More civil servants in North Rhine‑Westphalia (NRW) are increasingly questioning whether their salaries are paid in accordance with the law. Reported by the “Neue Westfälische” and based on data from the NRW Ministry of Finance, the number of salary dispute claims has more than doubled compared with 2022, reaching roughly 102,000 in 2025.
In the past year, 102,736 such claims were filed. In 2024 there were about 54,000; the year before that around 61,000, and in 2022 roughly 50,000. The Statistical State Office records a total of 282,000 state employees in NRW.
The state’s pay policy is under criticism. Starting in 2024, the ministry stopped assuming that a civil servant is the sole earner; it now treats a partner’s income as part of the calculation. Citing a “modern family picture” it introduces a fictional partner income of €538 into salary assessments. If a civil servant actually has no partner income, they must apply for an additional supplement. Legal experts argue that this practice is unlawful.
The ministry had previously ruled against claims for 2022. Consequently, by early February, it had received 1,725 lawsuits regarding the appropriate office allowance for 2022.
