Collective agreements & civil service pay

A collective agreement sets the terms of employment for public-sector workers — including pay, working hours, leave and special payments. It is usually negotiated between unions and employer associations and applies to all employers and employees covered by that agreement.

Collective agreements apply to employees on public-sector pay scales — for example in municipalities, states or federal bodies under a tariff. Civil service pay applies to civil servants and follows federal or state pay laws. Both define how much you earn, but under different rules and tables.

The pay group reflects how demanding your role is classified — similar to a salary band. Within a pay group you move up through levels, usually with length of service. The higher the level, the higher the base salary.

Which agreement applies depends on your employer and role — for example TVöD for many municipal and state positions, TV-L for federal and state administration, or sector agreements such as KTD or AVR. The job posting or employment contract usually states which agreement covers you.

Pay rises under collective agreements are agreed in negotiations — often annually or in multi-year deals. We update the tables when new pay rounds or tariff dates are published. You can see the effective date in the overview and on each agreement’s detail page.

On top of monthly pay there are often extra payments — such as an annual bonus, Christmas pay or allowances. They are defined in the collective agreement and can make up a significant share of yearly income. On each agreement’s detail page you can see which special payments apply.