New Civil Servants' Code introduced

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In June 1998, a new Civil Servants' Code was presented to the Greek Parliament, changing civil servants employment conditions in areas such as grading and disciplinary rules. The Code has received a mixed response from trade unions.

On 24 June 1998, the Home Secretary submitted to Parliament a new Civil Servants' Code, which introduces changes to the work regime of civil servants, with the main objective of modernising the state and public administration.

The principal changes introduced by the new code concern:

• a new grading system for civil servants. A scale of seven grades is introduced, instead of the four in existence up to now, with a mixed system of a "mobile hierarchy" for the first five grades and a "fixed hierarchy" for the grades of director and general director - the latter is selected by a special service board;

• a new disciplinary regime. New procedural rules are introduced, and procedures relating to the penalties foreseen for employees are speeded up; and

• leave for government employees. The length of normal annual leave is increased from 22 to 25 days for people working five-day weeks, and from 26 to 30 days for six-day weeks. In addition, five extra days are provided for those who elect not to take their leave during the summer, Christmas or Easter holidays. Special provision is made for mothers. In particular, working time is reduced by two hours daily for mothers of children under two years of age, and by one hour for mothers of children between the ages of two and four. Mothers who choose not to avail themselves of the reduced working hours may take nine months' paid leave. In addition, maternity leave is increased by one month.

Alongside these measures, a sort of "means test" is introduced for civil servants, according to which they are obliged to declare to their service their assets and any changes thereto every two years.

Characteristic of the reactions of civil servants to the new code is the position taken by the Confederation of Public Servants (ADEDY) as soon as the new Civil Servants' Code was submitted to Parliament. According to the president of ADEDY, since the existing code has been in force for 47 years now (since 1951), the creation of a new one is in principle a positive step, especially when it incorporates the changes and gains of the democratic movement after 1974 and the changes which came about during the 1980s in terms of free participation in strikes for civil servants. In particular, in ADEDY's view, the new code supports the rationale of permanent employment of civil servants as an element of legitimacy and independence, safeguards collective bargaining by trade union organisations and extends employees' rights, since leave is linked to further education and there are more favourable regulations for the protection of maternity.

Nevertheless, the president of ADEDY has stated that his organisation is taking a critical view of the new code, at least as far as it concerns the new grading system and the efforts to introduce "meritocracy" in career development, because the new system does not include a system of standard selection criteria. ADEDY also objects to the composition of the service boards for appointments, which in its view fails to guarantee their independence, since three of the five members are appointed by the administration. As regards the new disciplinary rules and the "means test", ADEDY is in agreement, on the condition that they are implemented correctly and that they contribute to transparency and meritocracy in the public sector.