Archive:Public employment - Hungary

PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION !!!

Data from Month Year. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

<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

Hungary is a decentralised unitary State. The central government has representatives in the 19 Departments (Comitats), which have wide-ranging competences. Hungary is administratively sub-divided into 20 Regions, of which 19 are counties (“megyék”, singular: “megye”) and the other is the capital city (“főváros”), Budapest. There are also 23 towns with county rights, sometimes known as “urban counties”. Although the local authorities of these towns have extended powers, these towns cannot be considered as independent territorial units. On the other hand, there are seven statistical regions created in 1999 by Law 1999/XCII, which amends Law 1996/XXI. It is hoped that the regional division will replace the current administrative division of 20 regions. Regions are made by grouping the territorial units together.

The Constitution regulates the local autonomous bodies. It establishes that: the territory of the Republic of Hungary is divided geographically into the Capital of the country, Provinces and Municipalities, which are divided into cities and villages. The Capital of the country is divided into districts. It recognises that local self-government is the “autonomous and democratic management of local public affairs affecting the communities concerned, is the exercise of local public authority in the interest of the population”.

Their bodies are the democratically elected Autonomous Representative Body. It regulates and administers matters of self-government; manage revenue and determine the types and amounts of local taxes; may freely form associations with other local representative bodies, create federations of autonomous representative bodies; cooperate with local authorities in other countries and join international organizations of local bodies. The President of the Local Representative Body shall be the Mayor; Laws or government decrees may determine and transfer some of the functions of the State Administration.

Public administration

The Hungarian Central Administration is divided into Ministries. On the other hand, there are other organizations such as Agencies, an important one of which is the Hungarian Research and Development Agency which is responsible for decision- making in relation to public employment, public development and investment and is linked to other entities and networks acting in the public employment field, such as the European Commission Enterprise Europe network.

Public Employment Structure

Legal Basis: Public Officials are regulated by the 1992 Act XXIII on the Legal Status of Public Officials and public servants are regulated by the 1992 Act XXXIII on the Legal Status of Public Servants, both of which regulate the main aspects of public employment.

Activities to be performed by public officials: These activities are published online so that citizens can be aware of their objectives and tools to achieve them. The following public service activities can be highlighted for 2009:

A) Recruitment and training of public servants, Public administration managers (central and regional) and personnel for the Hungarian Presidency of the EU in 2011. B) Implement the programme specialised in newly recruited public servants (PÖF). C) Administer and supervise EU grants intended for public administration education and human resources. D) Launch an annual programme for senior public managers or directors. E) Set up a professional training centre for public officials. F) Participate in international projects, etc.

Staff Categories

Public officials perform activities ranging from management, administration, control and supervision and they represent the state when they perform their duties.

Administrator is the name given to those who work for a public administration organization, carrying out administrative tasks.

Contractual workers are employees whose legal relationship is regulated by the Labour Code. They are in charge of collecting material, filing decisions, posting letters, cleaning or driving.

Therefore, the concept of public servant should not be confused with that of public official, as the Public Officials Act does not apply to:

• The organizations of the Hungarian Armed Forces, the Civil Guards, the Police, the national security services, the Fire Department, the Customs Officers, prison officers, civil defence and armed security guards (whereby staff working for these organizations are not public officials, but these organizations may also have some responsibilities that are the same as public officials).

• Persons employed to provide the public services that are part of the responsibilities of the local self-government (public servants), persons employed in non-profit and community service works, or those temporarily working in the civil service (employees working under the scope of the Labour Code).

Public servants are persons employed by the State, local authorities and local self- governments to perform public services (at times, nursery school workers, primary and secondary school teachers, hospital workers, the police, the armed forces are public officials rather than public servants).

Therefore in order to differentiate between public servant and public official or other legal relations, the specific functions performed in the organization shall also be observed.

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

Title of the publication

Main tables

Title of top Main tables folder, see:

Title(s) of second level folder (if any)

Title(s) of third level folder (if any)

Database

Title of top Database folder, see: