradition in Germany for people to remember the municipal employees who haul away their garbage at Christmas with a bottle of schnapps or other type of alcohol.

But many municipalities no longer approve of their employees receiving gifts of alcohol, Germany's etiquette council in Bonn said. On their daily rounds in the holiday season, it's not unusual for the cab of the truck to become piled up with bottles.

And many municipal administrations allow gifts of no more than 8 euros (11 dollars). The municipal administration in Munich this year barred citizens from giving bin men cash gifts, saying it was unfair that those who work in higher-income level neighbourhoods always received more than the haulers who worked in working-class neighbourhoods. (dpa)