Below are some of the key points in brief (or as briefly as possible for such a complex topic):
Family allowance
First things first: The originally planned abolition of the family allowance level 1 will be waived! Here we have prevailed with our demands!
Compensation payments
Unfortunately, even after reviewing this draft, we still cannot answer what you have all been waiting for for years because the legislature has once again failed to specifically regulate the compensation payments.
On the contrary: The draft is tragically opaque in this regard. The amount of the compensation payments should be determined in a separate regulation. A corresponding draft regulation was not presented to us. We therefore have to wait until the legislature finally takes action here and fear that the compensation payments will be delayed even further as a result.
In principle, we welcome the fact that additional payments should be made to all those entitled to salaries and pensions for the financial years 2021 to 2024, regardless of any previous claim. However, we require corresponding additional payments for previous periods as well.
Increase in salary
It is good that the new regulation is intended to increase the salaries of those starting out in the simple and medium-level jobs. For example, when civil servants are hired into an office with salary group A 4, the basic salary should be set at level 5, and when they are hired into an office in salary group A 6 or A 7, the basic salary should be set at level 3.
Important for us: Experienced civil servants must also be adequately supported in accordance with the value of their positions. What should not be overlooked in this context is that the gaps between the individual salary groups in the entire salary system will decrease as a result of the planned new regulations. In order to ensure that support is appropriate for the office and to maintain the distances between the salary groups, the legislature must not only increase the salaries of the lower salary groups mentioned, but also adjust the salary as a whole. Otherwise, according to the case law of the Federal Constitutional Court, the distance requirement would be violated.
We also require at least the entrance office A 8 with the corresponding adjustment of the experience level, whereby the distance requirement from the other salary groups must also be maintained.
We are also critical of the values used in the draft to calculate the distance from the basic security level. In particular, we reject the consideration of the partner’s fictitious income when determining the necessary annual net minimum salary of 538 euros net per month for a family with two children. In our view, this distorts the entire calculation basis and systematically disadvantages households with only one income.
Alimentative supplementary supplement (AEZ)
With the current draft law, our criticism of the supplementary alimony supplement (AEZ) remains. According to the legislature’s current planning, young people in particular would not benefit from the AEZ because they are usually still unmarried and have no children. But pay is naturally lower, especially in the first few years of work. Nevertheless, these people also have to live in regions with very high rent burdens, because the first use is often in high-price regions, especially in the area of the federal police. In our view, the legislature must therefore also grant these civil servants appropriate support.
Another point of criticism regarding AEZ: The general classification of civil servants living abroad and working in Germany in rent level I is not appropriate. In the Federal Police area there are many people affected who live in neighboring countries. What would be necessary here would be a realistic consideration of actual rental costs. The AEZ would have to be dynamically adjusted to the regional cost of living and rental prices.
So there’s still a lot to do – we’ll stay tuned for you!
