Archive:Public employment - Sweden

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<Introduction: simple language, not too long, kind of executive summary>

Regional and administrative organisation

Introduction

The Kingdom of Sweden is a Scandinavian country in the north of Europe. It has more than 9 million inhabitants and is a member of the European Union. It is a Democratic State, with a monarchic, parliamentary system of government and strong municipal self-government.

In addition to the 1976 Constitution, Sweden has a further three fundamental laws: the Royal Succession Act, the Freedom of the Press Act and the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression.

System of government

The head of state – a monarch without formal power

The King or Queen occupying the Swedish throne under the Act of Succession is the country’s head of state. The Swedish head of state, since September 1973 King Carl XVI Gustaf, exercises no political power and does not participate in political life. As head of state, he or she is the representative of the country as a whole, and in that capacity performs only ceremonial duties and functions. The head of state pays official visits to other countries and acts as host to foreign heads of state on official visits to Sweden. The head of state also signs the credentials of Sweden’s ambassadors to other countries and receives foreign ambassadors to Sweden. Another official duty of the head of state is to open the annual session of the Riksdag. The head of state does not participate in the deliberations of the Government and does not need to sign any Government decisions. In 1979, the Act of Succession was amended to give male and female heirs equal rights to the throne. As of 1980 this right belongs to the first-born, regardless of gender.

The Parliament (Riksdag) is the supreme representation of the people. It enacts laws, determines taxes and how state resources should be invested and supervises the Government and public agencies in Sweden. Its members are directly elected every fourth year by national and proportional voting.

The Government is made up of the Prime Minister (Statsminister) and the other members of the Council of Ministers (Statsrad). There is a Government Office (Regeringskansli) responsible for preparing Council matters. The Ministers are appointed by the Prime Minister. The public administration is currently divided into thirteen ministries led by a Minister, although there are also ministers who are not heads of ministries. The Government takes all decisions collectively.

The Judicial System: The Swedish Supreme Court is the third and final authority in all civil and criminal cases. It is independent from the Parliament and the Government. The Supreme Court (Hogsta Domstolen) is the highest general jurisdiction court and the Government Council (Regeringsratten) is the highest administrative court. Nobody may serve as a member of the Supreme Court or the Government Council unless he/ she has been appointed a permanent magistrate.

Regional Organization

It is a unitary state, divided into twenty-one Counties (Län) of which two are Large Regions merged from several smaller Counties. Each County or region has a County Administrative Board or länsstyrelse representing the central government administration in some matters (the first Administrative Board was set up by Swedish Prime Minister, Axel Oxenstierna, in 1634). As political body, each County has a Council or landsting, directly elected by the people. There are also a third political level, the Municipalities or kommuner, and there is 290 Municipalities.

The municipal government is made up of a municipal legislative Assembly, called kommunfullmäktige, whose members (always an odd number) are elected by popular vote every four years. In turn, the Municipalities are divided into a total of 2,512 Parishes or församlingar. There is an ongoing political process going on in order to merge further counties into larger regions.

Public Administration

1. Central Administration State Administration is organized into two levels: a) Government Offices b) Central Government Agencies. a) The Swedish government offices (ministries) employ only a relatively small number of staff, and government agencies enjoy a relatively autonomous status. The government offices work mainly with supporting the Government in its operations, including starting investigations, perform follow up and formulate operational goals for the central government administration.

b) Most experts are working in the Government in Agencies, which may have central, regional and local offices. Agencies are joint entities responsible for most operational activities of the Swedish Public Administration. Each of them is managed by an executive manager and normally has a board of directors appointed by the Government. Agencies belong to a Ministry department but have a high degree of autonomy in terms of decision-making regarding their organization, resources and personnel in order to fulfil the objectives set out in their statutes or regulations. Under the Swedish Constitution, individual ministers are not permitted to intervene directly in the day-to-day operations of government agencies. This type of organization dates back to the XVII century.

2. Regional Administration. Regional Central Government Administration is divided between County Administrative Boards and other state authorieties with regional organisation (such as the Social Insurance Board, The Police, The National Employment Authority and more). The County Administration Board acts as the regional authority for various central authorities. Apart from the state there are two political levels: County Councils, providing regional transport and hospitals etc, and Municipalities, providing all kinds of local services and policies. This sub-division dates back to the XVII century. Nowadays, the County Governor (Landshövding) is responsible for state administration in the county when this function is not conferred on another authority, etc.

Municipal Self-Government: Municipalities (Kommuner) have extensive powers, such as tax regulation and collection, so most citizens only pay taxes to the Municipalities. The decision making assembly, the Municipal Council (Kommunfullmäktige) is elected by citizens. The powers are executed in the Municipal executive board and the different technical offices headed by appointed politicians and staffed with municipal employees. Municipal competencies are regulated in the Local Government Act.

The Swedish Constitution contains provisions defining the relationship between decision-making and executive power. The 1992 Swedish Local Government Act regulates division into municipalities and the organisation and powers of the municipalities and county councils. It also contains rules for elected representatives, municipal councils, executive boards and municipal offices.

Public Employment Structure

Regulation

Law 7/2007, of 12th April on the Civil Service Basic Statute (EBEP): This is a law that establishes a homogeneous model for the Civil Service, whilst respecting the competences of the other regional and local administrations in order to adapt these general provisions to their specific conditions. On the other hand, it sets out the common rules applicable to the different groups of public employees.

Public Employee Categories:

• Civil Servants are subject to a statutory system of Civil Service and are regulated by Administrative Law. In general. Public Administration posts are filled by civil servants.

• Non-civil service employees are subject to an employment contract and are regulated by Employment Law (Workers’ and Collective Agreements Statute); they may only hold certain posts.

Bearing in mind this restriction, all Public Administrations (State, Regional and Local) have or may have the following categories of public employees:

Professional Civil Servants: These legally appointed employees are linked to a Public Administration by a statutory relationship regulated by Administrative Law for the performance of professional services.

Interim Civil Servants: On duly justified grounds of need or urgency, interim civil servants are appointed as such for the performance of professional civil servant functions in accordance with the circumstances set out in the Civil Service Basic Statute.

Statutory Staff: They have a functional relationship with special conditions set out in their own statutes.

Contractual Workers: By virtue of a formalised written contract through any of the staff recruitment methods set out in employment legislation, contractual workers provide services that are paid by the Public Administrations. Depending on the contract duration, this may be permanent, for an indefinite period of time or temporary.

Temporary Staff: By virtue of temporary appointment, temporary staff may only perform functions that are expressly classified to be functions of trust or expert advice, whereby they are paid from the budgetary credits set aside for this purpose.

Management: Their system shall be developed by the State and the Public Administrations in accordance with the principles established in the Civil Service Basic Statute and others.

Organization of the civil service

Recruitment

Recruitment is carried out using the following competitive procedures: competitive examination (passing tests), competition (exceptional system in which merits are verified and assessed) and competition-examination (passing tests and merit assessment), according to the constitutional principles of equality, merit and ability.

The structure of the public service system is mixed: Corps and Scales for civil servants, as well as contractual employees.

A. Corps and Scales: This groups civil servants by means of:

• Civil service entry requirements,

• Recruitment procedure

• Functions or positions that may be held or performed:

— General Corps for common functions in the administrative activity.

— Special Corps for functions of a certain career or profession.

B. Positions

Positions homogenously group together the functions or activities performed in a specific administrative unit and serve to:

• Understand exactly the number and type of staff required,

• Ensure that positions are assigned to the best suitable candidates,

• Determine the pay to be received by those performing the jobs.

Statistics: The total number of civil servants is 2,636,900. Of these, there are 575,021 in the General State Administration, 1,332,844 in the Autonomous Communities, 629,505 in Local Administration and 99,530 in Universities.

Rights, Obligations, Principles And Values

Rights and Obligations

The Civil Service Basic Statute defines rights and obligations as well as a Code of Conduct and ethical principles. Individual rights include the right to privacy, immobility, administrative career and pay, the right to participate in political activities, but observing neutrality in their functions at all times, retirement, etc. and joint rights include the right to meet, association, promotion of collective conflicts, right to strike, etc.

Obligations: The first is to swear loyalty to the King and the Constitution; perform functions with objectivity, integrity, neutrality etc. and follow principles of conduct such as hierarchical obedience, except when the order is clearly illegal, in which case, the supervisor must be informed in order to avoid accountability, or except in cases in which action may be detrimental to citizens and the proper use of public resources, etc.

Diversity Policies

Non discrimination on grounds of birth, race and gender originate from Article 14 of the Constitution. Based on this constitutional principle, the Spanish administration has passed laws and regulations to prevent discrimination on grounds of gender (Law 4/2005, of 18th February, for the Equality of Men and Women, Organic Law 3/2007, of 22nd March, for the Effective Equality of Men and Women) which have influenced the Civil Service and the Workers’ Statute, the contents of which have been reflected in the Civil Service Basic Statute.

Statistics: Summary Table: June 2009: Percentage of men and women in the Public Administrations by sector.

Work-Life Balance

Working Hours: Types: General Maximum working hours: 37.5 hours a week (1,647 hours a year), and special dedication working hours: 40 hours a week.

Work-Life Balance. The Civil Service Basic Statute considers this work-life balance to be a subjective right and establishes 16 weeks uninterrupted Maternity leave. The 16 weeks’ leave for adoption or fostering (pre-adoptive, permanent or simple) may be extended if the adopted child is disabled or for multiple births.

Paternity Leave (for birth, fostering or adoption) of 15 days may be taken by the father or other parent. Domestic violence leave for employees whose absences on these grounds are considered to be justified, granting the right to the reduction of working hours with the proportional reduction in pay, reorganization of the working hours, application of flexi-working times, etc.

Tele-working: This has been regulated but is still in the trial phase. It requires an agreement between the employer and trade union representatives provided that the tasks may be performed in this way. Tele-working usually involve alternating between working at the office and at home.

Holiday Leave: 22 working days a year (Saturdays are not counted and special working hours shall require adjustments) extended up to a maximum of 26 days in accordance with seniority.

Leave for the death, accident or serious illness of a first level blood relative: 3 working days; For moving house without changing place of residence: 1 day; To attend final examinations or definitive aptitude tests: on the days they are held, For breast-feeding of a child under 12 months: one hour’s leave of absence from work (it is possible to accumulate this time into full working days); for private affairs: six days which may be extended by 2 on reaching the 6th three-year increment, etc.

Other Leave and Licenses: For marriage: 15 calendar days; for study directly related to the civil service: the time required with pay and family allowance; for illness that prevents the normal performance of duties: up to 3 months each year with full pay; for personal affairs: unpaid and its accumulated duration may not exceed 3 months every 2 years.

Career-Based System - Training

The Civil Service Basic Statute considers the career and promotion public employees jointly and as aright. It differentiates between:

• Horizontal Career is grade, category or step advancement without the need to change job.

• Vertical Career consists of promotion in the structure of positions through the provision of positions set out in the Statute.

• Internal Promotion, which is promotion from one Corps or Scale in a sub-group or from one group to another higher group.

• Horizontal Internal Promotion which consists of entry to Corps or Scales of the same professional sub-group.

Internal promotion is a system open to all civil servants of the same group of qualifications fulfilling the requirements to enter the new corps and a minimum period of two years in the current corps or scale. Competitive tests need to be passed: by the system of competitive examination or competition-examination according to the constitutional principles of equality, merit, ability and advertising.

The Civil Service Basic Statute differentiates between Professional Career and Promotion for civil servants and non-civil service employees. The career systems defined in the Statute are pending development by the State and Autonomous Communities.

Non-civil service employees: Their career development and promotion is in accordance with the procedures set out in the Workers’ and Collective Agreements Statute.

Performance Appraisal. The Civil Service Basic Statute links career and pay with performance appraisal, which forces Public Administrations to establish appraisal systems for their public employees. It is conceived as a procedure that measures and evaluates professional conduct and performance or the fulfilment of results and should be carried out using criteria of transparency, objectivity, impartiality and nondiscrimination, without infringing the rights of public employees.

It is currently pending development, so the previous model, based on level intervals and personal grades, remains in force during the transitory period.

• Level intervals are career expectations for civil servants in their corps or scale. There are 30 levels; the civil servant career begins at the lowest level of each group and may reach the maximum level at the end of the career.

• Personal Grade is the axis of civil servant professional promotion in accordance with their professional path. The grade is acquired through performance over two consecutive years, or 3 years with a break, of a job in the same level or a higher one than the grade to be entered.

Successive grades are obtained using the same system. If the position changes level during its performance, the higher level shall be considered for the grade. A higher grade than the maximum level in the interval corresponding to the civil servant’s qualification group cannot be obtained. The personal grade is important for pay, mobility and provision of jobs.

Remuneration

Civil Servants

The pay system for civil servants is established by law and the quantities of pay are public (some appear in the General Budgetary Laws of the different Public Administrations, and others in the Job Positions List). Basic pay is the same in all Public Administrations and, according to the Civil Service Basic Statute, consists of the salary and the three-year increment for each sub-group or group. The General State Budgetary Law establishes the annual global pay increase which is applied to all public employees.

However, until the laws to enact the Civil Service Basic Statute are passed, the previous pay system is maintained, which consists of the following concepts:

1. Basic Pay. This is calculated according to the qualification sub-group or group of the Corps or Scale to which the civil servant belongs. It includes:

• Salary. The same amount is assigned to each group of academic qualifications. Training and knowledge accredited during recruitment are rewarded.

• Three-year Increments. This is the same amount for each Group and for each three years of service. Seniority is rewarded.

• Extraordinary Payments. They are calculated in accordance with the time in service during the six months in which they are received. They are paid twice a year (June and December). Each extraordinary payment consists of a month’s basic pay and all of the additional payments, except those corresponding to performance or extraordinary service carried out outside working hours.

2. Additional pay. This pay is received in accordance with the characteristics of the position, professional career or performance of duties.

• Position Bonus rewards the level of the position. The maximum and minimum limits for the level of the position performed are established for each qualification group.

• Specific Bonus, rewards special conditions of responsibility, technical or laborious difficulty of the position. There are different scales of specific bonus.

• Productivity Bonus rewards better performance.

• Bonus awarded for extraordinary services provided.

Non-civil service employees

Their pay is determined according to employment legislation, the corresponding collective agreement and the employment contract. Additional payments are usually made up of a month’s basic salary, seniority, and if appropriate, the personal bonus for consolidated seniority.

Social Dialogue And System Of Representation

Civil servants are entitled to strike and union membership with the exception of the Armed Forces, Civil Guard and Judges, Magistrates and Prosecutors, (although professional associations are allowed) and limited for the National Security Forces and Corps, which affects them for independent collective bargaining. The main trade union organizations representing public employees at a state level are: The Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions (CCOO), the General Workers’ Union (UGT) and the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions and Trade Union Confederation of Civil Servants (CSI-CSIF). At regional level, ELA and CIG in Galicia are representative. By sector (mainly health and education) there are other important trade unions.

The main regulation in this sphere is set out in Organic Law 11/1985, of 2nd August, on Trade Union Freedom and Law 7/2007, of 12th April on the Civil Service Basic Statute, which define two different channels for representation and negotiation: unitary bodies (Staff Councils, Works Committees and Staff Delegates, which are representation bodies elected directly by the employees of each Ministry or organization, with extremely limited negotiating capacity) and trade union bodies (with extensive negotiating power, that channel institutional dialogue. Their representatives and negotiators are appointed by the trade unions).

In the public service sector, collective bargaining on working conditions is carried out via different Commissions: General Public Administration Commission, in which basic issues are negotiated, hence affecting all public employees and all Administrations and their agreements are nation-wide. It is unitary. On the one hand, there are the Public Administrations (State, which presides, Autonomous Communities, Cities of Ceuta and Melilla and Local Administration), and on the other hand, the trade union organizations according to the results obtained in the elections to the aforementioned unitary bodies.

Another General Commission in each territorial administration is responsible for negotiating issues that are common to civil servants, non-civil service employees and statutory employees in its own region. There is another specific Commission for civil servants. Depending on these General Commissions, Sectorial Commissions may also exist for specific fields, essentially healthcare and universities.

Therefore, it is possible to talk about centralized negotiation but within the decentralization of the Spanish regional system, which means that negotiations are not carried out individually by Ministries (Departments in the case of regions) but rather centrally via the aforementioned Commissions, but only a small part of the subjects (basic issues) must be negotiated in the joint and centralized state sphere.

Potential issues for negotiation are extensive, as only specific aspects related to selfgoverning powers, management and hierarchical control, working conditions of senior executives, citizens’ rights, etc. are excluded from the obligation to negotiate, as they are the exclusive competence of the Administration.

Senior Civil Servants

The highest levels of Central Administration are called Superior Bodies (Ministers and Secretaries of State) and do not have to be civil servants, although they are on many occasions. At a lower level, there are Management Bodies (Secretary-Generals, Under-Secretaries, Technical Secretary-Generals, Director- Generals and Deputy Director-Generals). They must all be career civil servants with the exception of Secretary-Generals and, in exceptional and duly justified circumstances, Director- Generals. The Civil Service Basic Statute considers the category of management personnel, the development of which is pending. It contemplates the possibility that they may also be non-civil service employees. Each Autonomous Community has the power to establish its own legal system and conditions, but a common requirement is that they are recruited on the grounds of merit and ability, suitability criteria, using procedures guaranteeing publication and competition. Management personnel are evaluated according to the criteria of efficiency, effectiveness, responsibility in their management and the monitoring of results.

As this figure does not exist and that of management personnel has not been developed, in order to maintain the structure of the study and its comparative purposes, the heads of the Superior and Management Bodied defined in Law 6/1997 of 14th April, on the Organization and Functioning of the General State Administration, shall be used, whereby political appointment does not necessarily need to be a civil servant.

All of these positions are freely appointed and removed and are not limited to career. Ministers are appointed and removed by the President of the Government. State Secretaries, Secretary-Generals, Under-Secretaries, Technical Secretary- Generals and Director-Generals are appointed and removed by the Government on the recommendation of the corresponding Minister. Deputy Director-Generals are appointed and removed by the State Secretary. All career-based civil servants occupying these positions must belong to Sub-Group A1, except for those positions that may be carried out by non-civil servants.

Recent Reforms and Prospects

The need for a reform of public employment to adapt to current needs was unquestionable, and there was consensus from all social sectors, political groups, public employees and their representative bodies.

Article 103.3 of the Constitution required a specific law to be drawn up to regulate the status of civil servants and Article 149.1.18ª gives the State the power in the foundations of this statutory system. The last important reform in this area was in 1984, whereby its regulations which continue transitorily, whilst the Civil Service Basic Statute (EBEP) approved by Law 7/2007, of 12th April is being developed, state that:

• The need to create common regulatory framework for all public employees (civil servants and non-civil service employees) that guarantees recruitment and career development based on common criteria and the constitutional principles of merit, ability, equality and advertisement, with a fair balance between the rights and responsibilities of public employees.

• The need for the Public Administrations to have appropriate legal mechanisms for the planning and organization of their staff.

• The gradual transfer of services to the Autonomous Communities and the need to resolve problems derived from human resource management.

• Enable each Administration to form its own human resource policy, without detriment to the necessary elements of cohesion and coordination mechanisms.

The Civil Service Basic Statute is currently in the development phase, both in the State and the Autonomous Communities, which must take place in the audience of the sectors involved and the employee representatives, which requires an in-depth study into its aims and consequences, which is why it has not yet been finalized.

Publications

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Main tables

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Database

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