Archive:Public employment - Germany

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

Regional and administrative organisation

Introduction

Germany is a federal parliamentary republic made up of sixteen states (Bundesländer). The capital and largest city is Berlin. It is a member of the United Nations, NATO, G8, G4 nations, and signatory to the Kyoto Protocol. It is the world’s third largest economy in terms of nominal GDP, the leader in Europe, and the world’s largest exporter of goods in 2007.

System of government

Executive Power is invested in the Chancellor and federal ministers. The Head of State is the President of the Republic, who essentially has powers of representation and is characterized by his/her neutrality in Government policy.

The Chancellor is elected by the Bundestag, and is normally the leader of the party that obtained the majority vote in this chamber. Although the Chancellor proposes the members of the Government to the President of the Republic, the composition of the Government is usually negotiated between the coalition parties as there is almost always a coalition government. The Government is ruled by three principles:

• Richtlinie-Prinzip: The Chancellor defines the general policy guidelines.

• Ressort-Prinzip: Within these guidelines, each Minister acts independently and is accountable to the Chancellor.

• Kollegial-Princip: The Federal Government adopts joint decisions.

Generally speaking, the Federal level is responsible for legislative and coordination tasks, and the territorial administrations have executive powers as well as monitoring and implementation. For coordination, the Chancellor and Ministers have advisory and support Cabinets, which are normally made up of civil servants.

Regional organisation

German federalism has two characteristics which differentiate it from other federal systems :

1. The Federal level is responsible for legislation, coordination, political impulse whilst state level is responsible for implementing public policies.

2. Representatives of the Federal Chamber (Bundesrag) are not elected directly by the people, but they are appointed by the executive power of the Länder.

The first territorial administration is the federal administration and the second level is state administration: the Länder. Each Länd has a Constitution and the division of powers takes place in its own territory. Each Länd has its own legislative, executive and judicial bodies and is self-organized. The Landtag (State Parliament) has sovereignty to pass laws within its sphere of competence: local authorities, police system, culture and education. Like the Länder, they carry out essentially executive tasks. Part of the activity of the Landtag is being assumed by the federal level through framework legislation.

Political management lies with the President and administrative tasks are carried out on three levels by peripheral delegations: At the higher level: by the Ministers of the Länd; at the second level: by a state government delegate; at the third level: by the Municipalities with delegated powers of the Länder.

Local Administration consists of various models depending on the size of the Länder. In the nine large Länder, there are three levels: Regions, provinces and communes or villages; whilst there is no regional level in the four smaller Länder.

Public administration

As indicated, Germany is a Federal State (Bund) made up of Federated States (Länder). Its distribution of powers is based on the principle of subsidiarity.

Basic Legislation (Grundgesetz) determines the exclusive and concurrent legislative powers when the framework laws have been approved. The Federation is competent in most areas of legislative power (defence, foreign affairs, nationality), whilst the Länder have powers in services: education, culture and police. In concurrent areas (civil, criminal, statutory and company law), the Länder legislate if the Federation does not do so. The Federation may create framework provisions that the Länder may develop, allowing a homogenous system within the country.

Ministerial Structure: First Level: political posts, Minister and parliamentary Secretary of State (who is elected on grounds of trust, is a member of parliament and supports the Minister before the Bundestag). Second Level: political civil servants (career civil servants or employees with this temporary status) Secretaries of State and Director-Generals, that are discretionally appointed and do not have to resign when there is a change of government. Third Level: career civil servants, Deputy Director-Generals, Heads of Service and Heads of Division. The basic unit of the Ministry is the Service. The Services (maximum of 6) form a Sub-Directorate General; these are grouped under Directorate Generals which are under a Secretary of State.

The Cabinet of Ministers deals with coordination problems derived from the Kollegial- Prinzip, of the coalition governments and the dually-headed capital of the State between Bonn and Berlin, whereby ministerial tasks are distributed. Like other cases in the Union, in recent years, independent entities (agencies) have been created for the provision of services.

Public Employment Structure

Categories and Status of Public employees

Basic Regulation establishes the principle of unit of status for civil servants serving the Federation, the Länder or Local Government. Federal civil servants are governed by the Public Service Law, of 31st March 1999. The Federation is also competent to draw up framework regulations concerning all civil servants, ensuring homogeneity between the different categories. Administration staff can be divided into the following categories:

• Civil servants: They belong to the career-based system and generally hold posts in the traditional administration (management, police, education).

• Employees and Workers: They have positions under an employment contract but their status in fact gives them the same security.

A small proportion of civil servants work at federal level, but most local competences are the responsibility of the Länder. Civil servants in their strictest sense are the minority compared with the rest of public sector employees although the statutory and working conditions are practically identical and in spite of the fact that civil servants form the administrative elite.

State employees account for 47% of public employees, civil servants make up 38% and employees represent 15%. The percentage of state employees increased from 40% to 47% between 1989 and 2000 due to the growing importance of local government functions and services. However, the number of public employees has fallen significantly since the unification. In total, they have fallen from approximately 6.7 million in 1991 to less than 4.5 million by mid-2007. Human resource management and public employment are decentralised and the respective Ministries are responsible for recruitment and training.

Data of interest : 3.7 million people are employed by the central, regional and local authorities. (Federation: 0.47 million), (Länder: 1.9 million), local authorities and associations for special purposes: 1.3 million). The number of people indirectly employed in public services amounts to 779,000 employees.

Categories of public employees (With their interval levels)

Lower Levels (not common)

A2: Oberamtsgehilfe -A6: Oberamtsmeister Intermediate Levels

A6: Sekretär -A9+AZ:Amtsinspektor mit Amtszulage Senior Levels

A9: Inspektor, f.e. Regierungsinspektor -A13: Oberamtsrat Senior Police Levels (Police Officer)

A9: Kommissar, f.e. Kriminalkommissar or Polizeikommissar -A13: Erster Hauptkommissar, f.e. Erster Kriminal- or Polizeihauptkommissar Senior Service

A13: Rat, e.g.: Studienrat, Medizinalrat, Baurat, Bibliotheksrat, Verwaltungsrat, Regierungsrat - A16: Leitender Direktor, e.g. Leitender Finanzdirektor, Leitender Medizinaldirektor, Ministerialrat, Oberstudiendirektor

B1: Direktor - B11: Staatssekretär (Secretary of State as a civil servant)

• Bundesminister: 1 1/3 x B11 (Federal Minister) • Bundeskanzler: 1 2/3 x B11 (Federal Chancellor) • Bundespräsident: 1 5/6 x B11 (Federal President)

These Groups are not considered to be civil servants.

• W1: Juniorprofessor -W3: Teacher (Like a headteacher in an institute) • C1: Wissenschaftlicher/Künstlerischer Assistant-C4: Teacher (Ordinary); Lehrstuhlinhaber (not common) • R1: Amtsrichter (not a civil servant), Staatsanwalt -R10: Präsident(en) der Bundesgerichte (not a civil servant)

Rights, obligations, principles and values

The main rights of civil servants are: the right to strike, join a union, ongoing training, participation, remuneration, protection and freedom of opinion (whether political, trade-union-related, philosophical or religious). Their main obligations are: professional confidentiality, professional discretion and informing the public, performing the tasks entrusted to them, following orders from superiors, etc.

Career-based system and training

Although public employees can be recruited on a contractual basis (16%), they are normally recruited via selection processes. Training is provided at on-going training centres and others that specialise in international cooperation: National School of Administration (ENA), Regional Administration Institutes that offer training for standard government posts and the Centre for European Studies (Strasbourg). There are also ministerial centres that provide training for specific posts.

The civil servant assessment procedure is set out in Decree 682, on the classification and promotion of civil servants in administrative scales. Assessment is carried out by the direct hierarchical superior and is based on performance as well as professional development prospects.

The civil servant is informed of the result of the assessment. It is carried out in each Ministry, in accordance with the functions and corps to be managed, whereby it may adopt its own classification system in agreement with trade unions. Classification is the responsibility of the Head of Service. The Decree provides a regulation defining the procedure to follow, classifications, notes, etc. for the specific characteristics of each Ministry.

The assessment may be annual or twice yearly and is based on the rules established for each administration. It may be reviewed on the civil servant’s request, who is also entitled to appeal to the administrative jurisdiction.

The importance of seniority in career development has been reduced in favour of merit. The result of the assessment serves for career advancement by means of a change in level or grade. Each grade is divided into levels and it is possible to go up a level in the same grade. There are 3 types of grade advancement: By authority appointment, by examination, by competition.

Remuneration

Remuneration is based on the employee’s grade and the rank of the position occupied, or in other words, for belonging to a corps and the rank within each corps. The rank is linked to a base remuneration according to the civil servant’s position on a common scale. In addition to grade, rank and position, remuneration consists of compensation for residence, a family supplement and legal compensation. Therefore, the main remuneration is determined by a civil servant’s grade within his/her corps and a rank associated to a gross index or classification index, to which a salary index that varies between 280 and 821 is assigned. Annual salary is calculated by multiplying this salary index by a percentage.

A harmonised, streamlined and more individualised bonus system, known as the “Function and Performance Bonus” is currently being introduced, in which remuneration has a functional part that takes account of the civil servant’s responsibilities, and another that covers a person’s individual performance, which is evaluated in individual interviews.

Social dialogue and system of representation

In theory, trade unions do not have the legal authority to initiate collective bargaining except for salary increases. In reality, the practice of bargaining has grown and deepened over the past ten years. During negotiations, the government is represented by the Ministry for the Civil Service (central government civil service), the Ministry for Health (hospital civil service) and the Ministry for Local Authorities (local government civil service). Employee representatives come from the eight major trade unions. Subjects discussed include working conditions, health, remuneration, etc. Although the agreements reached are not binding, the political weight that they represent is definite. The Government may act unilaterally in the case of failure to reach agreement.

Within the framework of social dialogue reform, in 2008, the six most representative trade unions: French Democratic Confederation of Labour, French Confederation of Christian Workers, Union of Executives, General Confederation of Labour, General Confederation of Labour - Force Ouvrière, National Union of Autonomous Unions signed the “Bercy Agreements” in order to strengthen the role of bargaining and social dialogue between civil service branches and between ministries, underscore the legitimacy of technical committees and advisory bodies, and reinforce the rights and means for trade union action.

Collective bargaining is centralised on a national level; and includes salary increases within the limits set out in the Budget by the Ministry for Finance. It is characterised by the obligation to consultation prior to decision-making. According to the recent “Bercy Agreement”, a pact between trade unions and employers is considered to be valid if 2 trade unions, with a minimum of 20% of the votes of the entire union representation, sign it and it is not rejected by any organization that represents a majority of the votes.

Senior civil servants

In France, they are not called Senior Civil Servants but rather High Level Civil Servants. They enjoy special conditions that are different to the rest of the civil servants, but they do not have a legally defined status. However, high level positions are exceptional and have a special social status, and in particular, they enjoy special conditions in relation to their recruitment and entry, assignation of posts and benefits. The French employment system is career-based and seeks a coherent public service.

Civil service recruitment remains essentially centralised. Civil servants are mainly recruited at the beginning of their careers, through highly competitive examinations and training, through special institutes. The most important schools (grandes ecoles) are: National Administration School (ENA) and the Polytechnic School (EP). Entrants to grandes ecoles immediately become salaried civil servants and the top 20% (ENA) and top 25% (EP) are appointed to the most prestigious grands corps.

ENA is the principal means for accessing the high-level civil service functions. However, there is also the possibility of becoming a Civil Administrator through specific recruitment systems opened to all civil servants throughout their career (known as Tour extérieur). There are also specific examinations for technical corps (Polytechnic School) and specific competitions are organised by Ministries such as Foreign affairs, in order to recruit agents with specific competencies.

Entry Recruitment: ENA: At least a higher education diploma (or similar) and an examination. The proportion of posts via external examination is 50%, 40% internally and 10% from a third channel open to candidates from the private sector or those who have an elected mandate. EP: Secondary diploma, two years of preparatory classes and a competitive examination.

There are discretionary appointments by the Government (Prefects, Directors, Ambassadors, etc.) without a fixed term contract and revocable at any time, and classical management appointments with a defined duration (three years, renewable once). For discretionary appointments by the Government, a formalised procedure does not exist; for other appointments, there is a very limited procedure (call for application, nomination, validation by the Prime Minister and the Minister concerned and consultation with the General Directorate for Administration and Civil Service).

Senior Civil Servants are recruited by a more centralised process than general civil servants. Performance appraisal takes place annually. The Assessment interview is held between the Programme Manager and the Senior Civil Servant, or at the very top level. There are three core elements in the appraisal: Indicator-based objectives; operational quality of the service and the capacity of the Director and the assessment carried out by the hierarchical leaders. The appraisal defines the amount of the performance-based pay, which can be up to a maximum of 20% of the total salary.

The ENA and EP carry out training at the entry level and subsequently (senior positions receive training within six months of their appointment). Leadership training for senior civil servants consists of training in negotiation, communication skills, public governance, etc.

As for remuneration, Directors and Director-Generals have performance-related pay. Civil servants’ remuneration is based on three components: basic salary assigned to each corps. Two additional levels: At the inter-ministerial level: a fixed premium for productivity or the percentage of the base salaries of the different pay grades. At ministerial level: an efficiency premium is used, which is also defined as a percentage of the base salaries of the different pay grades.

Part-time work for SCS is allowed by Law, but in practice, like tele-working, it is not really common practice, arising only for jurisdictional functions. SCS have more free days to compensate for the flat-rate time worked, but in practice many executives are unable to take their days off. For members of the grands corps there is mobility between ministries and various positions within the administrative system. By means of temporary assignments, they can be loaned to other ministries. They are permitted to take leaves of absence to hold political office or work in the private sector while maintaining their benefits such as rate of pay and level of seniority upon their return.

Statistics: In France there are over 5,000 senior civil servants in the Central Administration (around 16% of which are female). Since 2005, career initiatives and the elimination of the 50 years old age limit makes it easier to recruit senior executives via the “tour extérieur”. This procedure, which is open to Category A civil servants with at least eight years of service, is specifically designed to take account of professional experience. Mobility obstacles between the three branches of the civil service have also been removed so that local government and hospital civil servants seconded into the civil administrators’ corps may move there permanently after 2 years of service.

Recent reforms and prospects

Several reform projects have been initiated, including ones dealing with individualised remuneration, mobility, evaluation, training and diversity. A number of these are part of the roadmap for the “Public Service 2012 Pact”. They are also part of the wider General Review of Public Policies, specifically in relation to human resources.

The 2008 reforms mentioned in the social dialogue and other reforms approved by the Public Policy Modernisation Council to improve the quality of public services and meet the objective of replacing only one out of two retiring civil servants between 2009 and 2011 to reduce the size of the public service have also been initiated.

Other reforms affect the modernisation of the 15 French Ministries to improve their efficiency, which have already been culminated in the Ministries of Defence, Sustainable Development and the Interior. A series of inter-departmental measures include multi-year budgets, modernisation of the State’s territorial organisation, streamlining internal procedures, modernising human resource management, modernising the State’s support functions (payroll, State purchases), and a “zero red tape” policy.

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