Beamter

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Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Italic title The German civil servants called Template:Lang (men, singular Template:Lang, more commonly Template:Lang; women, singular Template:Lang) have a privileged legal status compared to other German public employees (called Template:Lang), who are generally subject to the same laws and regulations as employees in the private sector. For example, the state can only fire Template:Lang if they commit a felony.

The tradition of classifying only some public employees as Template:Lang dates back to the "enlightened rule" of monarchs practised in 18th-century Prussia and other German states. These states did not accept "radical" concepts such as democracy or popular sovereignty, but they did try to professionalise their public services and to reduce corruption and favouritism. The idea was that whoever represents the state by undertaking official duties which only the state may legally provide (Template:Lang), such as issuing official documents, teaching state-approved curricula to students, preaching in state-approved churches, or making any other kind of official decisions, should have a special legal status and relationship with the state that demands a higher than normal degree of loyalty. At its core, that loyalty is regarded as mutual, with Template:Lang having a special duty of service (Template:Lang) going beyond the duties of salaried workers, with the state having a special duty of seeing to their welfare (Template:Lang) that likewise goes beyond what would be expected of a commercial employer. Some peopleTemplate:Who believe that once Template:Lang (i.e. tenure for life as a civil servant) is conferred, civil servants lack further professional motivation, to the detriment of those they are appointed to serve.

While soldiers and judges are not considered Template:Lang in Germany, many of the same rules apply to them. However, unlike Template:Lang, judges are not subject to the usual hierarchy and order of command of government, in order to preserve judicial independence. Similarly, unlike Template:Lang, soldiers cannot be ordered to act in any manner unrelated to the defence of the state (with the exception of providing peaceful aid in specific emergency situations laid down by law), so as to preserve the civilian nature of the German government.

Privileges and restrictions

Under Art. 33(5) of the Basic Law, appointment as a Template:Lang is for life and subject to public law, not private-law employment regulations. There is no contract of employment between the Template:Lang and the state entity employing them. Template:Lang possess a range of privileges. These include:

  • a special health plan, the Template:Lang, which covers 50% of most health care expenses for the Template:Lang, their spouse, and dependent children, with the Template:Lang being responsible for the remainder of the cover (usually achieved by taking out private health insurance);
  • an index-linked pension of at most 71.75% of final salary, paid directly by the state rather than by the usual public pension provider (unlike those who receive a normal pension, Template:Lang must pay income tax on the entirety of their pension income);
  • exemption from all social security contributions, although they are, like all other employees, subject to income tax;
  • near-ironclad job security – the state may transfer Template:Lang who do not perform well to other, often less desirable (but not less paid), posts, but can only terminate their employment entirely in cases of serious felonies.

There are also a number of restrictions on Template:Lang:

  • Unlike all other public or private employees, they have no right to strike.
  • Their salary and working hours are determined by law, rather than by negotiations between employers and unions. As a result, the usual working week for ordinary public employees is 38.5 hours, whereas for Template:Lang it is now between 40 and 42 hours, depending on the entity employing the Template:Lang.
  • If they opt in to Germany's public health insurance services, they face tight restrictions, must cover both the employee's and the employer's contributions, and cannot include their spouses or dependent children.
  • If they resign from their post, they receive only the very low basic unemployment benefits, not the unemployment insurance benefits, since they do not pay unemployment insurance;
  • If they are removed from active duty due to misconduct, they lose not only their salary, but also all retirement benefits ("Pension") and have no coverage of health-care costs because they never have been insured.
  • Template:Lang who commit a crime – whether on or off duty – face double punishment, since they are subject to both the criminal law and internal disciplinary procedures.
  • Template:Lang can be punished for accepting benefits that are linked to their official role or function and that are provided by third parties. This punishment for receiving an advantage through the position is reaching much further than the prosecution for bribery because in contrast to bribery no favour has to be granted in return.
  • Template:Lang have fewer rights to engage in political work.

Entities that may employ Template:Lang include the federal government, the 16 state governments and all local authorities, certain corporations, agencies and foundations governed by public law, such as the Catholic and Lutheran churches, whose priests have a status similar to that of Template:Lang. These are not, however, employed by the state but by the churches in their capacity as corporations of public law.

Becoming a Template:Lang

A prospective Template:Lang must be a national of the Federal Republic of Germany or of a member state of the European Union (although there are now multiple exceptions), and must generally achieve the status by the age of 35. There are four professional career tracks for Template:Lang, depending on their education:

  • Template:Lang (simple or lower service), mainly for positions of menial work, which has mostly fallen out of use. Similar to enlisted ranks excluding non-commissioned officers.
  • Template:Lang (middle service), mainly for positions requiring roughly the equivalent of a completed apprenticeship. Similar to non-commissioned officers.
  • Template:Lang (upper service), mainly for positions requiring a bachelor's degree or its equivalent. This bachelor's degree is often obtained whilst studying at a public institute of higher education provided, and working as a trainee Template:Lang. Similar to company grade or junior field grade officer (who however in many cases obtain a master's degree before taking up a troop post).
  • Template:Lang (senior service), restricted to graduates holding a master's degree or its equivalent. Similar to military officers of rank major and above, and to all judges.

Transition from a lower to a more senior career track is possible (so-called Template:Lang, "career track enhancement").

Teachers of primary and II and III class secondary schools have a position unofficially between upper and senior service (to which latter the I class secondary school teachers belong, as they begin their service in the highest pay grade of upper service and can by promotion reach senior service (yet in the case of primary teachers, promotion is practically restricted to the principal).

Conferral of the status of Template:Lang does not involve any contract, but formal letters of appointment (Template:Lang). The new Template:LangTemplate:'s first task is to swear the oath of office, including a pledge to uphold and protect the federal laws and the constitution, and – where the employing entity is not the federal government – the constitution and laws of the respective state. Additionally, new Template:Lang have to table a medical supervision screening in order to prove their physical (and to some extent psychological) ability to serve in this type of fixed, decades-long career. Furthermore, they are subject to a prior screening by the police and judiciary – in order to exclude convicted offenders, extremists, and people with false credentials.

There are typically three steps involved in becoming a Template:Lang with full tenure for life:

  1. For all four career tracks (lower, middle, upper and senior civil service) there are specially designed training schemes lasting one year (lower service), two years (middle service) or three years (senior and upper service), including oral and written exams as well as a dissertation. There are exceptions for highly technical tasks. Trainee Template:Lang usually have the title Template:Lang, preceded by the official term of the position, e.g. Template:Lang (RSA, Trainee Government Secretary) or Template:Lang (KKA, Trainee Detective Inspector). Trainee officials of the senior service are called Template:Lang, e.g. Template:Lang for a trainee teacher. They receive a special salary and hold the legal status of Template:Lang, albeit without tenure for life.
  2. The trainee period is followed by a probationary period. This period usually lasts three years, occasionally longer. The salary is based on the salary grade which the Template:Lang will hold upon achieving tenure for life. Usually, the designation of office precedes the abbreviation "z. A." (Template:Lang), which means "to be employed", e.g. Template:Lang Again, there is an exception with regard to the senior service, where probationary Template:Lang may be called Template:Lang (e.g. Template:Lang, Template:Lang), or, alternatively, Template:Lang, although this is now less common.
  3. The official becomes a Template:Lang, i.e. a Template:Lang with full tenure for life.

It should be borne in mind that, whether applicants undergo steps 1, 2, or 3, they are already hold the status of Template:Lang, although initially in training or on probation. It is also important to know, that normally it is impossible to become a Template:Lang after the age of 45.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Fields of work

The status of Template:Lang is held by administrative officials, but also by policemen, prison guards, customs officers, most teachers and university professors, and other professionals in the public service, and by certain holders of political offices such as mayors (but not ministers, who have a peculiar, but similar, status governed by public law). For holders of political office, the status of Template:Lang is not permanent, only applying during the term of office. Furthermore, while most teachers in the western states of Germany are Template:Lang, this is not necessarily the case in eastern (former GDR) states. Berlin, for example, abolished the status of Template:Lang for teachers in 2005, but reintroduced it in 2023.

Formerly, Template:Lang status used to be bestowed more liberally. As it results in permanent tenure, there are still many Template:Lang amongst those working for the German post office (Template:Lang and Template:Lang), the railway services (Template:Lang), and other public utility companies, many of which are either no longer state-owned or have been converted into companies governed by private rather than public law. New employees at those entities are no longer made Beamte. Privatisation and reductions in the number of established posts have reduced the overall number of Beamte. Since 1991, the number of Beamte has declined by 1.4 million to around 3.9 million. This meant that, as of January 2007, reunited Germany had fewer Beamte than the old Federal Republic of Germany.Template:Cn

Local authority staff is split: about one-third are Template:Lang, mostly in higher administrative positions, and two-thirds are ordinary employees.

Income

All Template:Lang were once paid according to the Template:Lang (Federal Payment Law), regardless of who the employing entity was (the federal government, the 16 states, local authorities or other corporations, agencies and foundations governed by public law). This has nowTemplate:When? changed. The 16 states have the option to vary salaries. Nonetheless, the Federal Government still keeps a close eye on the respective state Template:Lang, which may only differ up to 5% from the Federal Salary Scheme.

In Germany, Template:Lang have permanent tenure, i.e. they cannot normally be dismissed, receive certain privileges, and are usually remunerated more generously than ordinary employees. In addition, they are exempt from all social security contributions such as pension or unemployment insurance. Dismissal is permissible for prolonged periods of illness, i.e. three months within half a year, but in this case, the Template:Lang can only be retired if they are not able to go back to work within the next six months. It is also possible to dismiss the Template:Lang during the probationary period, and thereafter the Template:Lang can be retired and given a pension based on years of service.

In the new states which once constituted the German Democratic Republic, most teachers are not Template:Lang, with the possible exception of head teachers and certain specialists (lecturers teaching at schools providing vocational education or at grammar schools).

Salary is usually counted by month (as opposed to the custom in English-speaking countries, or also German tax law, to count it by year). Apart from the salary group, it also depends (in orders A, R and C) on the number of years served. Bypassing additions (for family or special positions, etc.) and variations in sub-federal law, the monthly salary for the lowest possible order (A2) is €1845.90,Template:Timeframe that for a beginning detective (A9) is €2441.26, that for a beginning Template:Lang teacher (A13) or state attorney or local judge (R1) is in either case 3.780,31€, that of a Template:Lang principal (A16) at the end of their career may be up to 6.649,87€ and that of a State Secretary is €12.508,46.

Template:Lang only pay income tax but do not pay social insurance contributions. Their salary is considered an alimentation that comprises the reimbursement of health care costs and continues at a lower level during retirement. As appointment is considered life-long no unemployment insurance is paid. This means that their income after tax is much higher than that of other civil servants or workers in private companies with a comparable gross salary.

Designations of office

In the German civil service (regardless of whether concerning the federal government, the 16 states or other entities), the official title of designation held by the Template:Lang is tied to one of the salary grades of the Federal Payment Act, on which the individual states base their own remuneration legislation.

The following lists are very generalised, especially in order B Template:Lang tend to have very specialised titles; thus, mayors, ambassadors, and presidents of districts and states will be fitted in somewhere depending on the importance of their office. For information's sake, judges and federal ministers who are Template:Lang are included (state prosecutors are, though). In the table, the same thing has been done to the general military ranks (without notice of naval ranks and other deviations).

Lower service (mostly abolished or in abeyance)

Middle service:

Upper service:

Upper service at the police (police officer):

Senior service (advisors, senior advisors, managers):

(The last three do not technically qualify as Template:Lang, but are state officials Template:Lang.)

  • W1: Template:Lang
  • W2: Professor/University Professor
  • W3: Professor/University Professor (often as a director of an institute or holder of a chair)
  • C1: Template:Lang – grade in abeyance
  • C2: Template:Lang – grade in abeyance
  • C3: Template:Lang – grade in abeyance
  • C4: Full Professor (Template:Lang (rare)) – grade in abeyance

Concerning schemes C and W, see below.Template:Vague The W-classification was introduced in 2002 to replace the C-classification for new appointments with the intention to allow salary negotiations for high profile individuals, although the W scale starts on a lower level than the C scale and does not increase with age (comparison between base levels W3 to C4 and W2 to C3, respectively).

Salary Orders B, C, W and R all belong to the Senior Service; the Order B follows on from Order A.

Some titles can roughly be compared to offices held by British or other civil servants.

Overview of civil service grades
Scheme Grade Office name/term Examples (abbr. only for internal usage) cf. Military rank Civil service career law
A 2 Template:Lang Lower service
A 3 Template:Lang Grenadier, Gefreiter
A 4 Template:Lang Obergefreiter, Hauptgefreiter
A 5 Template:Lang Template:Lang
A 6 Template:Lang
A 6 Template:Lang Template:Lang (RS) Template:Lang Middle Service
A 7 Template:Lang Template:Lang (PM) Template:Lang
A 8 Template:Lang Template:Lang (RHS) Template:Lang
A 9 Template:Lang Template:Lang (BHM) Template:Lang
A 9 Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang Upper service
A 10 Template:Lang Template:Lang (ROI) Template:Lang
A 11 Template:Lang Regierungsamtsmann (RA) Template:Lang
A 12 Template:Lang Template:Lang (KHK) Template:Lang
A 13 Template:Lang Template:Lang Template:Lang
A 13 Template:Lang Template:Lang (StR) Template:Lang Senior Service
A 14 Template:Lang Template:Lang (ORR) Template:Lang
A 15 Direktor Kriminaldirektor (KD) Oberstleutnant
A 16 Template:Lang Template:Lang (LRD/LtdRD) Template:Lang

There are also colonels in B3 paygrade. The paygrade of a brigadier general is B6, that of a major general B7, that of a lieutenant general B9 and that of a full general B10.

Secondary employment

Due to the exclusive and intense mutual relationship between state institution and Template:Lang, possibilities for engaging into secondary employments are strictly regulated by the basic laws governing Template:Lang. In general these are limited to few hours per week and additional income beyond a very low threshold has to be delivered to the state. Exceptions are only made for academic professors (W2–W3 and C3–C4) where provisions are made especially for those who represent "free professions" like medicine, certain legal professions and pharmacists. Template:Lang who are Professors of Clinical Medicine usually have treatment privileges at the respective university hospitals in most states.

Federal Oath of Office of the Federal Republic of Germany

Template:Verse translation

The oath can be sworn either with or without the religious imprecation Template:Lang ("So help me God") at the end.

Template:Lang, judges and soldiers

Although officially not having the status of Template:Lang, Template:Lang (judges) and Template:Lang (soldiers for a fixed term of two years above; this does not include (former) conscripts and volunteers of up to 23 months) have similar rights and duties to Template:Lang. For one thing, they are also paid according to the Template:Lang; soldiers according to Orders A and B, and judges according to Order R, as are public prosecutors. The latter are, nevertheless, Template:Lang; soldiers and judges are not. Furthermore, they practically cannot be dismissed, and have the same income. Soldiers and judges are also expected to swear an oath on the Constitution.

Judges are not Template:Lang, although they were until the mid-1950s. Until then, judges were also paid according to Order A, and usually had the titles Template:Lang or Template:Lang. However, officials represent the executive branch of government, while judges are independent of the government. Template:Lang have a duty to obey direct orders from a superior, which is incompatible with an independent system of justice.

Public image of Template:Lang

Template:Lang suffer from an image problem in Germany. A study conducted by the German Civil Service Federation (DBB) concluded that 61% of the German population thought Template:Lang to be "lazy, lethargic, inflexible, stubborn or corrupt". Other common points of contention, among the German public, are that Template:Lang are paid excessive salaries and cannot be removed from their positions for any reason other than engaging in serious criminal conduct or being incapacitated.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The Federal Remuneration Law

There are several different Remuneration Orders (Template:Lang): A (for most Template:Lang and soldiers), B (for ministerial officials), C (for university professors and lecturers; now replaced by W for newly employed lecturers), R (for public prosecutors and all judges) and W for university lecturers and professors. The salaries in order A are organized in steps, with pay increasing based on the duration of service. The different groups reach from A2 to A 16 (A1 was abolished in the 1970s). A2 to A5/6 belong to the Lower Service, A 6 to A 9 to the Middle Service, A 9 to A 13 to the Upper Service and A 13 to A 16 to the Senior Service. The other orders, B, C, R and W, also belong to the Senior Service. German law refers to this as the principle of career tracks or Template:Lang, based on academic qualifications.

  • Template:Lang of the Middle Service are required to have passed their Template:Lang, preferably some further experience.
  • To join the Upper Service, all applicants need the Template:Lang, followed by taking a degree at a college owned by entity for the purpose of training future Template:Lang.
  • Traditionally, most Template:Lang in the Senior Service held a university state exam, then equivalent to a university diploma or master's degree, at a time when law and teacher training was still regulated by the state (law still is). However, the common requirement these days is a master's degree or equivalent, or a state exam in law. Template:Lang teachers now commonly hold a B.A. in two or three subjects, and a master's degree in education. In Baden-Württemberg, the annual starting salary for a single teacher without children (A13) is €45,511.92 pre-tax.
  • Top salaries can be as high as €180,897.60 (B11) also considering that the top positions in the system is alimented on this level using a multplicator of Template:Frac. During retirement the alimentation continues at up to 71.75% of the salary that was received in the two years before retirement.

Comparison to civil servants in other countries

Template:Unreferenced section Although a common translation for Template:Lang is civil servant, there are major differences from the British Civil Service, which refers to employees within government departments and not, for example, teachers or postmen. A better translation is public servant, being permanently employed within the public sector.

Another country whose entire administrative structure is based on an officialdom comparable to that of Germany is Austria, where Template:Lang even often have the same titles, e.g. Template:Lang ("councillor" or "counsellor"). Most cantons and the federal government of Switzerland have abolished their officialdom.

See also

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Clear Template:Civil service Template:Authority control

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