Archive:Public employment - Lithuania

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

Regional and administrative organisation

Introduction

The main characteristics of the Lithuanian State are set out in the current Constitution:

• The State of Lithuania is an independent democratic Republic. Its territory is integral and can not be divided. • Property is inviolable. The right of ownership is protected by law. However, property may be taken over only for the needs of society according to the procedure established by law and shall be justly compensated for.

• It is a market economy.

• The State supports economic efforts and initiatives that are useful to society. The State regulates economic activity so that it serves the general welfare of the Nation. The law prohibits monopolisation of production and the market and shall protect freedom of fair competition.

• Each human being may freely choose a job or business, and has the right to proper, safe and healthy conditions at work.

System of government

The Constitution establishes that the State of Lithuania is an independent Republic. State power shall be executed by: the Seimas (Parliament), the President of the Republic and the Judiciary. These institutions exercise the powers derived from National Sovereignty. The system reflects the principle of separation of powers.

Local Self-Government is based on the independence of the municipalities and is guaranteed by the following Constitutional precept: “The State supports the municipalities”. The Lithuanian Constitutional Court defends the principle of coordination between the State and the municipalities. The Constitution sets out the functions of the municipalities.

Regional organisation

The current administrative division was established in 1994 and modified in 2000 to adapt it to EU legislation. This division is made up of three levels: 10 counties, subdivided into 60 municipalities, made up of 500 “seniuˉnijos”.

Regional Level of the Political System: Regional Level Bodies: The highest territorial units in Lithuania are called counties. The functions of the Counties are set out in the Constitution. Local Level of the Political System: The 1994 Law on Local Self-Government governs the institutions of the Municipalities. The Municipal Council is made up of members elected for a 4-year mandate and is accountable to voters for their activities by means of surveys, meetings, assemblies, hearings and other forms of civic initiatives in the management of the municipality’s public affairs. The people or their representatives have the right to be informed about the decisions adopted by local authorities and to receive responses to work carried out by local authorities. The activities of the local authorities may only be confidential in the cases set out in the Law.

Public administration

Lithuania is a Parliamentary Republic. In turn, it is a unitary State made up of 10 counties and 60 municipalities. The counties (apskritis) are created by the Law of 15th December 1994, as administrative districts led by a governor appointed and released by the Government on the proposal of the Prime Minister.

Local administration applies the policies of the State in education, urban planning and agriculture in particular. Municipalities are administrative units of the State with the right to self-government guaranteed by the Constitution. Apart from being administrative districts, they act in accordance with the Law on Local Self-Government, have freedom in decision-making and their competencies are divided into devolved independent and state powers.

The Lithuanian Administration is made up of various Ministries grouped by area of activity. Along with these Ministries, there are other bodies for certain specific issues that are not incorporated in to the ministerial structure.

Public Employment Structure

Regulations: The Constitution and the Civil Service Law (2002). These specific regulations are not extended to 50% of public employees, as many of them are governed by private regulations.

Employee Categories: The Civil Service Law encompasses the legal relations arising after the acquisition of the status of civil servant as well as those resulting from the public administrative activities.

Definition: Civil servants are those people that carry out public administration activities in the implementation of public policies in a particular sphere of state government, coordinating this implementation, activities of the institutions, managing financial resources, municipal institutions or agencies, preparing or coordinating legal drafts, agreements and programmes and providing conclusions, managing human resources and exercising their powers with subordinate staff.

Status and Category of Civil Servants:

Around 27,000 civil servants with the legal status governed by the Civil Service Law are career civil servants, civil servants of political confidence and heads of institutions. The Civil Service Law (2002) has created favourable conditions to develop an open civil service that can reach an optimum size. Around 25,000 employees are governed by its statutes (diplomats, police officers, customs officials). Civil servants are regulated by the Civil Service Law.

Statistics: Lithuania has a population of 3,370,000 inhabitants, an active population of 1,614,300 and approximately 78,000 civil servants and other employees serving the state, municipal institutions and agencies under the employment contract system.

Rights, obligations, principles and values

Rights and General Obligations: Civil servants must abide by the Constitution and the laws of the Republic. They must serve the public interest and have a duty of discretion.

Civil servants have the right to a career in the administrations well as the right to strike (except for certain civil servants’ categories) and to belong to political parties and unions.

Working Day: In accordance with the Employment Code and a Government resolution, working hours are 40 hours a week, 5 days a week, with 2 days rest in the State Administration, Municipal Institutions and Agencies. Public employees may reach agreements in this question and different working hours may be established.

Holiday Leave: Civil servants are entitled to annual holiday leave of 28 days. This period of 28 days may be extended to 35 if: the civil servant is single with a dependent child under the age of 14 or under the age of 18 if the child is disabled; if the civil servant is disabled.

A civil servant that has served for more than 5 years may enjoy an additional 3 days of annual holiday leave, and 2 more for each 3 year period.

Leave: Along with the right to holiday leave, civil servants are entitled to other types of leave regulated by public employment legislation, among which leave for civil servant training and to facilitate mobility can be highlighted.

Recruitment and Training: Entry conditions to the civil service concern citizenship, age (between 18 and 65), education (level depends on the position sought) and command of languages.

The recruitment procedure depends on the position being recruited. Each department or institution organises its recruitment processes in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Service Law and the procedure for organising civil service competitive exams.

Notification of a competition for heads of institutions or career civil servants must be published in the Official Journal and on the Civil Service Department’s website. The examination consists of two parts: a written exam and an interview. Their goal is to control the candidates’ ability to fulfil the functions required as part of the position applied for.

The recruitment procedure for civil servants of political confidence is not regulated.

Training: Training is organized in accordance with the Civil Service Law and the Training Strategy, defined by the Government for 2007-2010. It is a decentralised training system: 133 training centres have been accredited by the Ministry of the Interior to provide training courses to civil servants.

The Lithuanian Public Administration Institute is one such centre and provides training in issues related to human resources management, European Integration for civil servants of the highest grades (Grades 18-20).

Career-Based System. Training

Recruitment and Training: The 2001 Civil Service Act stipulates that all civil service posts must be advertised and filled in accordance with an open competition. Job offers are the responsibility of the Prime Minister, the Minister or Head of the Institution involved. Candidates are generally recruited based on their curriculum vitae, letter of presentation and interview.

Senior Civil Servant appointment must be approved by the Government (Council of Ministers).

Recruitment Methods: Recruitment procedures are regulated by the State Civil Service Act. Recruitment is the responsibility of each Ministry and Institution and can be reviewed by the Administration responsible for the assessment of candidates and civil servants.

Recruitment Methods:

• Open competition: An open competition for candidates is published in the official gazette of the Government of Latvia. The Commissions that evaluate candidates for the position of head of an institution are appointed by the Ministry. The Commission selects one or more candidates who best meet the requirements set out in the job description of the vacancy.

• Transfer to another position in the interests of the State (obligatory transfer).

Training: Civil servants have a duty to “improve their skills according to the needs of their job” and their on-going training is the responsibility of the School of Public Administration. This school establishes programmes according to the training needs defined by the State Chancellery and conducts research on employee training. Courses in specific areas are the responsibility of other institutions, whereby access to these courses is selective. The Local Government Training Centre is in charge of training local government employees, including teachers, social workers, etc.

Career: Career development and promotion depends on appraisals and the level of complexity of the position performed.

Remuneration

The current general principles that determine remuneration for public sector employees is set out in the Employment Legislation or in the Civil Service Act. The wage system is applied equally to civil servants and public employees.

Wage criteria include: complexity of the post (67%); performance appraisal (23%) and seniority (10%). This unified payment system for all Public Sector employees in the State Administration was adopted by the Government in December 2005 and came into force in 2006 and has been fully applied since July 2007. The public sectors of the Administration are classified into position categories and into 16 wage groups. Wage groups are re-evaluated each year based on private sector salaries and the state of the budget.

Social dialogue and system of representation

Rights and Obligations: The rights and obligations of State Civil Servants are laid out in the State Civil Service Act. They have duties of loyalty to the Constitution and neutrality in the performance of their functions. They are also responsible for their actions when exercising their functions. Civil servants have the right to receive remuneration, to permanent employment, training, join a union and to strike.

Social Dialogue: In Latvia, there is no obligation to carry out collective bargaining. Negotiations take place between agencies and ministries and the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia.

The subjects addressed include working conditions, salaries, social security, training, protection of workers, etc. The unionisation rate is around 15%. However, trade unions are regularly consulted and integrated into working groups related to Civil Service issues. The results of negotiations can take the form of legal texts, political declarations or simple agreements which are legally binding. There are general rules that regulate general collective bargaining and sectorial regulations such as education, health, internal affairs, etc. The main differences in this regulation lie in how aspects related to working conditions are negotiated.

Senior civil servants

The Senior Civil Service is a staff management system for senior management positions in the Civil Service, recognised by an authority or by the organization of this Service. The posts assigned to them are advisory in terms of public policy, operational management or services, etc.

The Senior Civil Servant status has special conditions regarding recruitment, entry, appointment and pay, unlike the rest of the civil servants although there is no formal recognition. Therefore, these positions are considered to be exceptional and have huge social recognition.

As for the Employment System, Latvia has a mixed system which is combines elements of both the position-based and career-based systems. It may be considered as a hybrid system because there is evidence of both systems in the configuration of positions.

Appointment: The relevant official appoints a candidate to the position of State Secretary of a Ministry, Head of the Secretariat of a Minister for Special Assignments, Head of the Secretariat of a Deputy Prime Minister, Director of the State Chancellery and Head of an Institution under the supervision and approval of the Cabinet. Six months prior to the expiry of the term, the Minister or the Prime Minister respectively takes a decision to extend the term for five years or to dismiss the person in question from his or her position, informing the State Civil Service Administration and the person concerned of this.

Management: There is no special institution responsible for managing Senior Civil Servants. They shall be accountable to the relevant ministries.

Performance Appraisal: The performance appraisal of the head of an institution should be carried out at least once every two years by a Ministry Commission in accordance with procedures defined by the Cabinet. The Head of an Institution assesses his/her senior officials by means of a Commission set up for this purpose.

Phases: The performance appraisal can be divided into 1) Preparation and Discussion and 2) Agreement.

1. Preparation and Discussion: The members of the Commission and the SCS fill in an Assessment form divided into 3 main parts: analysis of target achievement and task accomplishment; measurement of competencies (behaviour and attitude); determination of development needs (training, mentoring, literature, conferences and exchanges of experience).

2. Agreement: After the Commission and the SCS meet to agree on the issues for the next appraisal period, changes in the job description (if necessary); training needs and career development are also set during this meeting. The performance appraisal is related to salary (representing 23% of SCS monthly salary).

Training including leadership programmes. The School of Public Administration provides training courses for Senior Civil Servants although they are not obligatory.

Remuneration: The salary of senior civil servants depends on:

1) The level of position classification (there are 16 wage groups). SCS levels will range from 12–16.

2) The length of service in the civil service and performance appraisal.

Senior civil servants can get additional pay according to management contracts. The amount of agreements will be restricted from 2009 (after which they may not exceed 50% of the monthly salary) and from 2010 this limit will be reduced to 40%.

Diversity Policies: There is a special policy on diversity for civil servants in general, but not specifically for SCS. There are no special criteria for diversity policy.

Overtime: Work exceeding the daily working time of 8 hours is considered to be overtime. Overtime may not exceed 144 hours within a four-month period. Overtime payment for SCS is usually set out by contract.

Work-Life Balance

Flexi-working time, tele-working and part-time work: Working at home or tele-working can be used during missions abroad. Part-time work (also for SCS) is also allowed by legislation, but there is no such practice. Flexi-working time is also theoretically possible for SCS, but is not used in practice due to the amount of responsibilities they have.

Maternity Leave: Remuneration for maternity leave is 100% of normal earnings, which is payable for 112 days (56 days prior to childbirth and 56 days after childbirth).

Paternity Leave: The father of a child is entitled to paternity leave of 10 days within a two month period as of the birth of a child. Every employee has an individual right to parental leave in connection with the birth or adoption of a child for a period of up to one and a half years until the child reaches the age of eight. Leave is considered as time in active service and the employee reserves the right to retain his/her job. Remuneration during parental leave is 100% of salary (the first year). In the case of the birth of a child, a civil servant shall receive an allowance of six times the monthly salary. If both parents of the child are civil servants, the right to the allowance is allocated to one of them.

Mobility: There are no special mobility programmes, but there is a procedure for civil servant transfer.

Statistics: There are approximately 341 Senior Civil Servants (including State Secretaries, Deputy State Secretaries, Heads and Deputy Heads of Institutions), of which approximately 112 are First Level SCS and the rest are Second Level. 73% of all civil servants are female and 27% are male. 47% of First Level SCS are female compared with 56% at Second Level.

Recent reforms and prospects

The State Chancellery has been working on a vast development programme for the management of human resources since 2003, which includes different initiatives aimed at improving staff management procedures and improving the effectiveness of employees.

The State Chancellery and the Ministry for Finance are currently preparing a unified remuneration scheme for all Public Employees. This reform will lead to a fair and transparent remuneration system.

A staff management system based on competencies is being set up to handle staff recruitment, assessment and training.

Publications

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Main tables

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Database

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