Police officers seek entitlement to benefits

In late 2004, Latvian police officers have been seeking entitlement to childbirth and holiday benefits that are awarded to most civil servants, but not to all specialised services such as the police. Forbidden by law from forming a trade union, police officers have been bringing court cases over the issue, with some success.

The State Civil Service Law distinguishes between 'general' and 'specialised' state civil service officials (LV0409104F). Specialised state civil service officials are defined as people performing the functions of officials in: the Diplomatic and Consular Service; the State Revenue Service (Valsts Ieņēmumu dienests, VID); the State Police (Valsts Policija); the Security Police (Drošības policija); the Ministry of Interior Information Technologies and Communications Centre (Iekšlietu ministrijas Informācijas un sakaru departaments); the State Border Guard (Valsts Robežsardze); the State Firefighting and Rescue Service (Valsts ugunsdzēsības un glābšanas dienests, VUGD); the Prison Administration (Ieslodzījumu vietu pārvalde, IeVP); and the State Forensic Expertise Bureau (Valsts tiesu ekspertīžu birojs).

The work of the various parts of the specialised civil service is governed by special laws, but the norms of the State Civil Service Law, which sets out general duties and rights, also apply to them. As a result, specialised officials, including those in Ministry of the Interior services - police officers, border guards and firefighters - have developed a 'dual status', whereby the regulations set out in both the State Civil Service Law and the special laws apply to them. The State Civil Service Law delegates a number of issues relating to the specialised state civil service, including benefits and other social guarantees, to be governed by the specific laws. As a result, there are differences in treatment between general and some specialised state civil servants with regard to two types of benefits provided for in the State Civil Service Law. General state civil servants are entitled to childbirth benefits equivalent to six months' pay and to special holiday benefits. These benefits are provided for by some of the specialised civil service laws (eg, covering firefighters and the prison service), but not others (eg covering the State Police and Border Guards).

This situation has given rise to controversy, and in 2004 a particularly heated dispute has arisen about the rights of police officers to receive one-off childbirth benefits. The State Civil Service Law sets out the legislative norms applying to specialised state civil servants in areas that are not stipulated by the special laws. Since the special laws on the police and border guards do not regulate the rights of officials to childbirth (and holiday) benefits, police officers believe that they have the right to receive these benefits in accordance with the provisions of the general State Civil Service Law. The State Civil Service Board consider that specialised civil servants, including police officers, are not entitled to the benefits because their specific laws lay down a special benefits system for them. On the other hand, the State Human Rights Bureau (Valsts cilvēktiesību birojs, VCB) believes that the non-payment of these benefits to Ministry of the Interior employees (including police officers) is discriminatory and should be remedied without delay.

The Ministry of the Interior considers that all specialised civil servants are entitled to the benefits set out in the State Civil Service Law, because police officers and border guards perform all of the duties set out in this Law. Such benefits are, as noted above, provided in some other specialised civil service departments. Every year the Ministry of the Interior asks for funds to pay childbirth benefits to police officers and border guards, but such funds are never granted from the state budget.

Attempts by police officers to defend their rights are hampered by the fact that they are not allowed to form a trade union. They each have to defend their rights individually, and the only way to do this is through the courts. In 2004, 82 specialised civil service officials submitted complaints about the non-payment of benefits to the Ministry of the Interior, while 57 approached the courts, and in four cases the courts upheld the civil servants' claims. In this context, the Ministry has again asked that the additional funds needed to pay the benefits be allocated in the 2005 state budget.

To try and tackle the situation, a member of parliament, Andrejs Klementjevs, has submitted a proposal to amend the Law on the Police. In response, the Ministry of the Interior's parliamentary secretary, Dainis Turlais, has said that this will not resolve the problem. This is because the problem has not arisen due to the unwillingness of the Ministry of the Interior to pay childbirth benefits to police officers, but rather due to lack of clarity in the legislation leading to a 'dual status' situation for all the Ministry's specialised civil servants.

The Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia (Latvijas Brīvo Arodbiedrību savienība, LBAS) has raised the issue of the ban on police officers forming a trade union (as stipulated by the Law on the Police), and argued for the right of free association for the officers in organisations defending their interests and rights. To discuss the matter, LBAS invited the Interior Minister, Ēriks Jēkabsons, and other officials concerned to a meeting on 22 October 2004, along with representatives of police officers who support the rescinding of the legal ban on unionisation.