Psychosocial Counseling Service (PBS)

In July 2013, the Federal Administrative Court made far-reaching changes to the legislation on health criteria for the appointment as civil servant for life. These changes are highly favorable for prospective civil servants. Previously, an appointment as civil servant was only attainable if early retirement due to medical reasons was highly unlikely. The new legislation stipulates that health-related suitability can only be denied if it is to be expected that the applicant "is highly likely [i.e. > 50 %] to retire early due to medical reasons before the legal age limit or is highly likely to be unfit for work on a regular basis and over a period of several years [...]" (please note that only the original German legislative text is legally binding. Any claims to rights or titles resulting from the English translation of these regulations are expressly excluded.)
According to the new legislation, the prerequisites that justify the denial of health-related suitability are thus met only very rarely. This means that health impairments which require psychological counseling or psychotherapy do not impede an appointment as civil servant in the great majority of cases and under no circumstances should treatment be omitted due to the fear of possible negative consequences regarding a potential appointment as civil servant. Quite the contrary, counseling and therapy can improve health and wellbeing and thus also increase the health-related suitability for an appointment as civil servant.