Teachers have been waiting for their salary for months: associations speak of "poor evidence" and "a huge nuisance"

The overload in the authorities in Middle Franconia is currently leading to massive waiting times for teachers' salaries to be paid out.

They complain to the Ministry of Education.

Nuremberg – A mass of fixed-term contracts that have to be processed at short notice and bureaucracy “at its finest”. According to 

 , there are still no legally binding contracts, i.e. no salaries for teachers in the Middle Franconia region. According to Sandra Schäfer, Chairwoman of the Nuremberg* Teachers' Association (NLLV), this is a "sign of poverty". The district chairman of Fürth-Stadt of the Bavarian Teachers' Association (BLLV), Claus Binder, also speaks of a "huge annoyance".  

“This year it actually went fast.

I already got my salary in mid-October,” says one of those affected, who wishes to remain anonymous.

Since 2017 she has been teaching German and mathematics as a third person at a primary and secondary school.

This means that your contract always expires at the end of the school year and has to be re-approved each time.

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Nuremberg: "Do you know how humiliating that is?" 

But there have been years when she had to wait longer: "Do you know how humiliating it is to call there and beg for something that I'm entitled to?" She tells

.

This time it only went faster because, with the support of the NLLV, she called the responsible authority, the government of Central Franconia, and asked for speedy processing.  

The processing takes so much time because the pile is high and not everything can be done in time, according to the authority.

Even though all her data is there, she has to fill it out all over again every time.

She can understand that an updated certificate of good conduct has to be available every three years.

"But my bank details?

If that changes, I'll let you know." She also cannot hope for a permanent contract, since "the need (for her workforce, editor's note) is only temporary".

Nuremberg: Affected fall back on savings  

In some cases, however, several months pass before the preliminary contract becomes a legally binding contract and the payment order is available.

According to Sandra Schäfer, there are people who have been working since September and still have not received a salary.

"That's crazy, no company should allow itself that," adds Claus Binder from Fürth. 

In individual cases, those affected would have to fall back on their savings, according to Markus Erlinger, district manager in the BLLV-Middle Franconia.

He gets calls like this every day.

Sandra Schäfer estimates that ten to 20 percent of third-party workers have not yet received any contracts or salaries.  

Nuremberg: Authorities "do their best" 

According to the Ministry of Education, it has not been possible for the authorities to "always process the payments on time".

Acceleration and simplification possibilities would be examined.

However, "special requirements" such as checking a certificate of good conduct should be observed.

Payment can only be made once the documents have been submitted in full. 

Sandra Schäfer and Markus Erlinger do not blame the government of Middle Franconia in Ansbach*.

The number of staff has even been increased, albeit only when the need was great, says Schäfer.

In the authorities, on the other hand, people work overtime and they just can't keep up. "The increase in tasks and the staffing simply don't go together," confirms Markus Erlinger.

And denies the statements of outsiders who think that the authorities would work sloppily.

"They do their best," says Schäfer.

 Nuremberg: Criticism of the Ministry of Culture 

“Promising people quick action but not taking care of proper implementation is dishonest.

Nobody should be surprised if trust in politics and the system is lost," says Sandra Schäfer, criticizing the Ministry of Education.

Because "Corona* nobody could foresee, but the shortage of teachers could," says Erlinger. 

 "If I didn't want to do the job so much, I certainly wouldn't do it to myself every year," the teacher ended the conversation with

.