Right to immobility.
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Respect for the Constitution.
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Hierarchical obedience, except when the order is clearly illegal, in which case the
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supervisor must be informed in order to avoid accountability, or except in cases in which action may be detrimental to human dignity.
Right to exercise political activities, whilst observing the neutrality of their functions
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at all times.
The employer has the obligation to help its employees and families.
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They do not have the right to strike, unlike other state employees.
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Diversity Policies
The Law on the Enforcement of Equality between Men and Women of 30th November 2001 aims to achieve equality in all public service areas, with the obligation of appointing a commissioner on women’s affairs, who has the task of promoting and monitoring the implementation of the law.
Amongst other measures, the law stipulates that women who are equally suitable, qualified and capable as men shall be given preferential treatment in areas where they are underrepresented. This applies to training, recruitment, employment and promotion. Furthermore, it sets regulations for family conciliation. Employees with family obligations are entitled to part-time employment or special leave with preferential treatment in the allocation of positions on their return to their initial situation.
Work-Life Balance
Working Hours: The normal working week consists of 41 hours (40 hours with full salary for civil servants with a child under the age of 12 or a dependent relative).
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Flexible working time is available fulfilling the core hours of the day and there are up to 24 flexible days a year.
Tele-working: An agreement must be reached between the employer and trade union representatives, providing that the tasks can be fulfilled this way. Tele-working agreements usually involve alternating between working at the office and at home.
Part-time work: The Act on Part-Time Work and Limited Employment grants public employees the right to work part-time on the basis of consensus between employers and employees and providing there are no operational grounds to reject this type of work.
Paternity Leave. All employees are entitled to work part-time up to 30 hours a week until the child reaches the age of 3. At a later point in time, a period of up to 12 months parental leave can be taken.
Mobility: Mobility is granted for operational reasons or at the request of the employee:
It may be temporary or permanent, with transfer to another post.
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It involves the temporary or permanent secondment or transfer to another authority
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within the same or different spheres (e.g. from the Federation to a Land or to a European or international organization).
4. CAREER- BASED SYSTEM
Career: Career development is based on merit (according to a grading system) as well as seniority and budgetary limitations.
Recruitment and Training: Recruitment does not have a centralized competitive examination system and is organised independently by each authority. Senior Civil Servants are recruited from those that apply for a project. In the Länder, executives with seniority may be selected for a specific term prior to obtaining a permanent position.
Assessment: Although the Federal Ministries have different procedures for performance appraisal, they follow common principles stipulated in the federal regulations in relation to career. Most assessment guidelines provide for two categories of criteria:
performance criteria (results in the assessment period) and capacity criteria (potential for future development).
5. REMUNERATION
All civil servants are paid in accordance with the Bundesbesoldungsgesetz (Federal Salary Regulation), regardless of where they provide services. Nowadays, the 16 Federal states may vary salaries, depending on whether they are considered to be
“rich” or “poor” states (the former include Bavaria, Baden-Wuerttemberg or Hesse, and the latter are the majority of the eastern states). However, the Federal Government
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continues to supervise the respective “Landesbesoldungsgesetze”, which may only vary from the Federal Salary System by 5%.The State that has carried out a more in-depth modification of its pay system is Beamte.
The basic salary is the same for all civil servants (federal, federated and magistrates) and is set out in federal law. Bonuses are negotiated with the respective employees.
There are two pay schemes in the area of general administration including the federal administration: Scheme A: Levels (A1-A16) covers the vast majority of civil servants, who receive incremental salaries. Scheme B: Levels (B1-B11) or fixed salaries that affect civil servants in senior positions.
The basic salary may be supplemented by the family allowance, as well as specific allowances which are also applicable to assignments abroad. To reward outstanding performance, performance-related pay, performance steps (merit increment), performance bonuses (one-off payments) and performance allowances (up to 12 months) were introduced in 1997 and enhanced in 2002.
6. SOCIAL DIALOGUE AND SYSTEM OF REPRESENTATION
Civil servants do not have the right to strike and initially, they do not have the right to collective bargaining either. In spite of this, the two main federal trade unions, the deutscher Gewerkschaftbund (DGB) and the deutscher Beamtendbund (DBB), exclusive to public employees, participate with the Ministry of the Interior in the drafting of legal provisions related to the rights, working conditions, training, etc. of civil servants (membership of these unions is between 40 and 55%). Public service laws set out the obligation to consult with trade unions prior to the adoption of unilateral measures.
The agreements are legally binding.
Until 2003, collective bargaining was highly centralized as the Agreements affected the public sector as a whole (Federal, Länder, and local levels). Since 2005, negotiation with employees of the Länder has been carried out separately.
7. SENIOR CIVIL SERVANTS
The highest levels of administration (Heads of Department, Ministers and Secretary-Generals) are occupied by senior civil servants (politische Beamte), who generally come from the Administration, but are selected based on political criteria. It is organized as a Spoil System, similar to the American system. As for their status, they enjoy special conditions that are different to the rest of the civil servants although there is no formally recognised status.
The employment system is career-based, which seeks to build a coherent public service with senior executives sharing the same culture. It means that teamwork, communication between government organizations is fluent and internal mobility is encouraged.
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