BAG: On-Call Pay Excluded From Early Retirement Pay

An employee wanted his regular on-call pay included in the calculation of his early retirement pay (Vorruhestandsgeld). Germany’s Federal Labour Court rejected his appeal. The lower court had ruled that only the fixed collectively agreed salary counts, not payments for standby duty. The BAG’s written reasoning is not yet available.

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On-Call Pay Doesn’t Raise Early Retirement Pay

Germany’s Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, BAG — the highest court for labor disputes) rejected an employee’s appeal seeking higher early retirement pay. If this happens to you: only your fixed base salary under the collective agreement (Tarifvertrag — a pay and conditions contract negotiated between unions and employers) counts toward this kind of benefit, not extra pay for being on call. The decision was issued on 13.07.2026 under case number 9 AZR 212/25; the lower court was the Saxony Regional Labour Court, judgment of 28.10.2025 (3 SLa 197/24).

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Dispute Over Retirement Pay Formula

The BAG’s written reasoning is not yet available. Based on the lower court’s judgment, the facts appear to be as follows:

A long-serving bank employee had regularly received extra pay for being on standby (Rufbereitschaft — a duty where you don’t work but must be reachable and ready to step in if needed) alongside his normal salary for years. When he moved into early retirement under a company scheme, this on-call pay was left out of the calculation of his monthly early retirement pay; his employer paid him only a percentage of his plain collectively agreed salary. He sued for backpay, arguing the on-call pay should count as part of his „gross monthly pay.” The Saxony Regional Labour Court disagreed and already dismissed his claim on appeal.