Archive:Public employment - Finland

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

Regional and administrative organisation

Introduction

Finland is a Republic with a surface area of 338,115 square kilometres and 5,326,000 inhabitants, which has been a member of the European Union since 1995.

System of government

The supreme governing bodies are the Parliament, the President of the Republic, and the Council of State. The single-chamber Parliament with 200 members elected every 4 years, is vested with the legislative power. The Parliament is organized into Committees (the Grand Committee is responsible for EU affairs). The Parliamentary Ombudsman and the State Audit Office report to Parliament. A committee chaired by the Speaker (President of the Parliament) is responsible for parliamentary administration.

The President of the Republic is elected for 6 years (direct and two-staged election) and can be elected for a maximum of two consecutive terms. The President represents the supreme executive power along with the Council of State, signs the laws and budgets passed by Parliament and appoints the Prime Minister elected by the Parliament, Ministers and senior civil servants.

The Council of State exercises the executive power, draws up draft bills of law and budgets. It is made up of the Prime Minister and the Ministers, along with the independent Chancellor of Justice. The number of Ministries is 12.

Regional organisation

Finland has 342 Municipalities (16 in the Aland Islands), which provide basic services such as health and education. Their main body is the Municipal Council, elected for a period of 4 years. The Council elects the Municipal Committee, which implements its decisions, as well as the different Committees responsible for providing public services.

There are 6 State Regional Offices and 15 Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment.

Public administration

The Ministries are in charge of preparation of legislation and supervision of their fields of administration including the Agencies and institutions that are under their responsibility. They cooperate with local authorities in the development of public services. They are also responsible for international and EU cooperation in their respective fields.

Public Employment Structure

Legal Basis: State Civil servants are governed by the Civil Servants’ Act and public employees by the Employment Contracts Act. In addition, there are Collective Agreements, one for statutory workers and another for contractual staff corresponding to the two existing categories: civil servants (83%) and public employees (17%).

Management Body: Each ministry and agency organises its own human resources management. The Office for the Government as Employer is respeonsible for negotiating and concluding collective agreements at the central level as well as for the strategic human resources policy line of the state.

The 525,000 public employees (NA% male), represent around NA% of the active population; of which, 437,000 belong to Local Government, 6,000 to State Enterprises and 88,000 (76 500 civil servants and the rest contractual staff) to the central State (of which 5,000 to Ministries).

Rights, obligations, principles and values

Public employees must act in defence of neutrality, sovereignty and impartiality in their work. In 2001, a set of common values (with highly ethical contents) were defined for the state, including, among other things, that activities are result-oriented and open, characterised by quality, strong expertise and trust and are neutral, sovereign, equal and responsible.

The “Values in the Daily Job” Handbook (civil servants’ ethics) was published in 2005. The Office for the Government as Employer is responsible for developing conflict of interest tools and participating in international initiatives in this field, particularly in the OECD. It is worth mentioning that Finland is one of the least corrupt countries in the world.

Weekly working hours are 36 hours and 15 minutes at office work.5 minutes. Maternity leave is 105 days, which begins 30-50 days prior to the birth of the child. In addition, there is parental leave of 158 days after the maternity leave.

Career-based system and training

Promotion is appointing of official to a vacant higher position upon the recommendation of a supervisor and with the approval of an Assessment Committee. As previously indicated, the Public Service is an open position-based system, in which candidates that fulfill the requirements of public servant can enter the system at every level, including the highest level. There is however an exception for Senior Public Servants, who are recruited, promoted and assessed by a committee located by the State Chancellery. The Head of State and local governments can also organize competitive recruitment exams for certain positions.

Formal education is provided by Estonia’s universities (Tallinn, Tartu, etc.), which offer degree programs in public administration. The Public Service Academy (ATAK) is in charge of in-service professional training for public sector employees.

Remuneration

The principles of the pay system and its scales are set out in the State Public Servants Official Titles and Salary Scale Act. The salary rates shall be established annually by the Government. The salary rates for local public servants and their agencies are approved by each local council.

Pay components are divided as follows: Basic Salary with differentiation (68.6-79.4%); Additional pay established by Law (seniority, qualifications, languages) (1.8-7.4)%; Additional pay based on performance (13.2-26.2%). (Data: 2008)

Social dialogue and system of representation

The unionization rate is fairly low in the Estonian public service (less than 10%) Collective bargaining negotiations (limited in the central level and informal and decentralized) are carried out between the Confederation of Estonian Trade Unions and an interministerial committee headed by the Minister for Social Affairs. The areas addressed primarily concern work conditions, salary, retirement system and public sector reform. Agreements are binding.

Senior civil servants

The Senior Public Service is a staff system for senior management positions in the public service. It is a framework for career development that allows positions to be assigned competitively for advisory functions related to public policies, operational management and services. In Estonia, they are called “Top Public Servants” and enjoy special conditions and treatment that is different to that of other public servants, although they do not have a formal status.

SCS Positions: (Summary Table)

Recruitment Methods : The State Chancellery publishes the open process for the vacant position. Candidates are evaluated by the Committee for the Recruitment and Assessment of Senior State Public Servants, except for Secretary-Generals and Local Governors. Deputy Secretary-Generals and Director-Generals of Agencies or Inspectorates are proposed to the authority by a Selection and Assessment Committee in order to proceed to appointment. Each Ministry and Agency is responsible for the recruitment, assessment and career development of its senior positions.

Senior executives are assessed once a year and there are also additional voluntary assessments. Those appointed to senior positions together with their superior, prepare their career dossier taking the results of their competences assessment into account for the next period. The Competences Dossier consists of self-assessment by the executive, assessment by his/her immediate superior and a summary of the evaluations and comments made by his/her subordinates and colleagues.

Their Training includes leadership activities, such as individual development tasks under the supervision of a mentor or a senior executive with experience and development programs at various levels in order to improve the competencies of senior executives.

There is no special pay system solely applicable to top public servants and in practice the final remuneration is based on mutual agreement. In senior non-political positions (Secretary-Generals) 4 out of every 11 are women.

Recent reforms and prospects

Estonian Government Program of the Coalition for 2007-2011 foresees the adoption of a new Public Service Act. The draft framework of the new Act proposes that the number of public servants is considerably reduced (by applying the provision of the Employment Contracts Act to them) and the possibilities of working in state and local government agencies on the basis of an employment contract shall be expanded. As a result of the proposed changes, the legal acts regulating public service and private sector employment should be more harmonized. In addition, many groups of public servants will not be prohibited to strike (the reform proposal will not concern those public servants who are responsible for exercising public authority). The new Act would affect the state as well as local government officials who have been recruited under the conditions of the current Public Service Act.

Further Eurostat information

Publications

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Main tables

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Database

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