TV-L Explained
The Tarifvertrag für den öffentlichen Dienst der Länder (TV-L) sets pay for tariff employees of 15 of Germany's 16 states, from state administration to universities and university hospitals to social and educational services and nursing.
The TV-L calculator above turns your Entgeltgruppe, stage and working time into a monthly basic gross figure, an estimated annual special payment and, for tariff employees, an estimated net figure for a regular month.
This guide explains which states fall under TV-L, how the general table differs from the separate S and nursing tables, how the Jahressonderzahlung is worked out, and how gross pay becomes net pay.
Which States TV-L Covers
TV-L is negotiated by ver.di and other unions together with the Tarifgemeinschaft deutscher Länder (TdL), an association of the states as employers. 15 of the 16 states belong to it; only Hesse left the TdL in 2004 and has since negotiated its own agreement, TV-H.
The pay tables agreed under TV-L apply across every TdL member state, regardless of whether someone works in Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia or Saxony. Only contractual weekly hours vary slightly by state: Tarifgebiet West ranges from 38 hours 42 minutes to 40 hours 6 minutes, while Tarifgebiet Ost applies a uniform 40 hours.
This calculator uses North Rhine-Westphalia's weekly hours (39 hours 50 minutes) as its default reference. At the same Entgeltgruppe and stage and full-time hours, tabular gross pay is identical in every state; contractual weekly hours only matter when converting a different agreed hour count into a part-time share of your own state's full-time figure, and when calculating hourly pay.
Entgeltgruppen in the General Pay Table
TV-L's general pay table (Anlage B; Anlage A holds the Entgeltordnung describing job characteristics) runs from Entgeltgruppe 1 to 15, with the intermediate steps 9a and 9b between Entgeltgruppen 9 and 10. Like TVöD, TV-L also has transitional groups (2Ü, 13Ü, 15Ü) for specific staff defined in the agreement. This calculator includes them. For 13Ü the annual special payment depends on the stage (§20 paragraph 2 sentence 2): stages 2 and 3 follow Entgeltgruppe 13, and stages 4a, 4b, 5 and 6 follow Entgeltgruppe 14. Unlike TVöD, TV-L has no Entgeltgruppe 9c.
As under TVöD, the Entgeltgruppe follows from the actual role performed under the Entgeltordnung, not qualification or grade. At universities, research staff are typically classified in Entgeltgruppe 13 or 14; administrative roles usually sit between Entgeltgruppe 5 and 11 depending on requirements.
Above Entgeltgruppe 15, TV-L has außertariflich (AT, above-tariff) employment relationships, whose terms are individually negotiated and which this calculator doesn't reflect.
Typical classification examples: casework often sits in Entgeltgruppe 5 to 9b, casework requiring specialist knowledge in Entgeltgruppe 9b to 11, research staff at universities in many cases in Entgeltgruppe 13, and department-head-level or comparable leadership roles in Entgeltgruppe 14 or 15. These are illustrations only: a degree or training does not determine the group, and actual classification always depends on the specific job characteristics in the relevant Entgeltordnung, not the job title alone.
Experience Stages and Stage Progression
Within an Entgeltgruppe, pay automatically progresses through up to six experience stages under §16 TV-L as relevant work experience accrues, with no separate application needed. New hires with no relevant experience are typically placed in stage 1.
Relevant experience from a previous role, including at another public-sector or comparable employer, is credited under certain conditions. The employer decides the exact stage placement for a new hire on a case-by-case basis.
This calculator reflects the tabular amount for each stage; you choose your own stage in the calculator to match your payslip or employment contract.
Social and Educational Services: the S Table
Staff in social and educational services, for example early-years educators or social-work professionals at state authorities, aren't paid under the general table but under a separate one with S-Entgeltgruppen (Anlage G to TV-L). It follows the same six-stage structure as the general table, with its own, not directly comparable amounts per Entgeltgruppe.
For tariff purposes such as the Jahressonderzahlung, fixed equivalences map the S-Entgeltgruppen onto the general table: S2 and S3 correspond to the lower general Entgeltgruppen, S18 to the upper ones. This calculator works out gross pay, net pay and the Jahressonderzahlung for the S table automatically under the same rules as the general table.
Nursing Staff: the KR Table
Nursing staff at university hospitals and other state-run facilities are covered by yet another table with KR-Entgeltgruppen (Anlage C to TV-L, KR5 to KR17), distinct from both the general table and the S table for social and educational services.
The KR table also has its own fixed equivalences to the general pay table for calculating the Jahressonderzahlung. This calculator reflects the KR table under its own selection on the Public Sector Pay overview page.
Worked Example: Entgeltgruppe 13
Entgeltgruppe 13 is one of the most common classifications for university research staff. At stage 2, a full-time employee earns 5,106.09 € gross per month from 1 April 2026, compared with 4,967.01 € through March 2026.
For the full 2026 calendar year, this example works out to 63,228.64 € gross, since the calculator automatically accounts for the 1 April 2026 table change month by month rather than applying one table version to the whole year. This already includes an estimated Jahressonderzahlung (special payment) of 2,372.80 €, paid out with November's salary.
At tax class I, no church-tax membership, residence in North Rhine-Westphalia and statutory health insurance (this calculator's default assumptions), that works out to roughly 3,184.18 € net in a regular month (October 2026, without the annual special payment). A different tax class, church-tax liability, private health insurance or a different state changes the actual figure.
Contract Term and Upcoming Raises
The current TV-L agreement covers several already-agreed pay steps over a longer period: after the table valid from 1 February 2025, further, higher versions follow on 1 April 2026, 1 January 2027, 1 March 2027 and 1 January 2028.
This calculator automatically applies whichever table version is valid for each individual calendar month, correctly prorating a mid-year change rather than applying just one version to a whole calendar year. The year list follows the tables on file, including later gross tables such as 2027 or 2028. Net pay is calculated only for years that have a payroll-tax table here, currently 2025 and 2026. A later year stays at gross pay.
From Gross Pay to Net Pay
Tariff employees of the states are social-insurance contributors just like in any other employment relationship. Income tax, potentially the solidarity surcharge and church tax, plus employee contributions to pension, unemployment, health and care insurance, all come out of gross pay.
The TV-L calculator computes net pay using the same income-tax and social-insurance logic as this site's main salary calculator, starting from the tabular monthly gross figure of the month you select. The Jahressonderzahlung is taxed in the month it is paid, using the official method for one-off payments (the extra tax is the difference between the annual tax with and without it, and contributions apply only up to the pro-rata annual ceilings), so that month has its own net figure. Tax class, church-tax liability, children, health-insurance type and state can all be adjusted individually.
The Jahressonderzahlung Under TV-L
Staff still employed on 1 December are entitled under §20 TV-L to a Jahressonderzahlung, paid out with November's salary and calculated as a percentage of average gross pay across July, August and September.
The percentage is tiered by Entgeltgruppe and has applied unchanged since calendar year 2022 under §20 TV-L: 87.43% in Entgeltgruppen 1 to 4, 88.14% in 5 to 8, 74.35% in 9a to 11, 46.47% in 12 and 13, and 32.53% in 14 and 15. The same percentages apply to the S and KR tables via their tariff equivalences.
This calculator works out the Jahressonderzahlung automatically from your chosen Entgeltgruppe and includes it in the annual gross and net figures shown.
Supplementary Pension: VBL and State-Run Funds
As under TVöD, most TV-L employees are also compulsorily enrolled in a supplementary occupational pension. Baden-Württemberg's payroll authority describes its VBL participation, and Bavaria's employee payslip guidance also refers to the VBL, so the fund cannot be derived from the state alone. Which fund actually applies depends on your specific employer; your own payslip names it.
For employees genuinely enrolled with the VBL under Abrechnungsverband West, this calculator offers an optional, off-by-default checkbox that deducts an employee share of 1.81% of gross pay from net pay. With a state-run fund at a different rate, the actual deduction differs; your own payslip is the clearest way to check.
TV-L Compared to TVöD and TV-H
TV-L, TVöD and TV-H all follow the same basic principle of Entgeltgruppen, experience stages and a Jahressonderzahlung, but differ in the actual amounts, percentages, and sometimes the shape of the Entgeltgruppen, since each agreement is negotiated independently.
Moving between employment at a state (TV-L), the federal government or a municipality (TVöD), or the state of Hesse (TV-H) shouldn't be assumed to carry an identical pay figure at the same-numbered Entgeltgruppe. Comparing this site's relevant calculators helps roughly estimate the financial effect of such a move.
A common special case is moving between two TdL member states, for example from Saxony to Bavaria: since the pay table is identical across states, tabular gross pay at the same Entgeltgruppe and stage doesn't change, though contractual weekly hours might, and of course tax class and church-tax rate will if your residence also changes.
Common Misconceptions About TV-L
The most common mistake is assuming Hesse falls under TV-L. If you're employed by the state of Hesse, use this site's TV-H calculator instead, not this one.
A second misconception concerns außertariflich (AT) posts above Entgeltgruppe 15, for example some professorships or leadership roles at universities: their pay is individually negotiated and follows no table, which is why this calculator can't reflect them.
Third, it's easy to overlook that the S and KR tables are genuinely separate tables with their own amounts, not just a renamed version of the general Entgeltgruppen. An S9 or KR9 classification can't be directly compared to the amount for general Entgeltgruppe 9, even though a fixed tariff equivalence exists for the Jahressonderzahlung.