BY HARRIET TORRY

BERLIN—Lawmakers in the wealthy German region of Bavaria are under fire for employing close family members at public expense, sparking embarrassing charges of nepotism at a time when Germany has been lecturing countries such as Greece about corruption.

Bavaria’s state legislature on Friday published a list of 79 current or recent lawmakers who had continued to employ immediate relatives as staff after 2000, when the practice was banned.

Most of the state lawmakers on the list are from the conservative Christian Social Union, which has governed Bavaria for over half a century and is also part of Angela Merkel’s coalition …