Senior civil servants excluded from new salary system
Publikováno: 27 December 1997
As part of an experiment with a new salary system for civil servants, due to begin on 1 January 1998, senior civil servants were to negotiate part of their salaries on a personal basis without the participation of their trade union. This, according to Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademikernes Centralorganisation, AC), was in conflict with the Crown Servants Act, which provides for a right to collective bargaining. The Crown Servants Court upheld AC's contention in a ruling issued on 5 December 1997, which in practice will exclude 2,800 of the 3,200 civil servants concerned from taking part in the experiments from 1 January 1998.
On 5 December 1997 the Crown Servants Court ruled that higher-ranking civil servants, covered by the Crown Servants Act, cannot take part in the forthcoming experiments with a new salary system.
As part of an experiment with a new salary system for civil servants, due to begin on 1 January 1998, senior civil servants were to negotiate part of their salaries on a personal basis without the participation of their trade union. This, according to Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademikernes Centralorganisation, AC), was in conflict with the Crown Servants Act, which provides for a right to collective bargaining. The Crown Servants Court upheld AC's contention in a ruling issued on 5 December 1997, which in practice will exclude 2,800 of the 3,200 civil servants concerned from taking part in the experiments from 1 January 1998.
According to Ministry of Finance (Finansministeriet), the ruling will limit the introduction of more flexibility in the salary system and the move towards a modern public sector. Furthermore, the ruling sets aside a development in the collective bargaining system to which the social partners had agreed.
Although their junior counterparts had agreed to take part in an experimental salary system, the senior civil servants (members of the Danish Lawyers and Economists Association - Danmarks Jurist- og Økonomforbund, DJØF), were angry that AC, in its negotiations with Ministry of Finance had agreed to the new salary experiment. According to DJØF, the right of collective representation is a cornerstone of employee rights, buttressed by the legal system. DJØF also maintains that as salaries in the future will be increasingly determined by a range of different and individual allowances, it is crucial that the collective right of representation be maintained.
The right of collective representation by the trade union or shop stewards has not been affected for the junior civil servants covered by the agreement, who will be experimenting with the new salary system due to come into effect on 1 January 1998 (DK9705110F).
Eurofound doporučuje citovat tuto publikaci následujícím způsobem.
Eurofound (1997), Senior civil servants excluded from new salary system, article.
