Archive:Public employment - Hungary

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

Regional and administrative organisation

Introduction

The current Hungarian Constitution was approved in 1949, and its last modification was on 23rd October 1989, in which the Republic of Hungary is defined as “an independent, democratic constitutional state, in which supreme power is vested in the people and the government exercises its power within the framework of a State of Law representing a parliamentary constitutional democracy”.

It is a member of NATO and has been a Member State of the EU since 2004.

System of government

The National Assembly is the highest authority of the State and is elected by popular vote. It elects the President of the Republic, President of the Government, members of the Constitutional Court, Parliamentary Commissioners, President and Vice- President of the Audit Office, President of the Supreme Court and the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Hungarian Parliament has a single chamber.

The President of the Republic: The Head of State of Hungary is the President of the Republic, who expresses the national unit and ensures the democratic functioning of the State. He is elected by the National Assembly for a period of five years and may be re-elected once.

El Government consists of the President of the Government and Ministers. The President of the Government is proposed by the President of the Republic to the National Assembly who decides on his election by majority vote and approves his Government programme. Ministers are appointed and removed by the President of the Republic, on the recommendation of the President of the Government.

The Government shall be accountable to the National Assembly, and regularly reports on its actions. In turn, members of the Government are accountable to the President of the Republic and the National Assembly.

Hungarian Electoral System: In accordance with the 1997 Hungarian Electoral Law, the President of the Republic is the competent authority to call elections, whereby the Ministry of the Interior and the National Electoral Commission are responsible for organising the elections and ensuring they are carried out properly.

Parliament is made up of 386 seats, in accordance with the following distribution:

176 members are elected in single-seat constituencies;

152 members are elected from the lists in Budapest and other Provinces;

58 members are elected from the national compensation seats.

In the single-seat constituencies, there is a two-round electoral system in case one of the candidates does not win an absolute majority in the first round. Regards voting for lists, the seats are divided according to the percentage of votes received by each list in each region. As for the national compensation list, it is not possible to vote directly for this. The Hungarian electoral system favours the majority parties, particularly the most voted; and hence strengthens the possibility of creating a stable majority government. Furthermore, it encourages the parties to join forces as coalitions in the second round.

The Judicial System: Justice is administered by: the Supreme Court of the Republic of Hungary, the Court of the Capital City and the county courts, and local courts. Legislation may provide for the institution of special courts for certain groups of cases. The courts administer justice in councils of professional judges or magistrates and lay-members, whereby legislation may authorize exceptions to this rule.

The Supreme Court of the Republic of Hungary manages the principles of the judiciary and the Administration of Justice in all the other courts. The President of the Supreme Court is elected by the National Assembly, on the recommendation of the President of the Republic.

The Constitutional Court reviews the constitutionality of legal stipulations and carries out the functions attribu ted to it by legal mandate. It is made up of members elected by the National Assembly.

Regional organisation

Public administration

The administrative system is classical, developed hierarchically from the Minister downwards, passing through Directorate-Generals. However, there is some functional decentralisation in Agencies and Public Law Organizations (especially Public Establishments with more than 50% of the employees).

Public Employment Structure

Legal Basis: The Civil Servants’ Code regulates the status of public employees except some cases, which require special conditions or are subject to constant changes. There are two types of employees: civil servants with lifelong tenure (in a statutory position) and contractual staff (with a fixed-term contract). Temporary staff is hired for 3 to 8 months to cover temporary staffing requirements. Scientific, technical or auxiliary staff recruited under a private law contract also has a permanent employment relationship.

80% of issues related to contractual staff with an open-ended contract are regulated in the aforementioned Code (recruitment, mobility, dismissal, pay scale, etc.) They have almost the same rights and obligations as civil servants with lifelong tenure. Differences lie in issues related to their assessment, promotion, health and social security system and pension schemes. Temporary contractual staff does not enjoy the same rights but some benefits are the same, such as maternity leave.

According to the level of studies required for entry in the civil service, statutory staff are classified into special position categories which require studies: University Degree, Technical Studies, Secondary Studies and finally, compulsory studies.

PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT MANAGING BODY: The Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization organises human resources through the Directorate-Generals for: Administrative Organization and Procedures; Staff Status; Administrative Reform.

Statistics: The total number of employees is 369,800, (25% in the Central government, 23% in local government and 52% in Public Law Establishments).

Rights, obligations, principles and values

Civil servants have the same political and social rights as other citizens. Their working week, with a few exceptions (such as the armed forces, prisons, courts, universities and others) is 5 days and 37.5 hours a week. Since 2006, they have enjoyed flexi-working times.

The new Civil Servants’ Code sets out unpaid family leave of two years for the care of children under the age of 6. Furthermore, parents of children under the age of 2 work 2 hours less a day and mothers with children between the ages of 2 and 4 also work 1 hour less. Parents may opt for paid leave of 9 months for childcare, which is incompatible with the above.

Career-based system - Training

The Constitution determines that civil servants holding posts shall be permanent so long as these posts exist. They may not be dismissed with the exception of those retiring upon attainment of the age limit or by court judgement, which is also applicable to open-ended contractual staff. The exceptions approved by law are: staff or senior positions outside the hierarchy, ambassadors, employees of the Presidency, Prime

Minister, Ministers and Deputy Ministers. To enter statutory positions, civil servants must spend 2 years on probation, during which time they may be dismissed.

Dismissal may be imposed as a sanction for disciplinary breaches, such as refusing to respect the Constitution, lack of loyalty to the State and Democracy, breach of service, serious insubordination, etc.

The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for the training policy, along with the National Centre for Public Administration, which analyses training needs, and other specialised departmental centres.

Remuneration

Since 1997, there have been pay increases to bring the civil service in line with the private sector, with a new pay method based on a series of 36 salary scales according to each job category. Each scale is broken down into 18 levels, each one with a base salary. Employees change level automatically every two years. Contractual employees’ salaries are set by collective agreements concluded between trade unions, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry for Finance. In local governments, remuneration is the same as for State civil servants.

Social dialogue and system of representation

Public employees have the right to strike and to union membership (with the exception of the police and armed forces). Collective bargaining is regulated in Law 2738/1999, and takes place annually between the Ministry of the Interior (and others if the subject concerns them) and ADEDY (Administration of Greek Civil Servant Trade Unions). The main topics of negotiation are: salaries, training, modernisation of the social security system, union rights, the working week and mobility. Agreements are not binding on administrations, except those concerning training, social security and union rights.

Senior civil servants

There is no formal SCS status in Greece although there are some special conditions. (Summary Table)

Senior Civil Servants are recruited internally through examinations conducted by the Greek National School of Public Administration or by the Personnel Selection Board. Appointment is for a 3-year term which may be extended for a further 3 years, and they are under the management of their direct superiors in the organic ranking. They are assessed annually on the following criteria: knowledge, effectiveness, behaviour, etc.

The National Centre for Public Administration offers a specific training programme for SCS which focuses on the command of foreign languages and training in this field.

They do not have any extra pay apart from the SCS bonus derived from their participation in certain Collective Councils. They usually work full-time without flexi-working times or part-time work. They have limited mobility.

Recent reforms and prospects

A public administration reform programme is currently being implemented (2007-2013), backed by the European Social Fund, with the following measures: establishment of quality policies through the modernisation of the regulatory framework; reform of administrative structures and procedures; improvement of human resource management; combat inequality in the administration.

Further Eurostat information

Publications

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Main tables

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Database

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