Several federal states are resisting the implementation of a €1,000 relief bonus for public sector employees, a payment recently proposed by the federal government. According to reporting from ‘Bild,’ based on a survey of all 16 state governments, no state government has indicated its willingness to pay out the bonus so far. Specifically, ten federal states have completely rejected the payment. Furthermore, six states have stated that they have not yet made a final decision on the matter.
Bayern, Bremen, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Rheinland-Pfalz, and Thüringen have not issued a definitive statement regarding whether the relief bonus will be paid to civil servants and public employees. All other states have confirmed they will not distribute the bonus.
Andreas Dressel, the Finance Senator for Hamburg (SPD), told ‘Bild’: “No single federal state can decide whether or to what extent an additional bonus will be provided. The tariff community of the states has the prerogative to make that decision. In the last wage round, I stated that the public sector cannot act as wage setters in the current crisis. This remains true for this issue as well”.
