The federal states are resisting the federal government’s proposed relief bonus of 1,000 euros per employee for public sector workers. According to a report from “Bild” citing a survey of all 16 state governments, no state government has yet committed to paying the bonus. Ten states have completely rejected the payment, while six states stated that they have not yet made a final decision.
Bayern, Bremen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Rheinland-Pfalz, and Thüringen are currently undecided on whether the bonus for civil servants and employees in the public sector will be paid. All the other states have declared that they will not distribute the bonus.
Andreas Dressel, the Finance Senator for Hamburg (SPD), told “Bild” that “no single federal state can decide whether or to what extent an additional bonus will be available. This falls under a decision reservation held by the Tariff Community of the States. During the last collective bargaining round, I stated that the public sector could not afford to be wage-led during the current crisis. This remains true for this issue as well”.