A government commission recently approved a new draft code on the official status of employees in local government organisations covering municipalities and communities. The new code, which is being completed through consensual procedures for most clauses, will introduce important changes, mainly in the system of selecting supervisors, disciplinary law and maternity leave.
Changes in new code
In April 2007, the competent government commission approved the new Employee Code for local government organisations (Οργανισμών Τοπικής Αυτοδιοίκησης, OTA) in municipalities and communities. The new OTA code is expected to be submitted in a short time to the parliament for voting. This is the fourth successive OTA Employee Code; it was preceded by Law 4548/1930, Law 1726/1951 and Law 1188/1981, the latter of which remains in force after a series of amendments. There was an immediate need for new codification in order to address the multiplicity of laws that had resulted in recent years from the adoption of isolated, piecemeal regulations, and also to help local government adapt to present-day requirements.
The most important new regulations in the draft code refer to the manner of selecting the supervisors of structural units, regulation of the hiring scheme, reform of disciplinary law and regulation of the leave scheme. More specifically, the following changes are being made.
- The system of selecting supervisors of structural units is being reformed. The current system is based on three groups of criteria regarding applicants’ job qualifications (for example, educational qualifications), experience (including length of service) and skills (such as creativity, efficiency and conduct). For the director grade, the interview criterion affects the final decision by 8% and for the grade of director general by 12.5%. Supervisors serve a three-year term.
- The procedure for making employees permanent is being simplified. Employees will automatically become permanent after two years of service, unless special considerations arise, such as disciplinary penalties, in which case the competent administrative board decides on whether to make the workers permanent.
- The maximum age for appointment is abolished. Municipalities may issue announcements setting maximum ages.
- Disciplinary offences are defined as inappropriate behaviour to citizens, unjustified failure to serve them and failure to process their cases on time.
- Provision is made for the family, and equality of women and men is reinforced. Parental leave is also granted to the father – up to now only the mother had the right to take parental leave – as well as to adoptive mothers and single-parent families.
- Limitation of action by the state against employees is increased from two years to five.
- The manner of declaring the assets of employees, their spouses and their underage children is redefined with a view to increased transparency.
Reactions to draft code
In general, reactions to the draft code were positive. However, the introduction of interviews as selection criteria for directors and general directors sparked objections from the government opposition and trade unions. The President of the Panhellenic Federation of Workers Associations of Local Government (Πανελλήνια Ομοσπονδία Εργαζομένων Οργανισμών Τοπικής Αυτοδιοίκησης, POE-OTA), Themis Balasopoulos, noted that:
Overall, we see that the text of the code is moving in a positive direction. However, the provisions on evaluation of heads of directorate and departments cannot be implemented in local authorities due to the particularities inherent in their operation. That is why we are asking that interviews not be applicable to officers in municipalities and communities.
The president of the Association of Graduates of the National School of Public Administration stated that:
Like the public servants’ code, the code for local government staff repeats the same injustice at the expense of qualified applicants. Interviews may pass over graduates of schools of public administration and local government who have both a post-graduate degree and a PhD.
The draft code also fails to provide a solution to the issue of career advancement for the 12,000 workers employed by local authorities under open-ended contracts. In the present situation, employees with open-ended contracts have no opportunity for career development. This is basically due to a constitutional gap: no provision is made for permanent staff and open-ended contract holders to have the same wage development. Initial information about a regulation that would put an end to this two-tier system of workers has never been confirmed. Thus, the paradoxical situation arises where employees with the same qualifications working in the same department experience different paths towards career development, depending on whether their relationship with the public sector is permanent or of indeterminate duration.
The Confederation of Public Servants (Ανώτατη Διοίκηση Ενώσεων Δημοσίων Υπαλλήλων, ADEDY) also voiced objections regarding the composition of the governing councils. ADEDY asked that the number of their members should be increased to seven, but its request was not accepted and they remain five-member bodies, in order to avoid issues with regard to a quorum or majority, and to facilitate decision making.
Sofia Lampousaki, Labour Institute of Greek General Confederation of Labour/Confederation of Public Servants (INE-GSEE/ADEDY)