Tvöd after having worked in the private sector

[Albert]

Hello,

In the past, I had been offered twice a job in the public sector in Germany but I turned them down because my employer would recognise only a few years of seniority. The problem is that, even if I had a lot of experience they valued, I had hopped back and forth between the public and private sectors and they were giving me a seniority corresponding only to my last job in an academic institution, while I had 20 years of experience. I was surprised at how inflexible and opaque this was (they would confirm the seniority only after I would have signed the contract) but, if it’s the rules, I understand. Nevertheless, each time, I turned down the job because I was working elsewhere, also in the public sector, at a considerably higher salary, and it would not have made sense to move.

Now, I have lost my job and, after all, I would not mind if they consider only a small part of my experience. Beggars can’t be choosers as they say. My last job in academia lasted 8 years. Therefore, from what I gather, this could entitle me to be in Stufe 4.

However, after that job, I worked a little less than one year in the private sector and I have been unemployed for a few months. My worry is that this would invalidate my last experience in academia. In fact, this is what happened last time. I had a long stretch of work in academia but, after that, a job in a university they didn’t deem scientific enough and a period of unemployment and that was enough for them to ignore all my previous experience and just take into account the few years during which I had been at my last job.

I would not mind starting at Stufe 4 despite having more than 20 years of experience but it would bother me to start at Stufe 1 simply for having worked a bit in the private sector and then lost my job. Do you think it could happen?

Many thanks!

[editorL]

Hello Albert,

it is nice to have you here, on this forum. You're very welcome.

Your first post is very nice, but you use abbreviations that I'm sure not everyone is familiar with.

For example, TVÖD.

For future reference, could you make sure that you are a little bit more talkative when you mention German abbreviations like TVöD?

Just sayin'...

[Albert]

Hi,

Thank you for your suggestion and sorry about that.

I didn’t think about adding any details because, when I had a similar issue, several years ago, I asked the question on ToyTownGermany (this is how I found this community) and people seemed familiar with the situation. Many foreigners who have been offered a job in the public sector in Germany had also experienced the problem.

TVöD is the set of salary scales used in the private sector:
https://oeffentlicher-dienst.info/c/t/r ... d-vka-2024

The Stufe I was referring to is the way they award seniority:
https://oeffentlicher-dienst.info/tvoed ... tufen.html

The problem is that, while the salary scale is always known, things are less clear for the seniority. They tend to be demanding about the kind of experience they will consider and ruthless about rules that can wipe it out completely. For example, in my case, I had a lengthy experience in academia that they valued but, at some point, I had to take a job in a university that was less scientific and had a period of unemployment and that was enough to lose all my seniority and have to start again from zero. This creates a situation where some people are paid significantly less than others despite having the same experience and skills simply because they come from out of the system or have had a problem at some point. To make matters worse, these things are handled in a very opaque way and they will confirm your seniority only once you have signed the contract.

In my case, after another quite long stretch in academia, I had to take a job in the private sector and then I ended up unemployed. I suspect this would make start at 0 again, which would be insane. I just posted my message here to have the confirmation that this would be the case.

Thanks!