Civil Servants’ Old Age Pension Scheme

• Civil servants including judges, public prosecutors, soldiers.¹
• Teachers and holders of public offices nominated as civil servants.²

General finances

• Partly financed from mandatory contributions of the civil servants.
• Partly tax-financed out of the federal budget.

Contribution rates

• Civil servants born after 31/12/1975 or appointed after 31/12/2004: same contribution rates as for statutory pension scheme for employees and equally treated persons. 

• The ‘Insurance Institution for Civil Servants, Railways and Mining’ (Versicherungsanstalt öffentlich Bediensteter, Eisenbahnen und Bergbau) administers the scheme for federal civil servants (incl. verification of pension rights/entitlements, calculation of pension benefits and payment thereof); specific service authorities administer schemes for distinct service groups. 

Qualifying conditions

• Standard public service pension: statutory retirement age is 65; minimum service period: 15 years. 
• Different retirement conditions may apply to special groups (also due to transitional provisions).

Early retirement

• Conditions for early retirement for civil servants born after 31/12/1975 or appointed after 31/12/2004:
• Possibility of retirement at 62 in case of a service period of at least 40 years (Korridorpension).
• Possibility of retirement at 60 in case of a service period of 45 years, including 10 years of heavy labour within the last 20 years (Versetzung in den Ruhestand bei Vorliegen von Schwerarbeitszeiten, Schwerarbeitspension). 
• Possibility of early retirement in case of incapacity of service (Versetzung in den Ruhestand wegen Dienstunfähigkeit) with minimum service period of 5 years.
• Negative (permanent) adjustments to pension benefits in case of early retirement (same as for statutory pension scheme for employees and equally treated persons).

Deferred retirement

• Retirement can be deferred up to 5 years by the competent Federal Minister if there is an important interest in the person’s remaining in service. 
• Civil servants born after 31/12/1975 or appointed after 31/12/2004: same positive (permanent) adjustments to pension as for statutory pension scheme for employees and equally treated persons.

Combining employment & retirement

• After retirement employment in the private sector is permitted without earnings limit.

Pension benefits

• Primarily based on the earnings during the service period and years of service, including pension-credited periods of e.g. child-raising. 
• Minimum pension benefits secured by the equalisation supplement.
• Pension law for civil servants has been harmonised with the pension law for employees in the private sector in 2004; therefore, also pension benefits depend on age, date of appointment and date of service.
• Civil servants born after 31/12/1975 or appointed after 31/12/2004: same provisions as for statutory pension scheme for employees and equally treated persons (but initial credit to the pension account according to the old law for service periods before 2005).
• Civil servants born before 01/01/1976 and appointed before 01/01/2005: pensions calculated according to both ‘old’ and ‘new’ law (‘parallel calculation’;Parallelrechnung); total pension is made up of partial pensions according to the ratio of service periods under the old and new law. 

Benefit calculation

• Civil servants born after 31/12/1975 or appointed after 31/12/2004: same provisions as for statutory pension scheme for employees and equally treated persons.
• Adjustments: annual adjustment of the pension value, taking into account changes in prices/incomes; typically, differentiations depending on the pension level.

Taxation and social security contributions

• Pension benefits are subject to income tax according to the general tax rules. 
• Mandatory contributions for health insurance (5.1%) are deducted monthly from the pension total.