Archive:Public employment - Latvia

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

Satversme is the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia, and defines the Basic constitutional principles (sovereignty, division of powers, popular sovereignty, democracy and fundamental rights). It stipulates that Latvia is an independent democratic republic. The Latvian parliamentary system is strictly defined as democratic and republican in which the legislative power is vested in the Latvian Parliament (Saeima).

System of government

The Constitution defines the fundamental rights and principles of the political system and the structure of the state in accordance with the principle of division of powers. Legislative Power lies with the institutions representing the Latvian Parliament or Saeima, and national referendums. Executive Power is divided between the President and the Council of Ministers, whereby they both have specific powers including legislative functions. Judiciary Power is vested in the independent Courts. The President appoints the Prime Minister, who is responsible for presenting a governmental programme and appointing the members of the Council of Ministers. In both cases, Parliamentary approval is required.

Regional organisation

Latvia is a parliamentary democracy. The Republic of Latvia is also a unitary state. There are two main local self-government levels in Latvia:

Central Government: Ministries and administrative organizations managed and controlled by the former (State Agencies, services, councils, offices and administrations).

Regional Level: There are territorial administrative bodies of the different Ministries operating at this level, for example, the territorial environment service. There are 33 territorial units, 26 municipal districts and 7 local municipalities (also with self- government functions). The municipal districts, with the support of government delegates, ensure the implementation of the functions delegated by the local self- government.

Local Municipalities have local self-government functions as do the municipal districts whose authority has been questioned since 1990, which has postponed the reform. The 1994 self-government law gave some of the functions of the municipalities to Local Government. Municipal districts have not had their own taxes since 1996 and direct elections were abolished in 1997. 33 administrative units have failed to receive European funding. The sectorial Ministers have developed different sectorial and regional administration systems. These sectorial administrative units have greater powers than a municipal district.

Summary of regional organization

• The Italian Republic is single and indivisible and the State is the source of the power of the Regions which are listed in the Constitution. The number of regions may vary. A coordinating spirit should prevail in relations between them.

• The regional bodies should be representative, financially independent and their legislative capacity is limited to their competences within their territorial sphere.

Competences

Legislative power is exercised by the State and the Regions according to the Constitution and the Community law and international obligations.

The Constitutional law n. 3/2001 has modified the division of competences between State and Regions.

“Article 117 Cost sets out the exclusive competences of the State ( for example foreign policy, defence and armed forces, the administration of justice, immigration) and the concurrent competences of the State and Regions whereby the former lays down the basic principles in a national law and the latter specify the contents in more details through regional laws (for example, foreign trade, health care, scientific research). All of the other matters not specified in the Constitution fall within the competence of the Regions, which in effect amounts to a residual competence in their favour.”

Regional bodies

The law n.165/2004, according to art. 122 Cost., has established that Regions determine the system of electing the President of the regional Council and Regional Council within specified principles.

Regional Council (Regional Parliament); exercises the legislative powers attributed to the Region, politically controls the Board and is democratically elected.

Regional Government; is the executive body of the region, its members are choosed by President of the Region.

President of the Regional Government; elected directly by voters resident in the Region. He/she represents the region, enacts regional laws and regulations, manages administrative functions delegated by the State in the region and calls elections. The Regional President, like the rest of the regional government is politically accountable to the Regional Council.

Public administration

In recent years, the Italian Public Administration has been characterised by its systematic process of reform and modernisation. The current climate of economic crisis and accelerated community legislation leads to one of the priorities being the restriction on public spending.

Public Employment Structure

Legal Basis :

• Law 165/2001 on the General Rules Governing the Work of Public Officials, as modified by legislative decree n. 150/2009.

• Collective agreements.

• Code of Conduct for Government employees (2001).

Structure

Civil Service Model - Employee Categories

The civil service reform of February 1993 instituted contract-based relations between public employees and the State. This process was known as the “privatisation of public employment”, the aim of which was on one hand, to put an end to certain privileges enjoyed by public employees and on the other hand, to bring their regulations in line with those of the private sector.

The legislative decree n° 165/2001 establishes wich are the public administrations (article 1) and it identifies civil servants who are regulated by the decree itself and private labour laws (article 2) and public employees who have not been privatised (article 3), in order to guarantee their independence. The latter represent the 15 % of public sector employees (judges, public prosecutors, university professors, military personnel and police officers, diplomats and prefects) and they are governed by their own public regulations.

Public Employee Management Body: The Department for Public Administration is the body responsible for managing public employees and defining their selection and recruitment processes. Until October 2002, it managed Senior Civil Servants, which was an inter-ministerial matter, coordinated by a special professional body called the Ruolo unico dei dirigenti, but since 2002 each Ministry manages own SCS.

Statistics: Population (about 60 m., Istat 2008); Public employees (according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance – State General Accounting Department, 2008, about 3.4 m.); 85 % Civil servants, 15% public sector status; Public employee union me mbership rate: about 45 % (according to data from Dep. Pub. Adm).

Rights, obligations, principles and values

Rights and Obligations: Public sector workers have the right to freedom of speech, political freedom and to join a union. The right to strike is authorised but there are certain restrictions for military personnel and police officers, set out in specific rules. Civil servants must take an oath (contractual employees are exempt from this obligation since 2001) and they have the duty of efficiency, neutrality and professionalism as well as loyalty to the Nation. They also have the right to conscientious objection.

Equality: There are various rules that foster equal opportunities. For example, one out of every three candidates for a given post must be female. 70 % of Director-Generals in Central Public Administrations are male [internal survey of Department P.A. 2009].

Merit - System

Public employment has been interested by various reforms, mainly by law n° 133/2008 and the legislative decree n° 150/2009, that have provided measures with the purpose of optimizing labour productivity and make the organization more flexible; reorganizing the system for staff appraisal, which is linked to the implementation of evaluation systems and control, but also, more generally, providing the cycle of strategic planning; restructuring the system of collective bargaining and their financing system.

According to legislative decree. n° 150, a new evaluation system is introduced relating to the establishment of new control equipment and a central evaluation committee, which will prepare an annual ranking of performances of public administrations in three levels of merit in order to allocate resources at national collective bargaining for the best ones. The decree n.150 has introduced also the principle that the bargaining cannot derogate the law.

The reform enhances therefore the figure of the manager, who will operate really as responsible for allocating economic treatments accessories for human resources and will be sanctioned, economically, if he doesn’t carry out his work effectively.

Training: On-going training is one of the priorities of the Department for Public Administration. It is mandatory and under the responsibility of the employee’s administration.

Training of Employees and Senior Executives: There are various training centres, the most important of which is the National School of Public Administration (SSPA), responsible also for the training of senior civil servants. It organises training courses for newly appointed executives and offers on-going training courses for other public employees. The initial training phase is carried out in formative cycles of no less than 1 year, and is offered to all new senior officers and executives who have passed the competitive examination set by the Prime Minister’s Office. There is currently a pilot training course entitled “The European Senior Civil Servant”, run by the Department of Public Administration and the National School for Public Administration. Other training centres include the High Economic and Finances School, the Local Public Administration School and the Police Centre for Studies and Training.

Remuneration

Pay rises for public sector employees were automatic until the 1993 reform. Since then, remuneration is determined by the employee collective agreements.

Social dialogue and system of representation

The Agency for Collective Bargaining for Public Administration (ARAN) has been representing the public employer in collective bargaining negotiations since 1993, except for civil servants who have not been privatised. ARAN membership is mandatory for all public administrations, which are consequently kept informed of progress in negotiations on a regular basis.

The Agency has been reorganised by legislative decree n. 150/2009.

As far as the employees are concerned, there are many unions and three main confederations:

• Italian General Confederation of Labour.

• Italian Confederation of Workers’ Trade Unions.

• Italian Workers’ Union.

Around 45 % of public sector employees are members of a union. According to legislative decree n. 150/2009, art. 54, negotiations will be carried out in 4 different sectors at the national level for 2010-2013. The collective agreements provide on matters relating to pay, working conditions, professional content, and equal opportunities.

Senior civil servants

The creation of the Senior Civil Service in Italy dates back to the 1970s (“dirigenza”) and has undergone several legislative changes since then (in 1972, 1993-1998 and 2002). Their status has been governed by diverse laws and private contracts since 1998. However, it can be said that there is a formal SCS status in Italy. (Summary Table)

The Secretary-General, Director-General or Senior Executive functions could be carried out both by SCS and by politically-appointed experts. Lower level executives are excluded from political appointment.

Performance assessment for SCS takes place annually.

The remuneration system of senior civil servants is based on merit, the position and productivity, whereby aspects such as seniority or years in public service are not taken into account. Salary is based on:

• A basic salary (for example, for State ‘s executives, it’s 50% of the total).

• A bonus (idem, 40%) related to the responsibility involved in the position, according to a fixed scale which is decided annually by the corresponding Minister.

• A percentage (idem,10%) for the fulfilment of objectives.

The percentages can vary for the remuneration of Director-General.

Recent reforms and prospects

Modernizing the Public Administration is a key issue and a plan defining diverse performance objectives for the forthcoming years has recently been established. These objectives include:

• A 20% rise in productivity in the public services.

• One out of eight retiring employees will not be replaced.

• A more efficient, restructured and digitalised public administration.

• Enhance quality and citizen satisfaction.

• A 40% reduction in public expenditure over the next 5 years.

• Improvements in the management and responsibility of public servants, giving human resource managers the possibility of evaluating them, increasing wages and rewarding productivity.

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: