Seniority
The seniority ( BDA ) was until 30 June 2009, the basis for calculating the salaries of civil servants and soldiers . Since July 1, 2009, for newly sworn federal officials and soldiers, the seniority has been replaced by the eight levels of experience . Since then, the Federal Salary Act has spoken of “service periods in which performance was performed in accordance with the requirements (experience periods)” ( Section 27 (1) BBesG). The new regulations apply to other civil servants and judges if the regional authority concerned has adopted the reform of the Federal Salary Act.
The beginning of the salary period was determined by law at the beginning of the month in which the civil servant or soldier reached the age of 21, and usually not identical to the actual start of service, which could be up to ten years later. This point in time could be postponed even further, for example due to the time spent caring for children or relatives in need of care.
Through the category of experience times, the aspect of the increase in job-specific experience is to be emphasized more strongly. With consistent application of this principle, z. For example, a 21-year-old young professional will receive the same basic salary as a 31-year-old young professional.
The background to the reform is the case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), according to which a graduation of remuneration based solely on age represents a case of inadmissible age discrimination . Since “underperformers” could receive higher salaries simply because they have become older, even when taking into account experience , the performance principle has been inserted into the Federal Salary Act: Section 27 (5) of the version of the law of July 1, 2009 reads: “Will be determined that the services of the civil servant or soldier do not meet the requirements associated with the office, he remains in his previous level of the basic salary. "
Individual evidence