Phase 4

Remuneration and Retention

By Redaktion techport.ai, HR-Beratung · Last updated on 21 August 2026

Money is not discussed in German companies. That is currently changing, and not voluntarily. The Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht) ruled in October 2025 that a single better-paid colleague is sufficient to presume discrimination. The EU Pay Transparency Directive (EU-Entgelttransparenzrichtlinie) should have been transposed by June 2026; Germany missed the deadline, and the law will come in 2027. Companies without a salary structure by then will have one imposed by the court.

Retention is the other side of the same coin. People stay if they are paid fairly, if benefits suit their lives, and if someone notices they are dissatisfied before they resign. All three things can be organised.

Typical Problems

Salaries are individual negotiations. Those who negotiate well earn more, regardless of their work.
There are benefits, but half the workforce doesn't know about them, and a third cannot use them.
Resignations come as a surprise, although the signs had been there for months.
Hybrid work is regulated differently in each team. Nobody knows what applies.
Payroll produces errors that are expensively corrected, and the system change has been postponed for years.
The employee survey runs every year, the results are the same every year.

What we do in this area

We will build a remuneration structure with you that is based on job architecture and meets the requirements of pay transparency before the law demands it. We make benefits usable and measurable, set up an early warning system for fluctuation that works with aggregated data and complies with data protection, and we integrate payroll and working time models into compatible systems.

Topics in this field

Benefits that are utilisedWhy many benefits remain unused, how a benefits analysis identifies workforce needs, how administration and billing are digitised, and how utilisation and impact are measured.Priority topicImplementing pay transparencyEU Directive 2023/970, missed implementation deadline, BAG (Federal Labour Court) ruling on comparative pairs: What applies now, what is coming in 2027 and how companies can establish salary bands, job evaluation and pay reports.Flexible Work and Working Time ModelsHybrid work without uncontrolled growth: rules that apply to everyone, working time models that suit the work, planned maximum weekly working hours, and their mapping in the system.Early Warning System for FluctuationResignations rarely come as a surprise. How an early warning system with aggregated key figures, stay interviews, and clear intervention points functions without monitoring employees.Employee surveys with consequencesWhy annual surveys yield the same results, how short pulse surveys work, how results are translated into measures, and what the works council says about it.Error-free payrollErrors in payroll cost trust and money. How a payroll audit identifies causes, when a system change is due, what to consider with outsourcing, and how interfaces eliminate duplicate data entry.

Frequently asked questions

Do we have to act now, even though the German law only comes in 2027?

Yes. The Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht) ruling applies today. Courts have been required to interpret national law in light of the directive since June 2026. And a salary structure is not built in three months. Those who need to report in 2027 will need the data in 2026.

What brings more retention: Salary or benefits?

Salary determines whether someone joins and whether someone feels unfairly treated. Benefits and working conditions determine whether someone stays if the salary is acceptable. Both must be right, but in this order.

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