Federal civil servant (Germany)

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A federal civil servant is anyone who is a German civil servant to the federal government or a federal corporation , institution or foundation under public law ( employer ), in a public service and loyalty relationship ( civil servant relationship ) ( § 4 BBG in conjunction with § 2 BBG ). They are civil servants.

Demarcation

In addition to the officials, there are the state officials . You are in a public service and loyalty relationship with a German state , a state-direct corporation, institution or foundation. Municipal officials have a district , another municipality association , a district-free city or a district-belonging municipality as their employer . Church officials are not state officials. Their employers are the religious societies under public law .

Legal status

The legal status of federal civil servants is based on the German federal civil service law . The basis is Article 33 of the Basic Law ( Art. 33 GG), in which it is determined that every German has equal access to every public office according to his suitability , qualifications and professional performance ( performance principle ), admission to public offices as well as public office The rights acquired in the service are independent of religious denomination , the exercise of sovereign powers as a permanent task, as a rule, is to be assigned to members of the public service who are in a public service and loyalty relationship , and the law of the public service, taking into account the traditional principles of the professional civil service is to be regulated and developed. These traditional principles include, among other things, the duty of neutrality and loyalty to the constitution, the civil servant relationship for life as a rule, the performance principle in recruitment and other career-related decisions, the alimentation principle and the ban on strikes . These special rights and obligations serve to implement democratically made decisions by the legislature, to ensure the quality of state services and to maintain the workability of the public administration .

Below the Basic Law, the Federal Civil Service Act ( BBG ) forms the core of the law of federal civil servants. The various civil servant relationships , the requirements for establishing a civil servant relationship and the basic duties of federal civil servants are regulated there. The careers are set out in the Federal Careers Ordinance ( BLV ), the salary in the Federal Salary Act ( BBesG ) and the pension in the Civil Service Act ( BeamtVG ). The supplementary regulations, such as the Recreation ( EUrlV ) and Special Leave Ordinance ( SUrlV ), the Federal Travel ( BRKG ) and Moving Costs Act ( BUKG ), the Separation Allowance ( TGV ) and Federal Allowance Ordinance ( BBhV ) are part of the civil service law.

Careers

A separate career law applies to federal civil servants. The career paths of federal civil servants are organized into career paths . In the federal government they are divided into four career groups : simple , middle , senior and senior service . Various minimum requirements are set for recruitment into each career group.

Frequency distribution of the individual career groups as of June 30th
year Higher service Higher service Medium Grade Simple service
absolutely relative (%) absolutely relative (%) absolutely relative (%) absolutely relative (%)
2018 21,840 13.0 58,630 35.02 85,080 50.8 1,875 1.1
2017 21,010 12.5 57,865 34.5 87,080 51.9 1.965 1.2

Within the career groups there are several career paths which are set up for different areas of activity and which require related training and education . These career types are:

In each career type, one career group can be set up, e.g. B. Advanced non-technical administrative service. Career law defines the subject-specific orientation of training courses in order to convey the qualifications for the individual career paths. For example, technical or engineering training is required for a career in technical administration. In some careers, only people who have completed a preparatory service can be fully or predominantly employed . An example of this are the careers of the law enforcement service .

The civil service trial period is basically three years. The performance principle is decisive for promotions. The official assessments are an essential instrument for this . In most cases, with the award of a higher legal office, there is a change to a higher-valued post . A position with a higher value must be available for this. In principle, it is possible to move up to a higher career group.

Salary

Federal civil servants do not receive a salary or remuneration for their work, but salaries . These are the service of the state for the fact that they are in a public service and loyalty relationship with the state. The basis of the salary is the alimentation principle as part of the traditional principles of the professional civil service. According to this, the Federal Republic of Germany, as the employer, is obliged to provide the federal civil servant in active service, in the event of invalidity and in old age, with an adequate livelihood for the (former) office. The salary is intended to ensure that the federal civil servant can devote himself entirely to his profession. Only an economically independent professional civil service can perform the tasks assigned to it by the constitution.

The main component of the salary is the basic salary . A family allowance and, if necessary, other allowances can also be added . All federal civil servants are entitled to capital-building benefits upon application . Foreign pay is granted for federal civil servants abroad .

care

The civil servant pension is the old-age insurance for federal civil servants and a building block for the attractiveness of civil servants. In the three-pillar model of old-age insurance ( statutory pension insurance , company pension scheme and private pension scheme ), it represents the equivalent of statutory and company pension schemes. In addition to retirement benefits ( retirement benefits), civil servant benefits include survivors' benefits (widow's and orphan's benefits) and accident benefits (e.g. accident compensation, accident retirement benefits).

Federal civil servants generally retire at the end of the month in which they turn 67 (regular retirement age; Section 51 (1) BBG). The basic salary and the family allowance of level 1 are generally eligible for retirement if the last office has been held for at least two years ( Section 5 (1) sentence 1 BeamtVG). The pensionable period of service is basically the period of service that the federal civil servant has completed from the day of his first appointment as a civil servant in the service of a public-law employer as a civil servant ( Section 6 (1) sentence 1 BeamtVG). The pension amounts to 1.79375 percent (71.75 divided by 40) of the pensionable salary for each year of pensionable service, but a maximum of 71.75 percent ( Section 14 (1) sentence 1 BeamtVG). This maximum rate will be reached after 40 years. Before they are paid out, they are multiplied by a factor of 0.9901, i. H. reduced by almost one percent ( Section 5, Paragraph 1, Clause 1, Hs. 2 BeamtVG). If federal civil servants retire earlier at their own request, their pension is reduced by 3.6 percent per year, up to a maximum of 14.4 percent in principle ( Section 14 (3) sentence 1 BeamtVG).

Retirement benefit

Voluntarily departing from their employment federal officials can, instead of being nachversichert in the public scheme, at the request of a retirement benefit under age money bill ( AltGG track). The retirement benefit is higher than the statutory pension in old age, among other things because only the relatively low gross earnings of civil servants are taken into account in the subsequent insurance. However, the retirement benefit is lower than the pension if the civil servant had retained the employment relationship. It is intended to make switching from federal civil servants to the private sector more attractive.

Aid

The Federal Republic of Germany has a special duty of care for its federal civil servants. It reimburses part of the costs incurred as part of the allowance in the event of illness, care or childbirth. It is based on § 80 BBG i. V. m. the Federal Aid Ordinance ( BBhV ). Aid is granted as a percentage (assessment rate) of the eligible expenses ( Section 46 (1) sentence 1 BBhV).

Assessment rate ( § 46 BBhV)
Assessment rate person comment
50 beneficiary with at most one eligible child
70 Beneficiaries of pension payments except orphans
eligible persons with two or more eligible children
Spouses and registered partners with an income of less than 17,000 euros
80 eligible children Consideration for family allowance
Orphans

The portion of the costs not covered by the aid is usually covered by private health insurance . Federal civil servants can also voluntarily take out statutory health insurance, in which case they have to pay the employee and employer's share. That is why this is usually more expensive than private insurance. 94 percent of civil servants in Germany are privately insured. Persons entitled to subsidies for the first time can be included in a private, subsidy-compliant comprehensive health insurance, even if they have previous illnesses or are severely disabled. They are not rejected for risk reasons, do not receive any exclusions from benefits and the surcharges to compensate for increased risks are limited to a maximum of 30 percent of the tariff contribution.

Federal civil servants are entitled to accommodation in a double room in a hospital ( Section 26 (1) No. 5 BBhV). With supplementary allowance tariffs, they can receive additional benefits that the allowance does not cover, such as single rooms and treatment by the head physician.

Police officers of the Federal Police , around 31,000 people, receive medical care instead of assistance .

Disciplinary law

The disciplinary law deals with the consequences of service breaches of federal officials. The formal disciplinary law is regulated in the Federal Disciplinary Act ( BDG ), the substantive disciplinary law in principle in the Federal Civil Servants Act, Section 6, Subsection 1 - General duties and rights . Federal officials commit an official offense if they culpably violate their duties ( Section 77 (1) sentence 1 BBG). If there are sufficient factual indications that justify the suspicion of an official offense, the superior is obliged to initiate disciplinary proceedings ( Section 17 (1) sentence 1 BDG). The following disciplinary measures are possible ( Section 5 (1) BDG):

  • Reprimand (written reprimand for certain behavior; § 6 BDG)
  • Fine (up to the amount of the monthly service or candidate remuneration; Section 7 BDG)
  • Reduction in salaries (partial reduction in the civil servant's monthly salaries by a maximum of one fifth to a maximum of three years; Section 8 BDG)
  • Downgrading (transfer of the civil servant to an office in the same career with a lower final basic salary; Section 9 BDG)
  • Removal from civil servant status (termination of employment, loss of entitlement to a pension; Section 10 BDG)

Retired civil servants can reduce their retirement pensions (partial reduction in the civil servant's monthly salary by a maximum of one fifth to a maximum of three years; Section 11 BDG) and their withdrawal ( Section 6 BDG) ( Section 5 (2) BDG).

The superiors can issue a disciplinary order about the disciplinary measures of reprimands, fines, reductions in salaries and reductions in pensions. It is an administrative act that can be challenged with legal remedies and legal means of objection , legal action for avoidance and, under certain conditions, appeal and revision . If the employer considers a demotion, removal from the civil service or the withdrawal of the pension to be appropriate, he must bring a disciplinary action before the competent administrative court. Appeals and, under certain conditions, an appeal can be lodged against his judgment.

The federal civil servant can be prohibited from conducting official business within the framework of disciplinary proceedings ( Section 66 (1) sentence 1 BBG). The authority responsible for filing the disciplinary action can provisionally remove the federal civil servant from duty if remaining on duty would significantly impair the operations or the investigations and the provisional removal from duty is not disproportionate to the importance of the matter and the expected disciplinary measure ( § 38 para. 1 sentence 2 BDG).

In 2017, 586 disciplinary proceedings were concluded. 254 proceedings were discontinued and 332 disciplinary measures (56.7 percent) were ordered. The most frequent violations of duty in the years 2015 to 2017 were the neglect of official duties, absenteeism, property offenses and misconduct in connection with the service. Less than 0.5 percent of federal civil servants are affected by reported violations of duty.

disciplinary action
measure 2017 2016
absolutely relative (%) absolutely relative (%)
fine 167 50.8 138 47.6
References 83 25.2 72 24.8
Reduction of salaries 44 13.4 40 13.8
Reduction of the pension 10 3.0 10 3.4
Downgrade 8th 2.4 6th 2.4
Removal from the civil service 13 4.0 17th 5.9
Withdrawal of retirement pension 4th 1.2 7th 2.4
All in all 329 100 290 100

working time

The regular weekly working time of federal civil servants is generally 41 hours ( Section 3 (1) sentence 1 AZV ). Civil servants with severe disabilities and those who receive child benefit for a child under the age of 12 or who look after close relatives can apply for a reduction to 40 hours per week ( Section 3, Paragraph 1, Sentence 2 et seq. AZV ). Working days are generally working days ( § 2 No. 1 AZV ), whereby Saturdays are generally off-duty ( § 6 Paragraph 1 S. 1 AZV ). Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are also off duty, i.e. H. no vacation need be taken for these days.

Depending on the department, civil servants can often determine the start and end of daily working hours themselves within the framework of flexitime . Core working hours and functional times can be specified. The timekeeping is basically automated. The civil servant can use the working time account to take up to 24 flexible days if he does not want to work or less than two hours on a working day. Half days of flex are also possible.

In principle, you may not work more than 13 hours per day including breaks ( § 4 sentence 2 AZV ). A minimum rest period of 11 consecutive hours is to be granted per 24-hour period ( Section 5 (3 ) sentence 1 AZV ). The work must be interrupted after 6 hours at the latest by a break of at least 30 minutes. After more than 9 hours, the break is at least 45 minutes. Breaks can be divided into periods of 15 minutes each ( Section 5 (1) sentence 1 AZV ). This means, for example, that for an official who books himself in the automatic time recording at 7:00 am as "incoming", the time from 1:00 pm to 1:30 pm and from 4:30 pm to 4:45 pm as Rest and does not count as working time, provided the officer does not use the terminal for automatic time recording again by then.

Part-time employment is possible. Long-term working accounts are being tested.

In times of on-call duty , which is not working hours, there is an obligation to be available outside of the workplace in order to be able to call up services immediately if necessary (usually within 60 to 120 minutes). If the civil servant is on call for more than ten hours in a calendar month, one eighth of the time exceeding ten hours is granted as compensation for leisure time or credited to the flexitime account ( Section 2 No. 11 in conjunction with Section 12 AZV ).

In the case of business trips, the time to deal with business outside the workplace is working time. In the case of full or multi-day business trips, the regular working hours of the respective day are deemed to have been performed. Travel times are not working hours. However, they are taken into account as working hours if they occur within regular daily working hours or if working hours are interrupted by business trips within a day ( Section 11 (1) AZV ).

Maternity and parental leave

For federal civil servants, the maternity protection regulations and those on parental leave correspond to those for employees. The entitlement is regulated in the Maternity Protection and Parental Leave Ordinance ( MuSchEltZV ), which largely refers to the Maternity Protection Act ( MuSchG ) and the Federal Parental Allowance and Parental Leave Act ( BEEG ).

In principle, maternity protection begins at the start of pregnancy . Pregnant civil servants may not be employed in the last six weeks before the calculated due date, unless they volunteer to do so. There is an absolute ban on employment in the first eight weeks after the birth . The mother is also not allowed to do any voluntary service. In the case of multiple births , the period of protection after delivery is twelve weeks. In principle, salaries will continue to be granted unchanged. The time of the protection periods and individual employment bans count as service time. In principle, they have no effect on the duration of the preparatory service, the probationary period under career law or the trial periods required for promotions or the pensionable period of service. This means that disadvantages are excluded. Breastfeeding officers are to be given the time required to breastfeed , but at least half an hour twice a day or one hour once a day. This is not counted towards rest breaks and does not have to be pre- or post-processed.

Every parent is entitled to parental leave from the birth of a child up to the age of three. A portion of up to 24 months can be taken at a later date up to the child's 8th birthday. Parents can also take parental leave together. During parental leave, part-time employment of up to 30 hours per week is generally possible. Federal civil servants who are on parental leave are still eligible for the grant.

vacation

The vacation leave for federal civil servants is based on the vacation leave ordinance ( EUrlV ) and amounts to 30 working days for each vacation year ( § 5 Abs. 1 EUrlV). Only full working days of vacation are granted ( Section 2 (2) sentence 2 EUrlV). Vacation can be taken until the end of the following year. If civil servants become incapacitated due to illness during their vacation and report this immediately, the period of incapacity will not be counted towards their vacation leave ( Section 9 (1) sentence 1 EUrlV).

Under certain conditions, special leave is or can be granted according to the Special Leave Ordinance ( SUrlV ) with or without continued payment of remuneration.

Outside employment

In addition to their main office, federal officials can only pursue other activities to a limited extent. The right to secondary employment is regulated in the Federal Civil Service Act, Section 6, Subsection 3 - Secondary Employment . The Federal Secondary Employment Ordinance ( BNV ) also exists . Paid sideline jobs generally require the approval of the superior before they can be started. Approval is to be refused if there is a risk that the secondary activity may impair business interests. This is the case, for example, if the secondary activity can influence impartiality or impartiality. In addition, impairment can usually be assumed if the secondary activity exceeds one fifth of the regular weekly working hours. There is also a reason for refusal if the total amount of remuneration for one or more sideline jobs exceeds 40 percent of the annual final basic salary.

Secondary activities, which by their nature do not lead to a conflict with business interests, do not require approval before they are started. This includes, for example, all activities that can be assigned to private life, but also literary, scientific, artistic or lecture activities. However, if such secondary activities are paid for, they must be reported to the superior in advance. However, the supervisor can also prohibit secondary activities that do not require authorization, regardless of whether they are notifiable or not, if their performance violates official duties. In addition, it applies to all secondary activities that they may only be carried out outside of working hours and outside of the office.

At the request of the employer, federal civil servants can also be obliged to perform secondary employment (“secondary employment in the public service”). In the case of their remuneration, there are annual maximum remuneration limits staggered according to salary groups or, if they are exceeded, delivery obligations. Certain activities expressly mentioned in the Federal Secondary Employment Ordinance are exempt from these remuneration restrictions or delivery obligations.

Travel expenses, relocation expenses and separation allowance law

If federal officials incur costs for travel, relocation or long distances for official reasons, they will be reimbursed to a certain extent.

If federal officials have to travel for official reasons, they will be reimbursed for the necessary expenses for the trip. All regulations relating to business trips are set out in the travel expense law. The basis for this is the Federal Travel Expenses Act ( BRKG ) and the general administrative regulation ( BRKGVwV ) issued for it.

In the event that federal officials have to move for business reasons, they will be reimbursed for the necessary moving costs. The Federal Moving Costs Act ( BUKG ) and the corresponding administrative regulation for the BUKG ( BUKGVwV ) regulate further details .

As soon as federal officials are on duty at another location for a longer period of time and their (private) home is a long way away from this location, they receive a separation allowance for additional costs. Details are regulated in the Separation Allowance Ordinance ( TGV ).

numbers

As of June 30, 2018, there were 183,320 federal officials and judges excluding the 51,100  officials at the postal successor companies . For comparison, there were the same date 167,635  professional soldiers and soldiers on time and 145,260  workers in the federal sector. In the entire public service in Germany there were 1,687,710 civil servants and 2,947,270 employees. Federal civil servants thus only make up 10.86 percent of all German state civil servants and only 3.82 percent of all public service employees. Of the federal civil servants, 85.62 percent were employed full-time, 29.62 percent were women and 12,340 were in preparatory service . As of June 30, 2017, there were 181,610 federal civil servants. Thus, the number rose in one year by 1,710 civil servants or 0.94 percent. 10,145 federal civil servants were in training on June 30, 2017. The number of civil servants in a civil servant relationship increased by 21.64 percent in one year.

As of June 30, 2018, 41,215 federal officers were employed by a federal police force ( Federal Police , Federal Criminal Police Office , police at the German Bundestag ), 37,290 in the financial administration (including customs ) and 23,005 in the Bundeswehr administration . Accordingly, most officials were in the business areas of the Federal Ministries of the Interior, for construction and home , the Finance and Defense used.

literature

Web links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b Civil service law in general. In: bmi.bund.de. Retrieved November 7, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b c Public Service Personnel, Special Series 14 Series 6. (PDF) In: Federal Statistical Office . 2018, accessed November 8, 2019 .
  3. ↑ a b Public Service Personnel, Special Series 14 Series 6. (PDF) In: Federal Statistical Office . 2017, accessed November 8, 2019 .
  4. ↑ without salary regulations B
  5. ↑ a b career law. In: bmi.bund.de. Retrieved November 7, 2019 .
  6. ↑ a b salary. In: bmi.bund.de. Retrieved November 7, 2019 .
  7. ↑ supply. In: bmi.bund.de. Retrieved November 7, 2019 .
  8. ↑ retirement benefits. In: bmi.bund.de. Retrieved November 7, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Aid. In: bmi.bund.de. Retrieved November 7, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Civil servants in private health insurance - It pays to insure privately as a civil servant. In: beamte-in-der-pkv.de. Retrieved November 7, 2019 (not just federal officials).
  11. ↑ Opening campaign. (PDF) In: pkv.de. Retrieved November 7, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Medical care. In: bundespolizei.de. Retrieved November 7, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Disciplinary Law. In: bmi.bund.de. Retrieved November 7, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Disciplinary statistics 2017. (PDF) In: bmi.bund.de. Retrieved November 7, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Working hours for federal civil servants. In: bmi.bund.de. Retrieved November 6, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Maternity leave. In: bmi.bund.de. Retrieved November 7, 2019 .
  17. ↑ parental leave. In: bmi.bund.de. Retrieved November 7, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Vacation law. In: bmi.bund.de. Retrieved November 6, 2019 .
  19. ↑ a b c Secondary job. In: bmi.bund.de. Retrieved November 6, 2019 .
  20. ↑ Travel expenses, relocation expenses and separation allowance law. In: bmi.bund.de. Retrieved November 6, 2019 .
  21. ↑ The statistics do not differentiate between federal officials and federal judges. However, the number of the latter is very small, probably in the low three-digit range. 550 of these people were paid according to the R salary regulations. This also includes the public prosecutors at the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office.