Civil servants´ pay: Some German university professors have too small salaries

The German Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the salary of a civil servant who works as a young university professor was too low and thus in breach with the German constitutional requirements. According to the so-called “alimentation principle” of the German Basic Law (Art.33 V GG) civil servants have particular duties and responsibilities towards the community for which they must be rewarded with an appropriate income.

According to the ruling, factors like the degree of responsibility in the incumbent’s position, the general importance of civil servants for society, the development of economic and financial circumstances and the general life standards have to be considered.

Hence, the legislator has to take into account the attractiveness of the civil service, the appraisal and respect of the society for some tasks and functions of the public service, and the therefore required positions, qualifications, responsibilities and workloads.

In the Land Hessen university professors hired after 2005 have been paid according to lower salary grades than those who were hired before 2005; the minimum basic salary was reduced by 25%. The legislator is now obliged to fix new rules by 2013.