Public sector employees in Berlin are set to receive salary increases in 2026. This comes after collective bargaining agreements for both state employees (TV-L) and municipal employees (TVöD) were reached. However, the state of Berlin faces significant financial challenges due to a Federal Constitutional Court ruling concerning civil servant remuneration.
TV-L Agreement Brings 5.8 Percent Salary Increase for Berlin State Employees
On February 14, 2026, the Collective Bargaining Association of German States (TdL) and the trade unions reached a new collective agreement for the states (TV-L). The agreement provides for a staggered salary increase of a total of 5.8 percent over 27 months. Salaries will increase by 2.8 percent, with a minimum of 100 euros, starting from April 1, 2026. The second stage will follow on March 1, 2027, with an additional 2.0 percent, and the third increase of 1.0 percent will take effect on January 1, 2028.
This salary increase applies to all state employees in Berlin, subject to a reservation. The collective agreement from February 14, 2026, is still under a declaration or revocation reservation of the individual collective bargaining parties until March 13, 2026. The TdL has already unconditionally approved the collective agreement on the employer side. ver.di is currently calling on its members to vote on the collective agreement. The Federal Collective Bargaining Commission for the Public Sector will then make the final decision.
Civil Servants Await Remuneration Law Following Underpayment Ruling
There is no concrete timetable yet for Berlin’s civil servants, judges, and pensioners. The Senate Department for Finance stated, in response to an inquiry from Public Sector News, that it intends to transfer the collective bargaining result to the remuneration and pension sector promptly. However, a draft law is not yet available. A corresponding remuneration and pension adjustment law is expected to be passed during the current legislative period. There is currently no binding timetable or milestones for parliamentary consideration. An advance payment on the upcoming remuneration adjustment is also not planned at this time.
The situation regarding the processing of remuneration is significantly more complex in light of the Federal Constitutional Court’s ruling. In November 2025, the Karlsruhe judges published a comprehensive fundamental decision on appropriate remuneration. This decision states that the A-remuneration in the state of Berlin was unconstitutionally low between 2008 and 2020. The court further developed its jurisprudence on several fundamental points and established new standards for determining minimum remuneration and remuneration differentials.
Back Payments for Civil Servants to Take Years
Berlin’s Finance Senator Stefan Evers (CDU) admits that the implementation of the ruling faces major organizational difficulties. “Tens of thousands of career paths must be meticulously traced. In some cases, it even concerns the claims of heirs. This is extremely complex. Nothing like this has ever happened before,” Evers explained in an interview with Tagesspiegel. The remedial law must be in place by March 2027 at the latest. “However, it will take years until all individual back payments have actually been calculated and paid out,” said the Finance Senator.
Approximately 40,000 civil servants have filed objections since 2008. Since these objections had to be renewed annually, the proceedings now amount to more than 100,000 individual objections. The financial implications are expected to be in the order of several hundred million euros. An exact sum cannot currently be quantified because each career path must be individually assessed and recalculated according to future legal formulas.
When asked whether there will be voluntary payments for those who did not participate in the objection procedures, Evers responded clearly: “Anyone who wants that must absolutely answer the question of where he wants to get the billions that such an approach would cost the state. Personally, I lack the imagination for that.” The state of Berlin has already budgeted a risk provision of 280 million euros in the double budget for 2026 and 2027. The extent to which this provision proves sufficient is yet to be determined.
Municipal Employees Under TVöD to Receive May Increase
In addition to state employees, employees of selected municipal enterprises in Berlin will also benefit from salary improvements under the TVöD. In the state of Berlin, the collective agreement for the public sector (TVöD) applies only to selected enterprises, including Vivantes, Berliner Stadtreinigung, Charité, and Berliner Bäderbetriebe. For these employees, a collective agreement was already reached in April 2025 between the Association of Municipal Employers’ Associations (VKA) and the trade unions. The first increase of 3.0 percent, with a minimum of 110 euros, already took place on April 1, 2025. On May 1, 2026, the second stage will follow with a further increase of 2.8 percent.
Source: https://oeffentlicher-dienst-news.de/gehalt-und-besoldung-im-oeffentlichen-dienst-berlin-tarifergebnis-bringt-mehr-geld-besoldungsurteil-stellt-land-vor-herausforderungen/
