Archive:Public employment - Bulgaria
This Statistics Explained article is outdated and has been archived.
- Source: Ministry of the Spanish presidency 2010, publication "Public employment in the European Union Member States" .
This article is part of a set of background articles and introduces public employment in Bulgaria.
Regional and administrative organisation
Introduction
Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic governed by a Republican Constitution. It has been a member of the EU since 2007 and of NATO since 2004.
System of government
In the division of powers, Executive Power is exercised by the Government, the Head of which is the Prime Minister. Legislative Power is attributed to the Government and the legislative assembly. Finally, Judiciary Power is independent of the other powers. The main political parties in the Republic have a social-democratic and liberal ideology.
The President is elected for a period of 5 years with a possible re-election. The President acts as Head of State and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and National Security.
Parliament is a single chamber, the National Assembly, which is made up of 240 Members of Parliament who are elected for four-year terms by popular vote of lists of candidates for the nine administrative divisions. A party must obtain at least 4% of the vote in order to obtain parliamentary representation. Parliament is responsible for the enactment of Laws, approval of the national budget, scheduling of presidential elections, selection of the Prime Minister and other Ministers, etc.
Regional organisation
Bulgaria is divided into 28 Provinces (области, oblasti), corresponding approximately to the 28 okrugs existing prior to 1987. All of the Provinces bear the name of their capital. The country capital, Sofia, is therefore the capital of the City of Sofia and the Province of Sofia. The Provinces are divided into Municipalities (община, obshtina).
Public administration
The Council of Ministers creates, modifies and eliminates the Administration bodies below the ministerial level, as well as the executive agencies and state commissions (individual corporate bodies under the central bodies of the Executive Power) by Royal Decree. The general administrative model essentially determines the types of administrative structure according to their functions, general principles and organization.
Central Administration has the following structure: Administration of the Council of Ministers; Ministries; State Agencies; Peripheral Administration and Executive Agencies. Territorial Administration consists of regional and municipal administration.
State Agencies are directly accountable to the Council of Ministers, and deal with the administration for the implementation of activities that are not the competence of a Ministry. They are a corporate body with a specific budget. The Decree establishes their functions and administrative organization, led by a President appointed by this Council.
Public employment structure
Regulations
The 1999 Civil Service Act establishes two types of Public Employees: Civil Servants and Non-civil service employees, whose employment contract may be indefinite or temporary. A trial period of 6 months is common. Both types of employees occupy positions listed in the “Unified classifier of administrative positions”, which includes the distribution of positions into levels, minimum entry requirements as well as their legal nature. Depending on the functions, the positions are: Manager (reserved for civil servants); Expert and Technician.
Public Employment Management Body: Management of public employees is carried out by the Secretary-General of the corresponding Administration. The Ministry for State Administration and Administrative Reform is the institution responsible for the human resources policy of the State Administration. There are 83,943 public employees (47.1% of which are civil servants and 53.3% are contractual staff) serving a total population of 7.7 million inhabitants.
Rights, obligations, principles and values
Rights and Obligations are established by law and include, among others: the obligation of secrecy, political neutrality, hierarchical obedience, unless the order given is evidently illegal. Public employees also have the right to freedom of speech and the right to join a union. Civil servants do not have the right to strike.
The Law allows civil servants to provide some services under an employment contract, but the administration must be informed so as to avoid conflicts of interest. As civil servants, they may only work part time as university professors.
The work of all civil servants is assessed through an “attestation”, which is prepared in three phases: Making a draft and co-ordinating a working plan at the beginning of the period; A meeting half-way through the period; A final meeting and assessment – before giving a final score at the end of the period (1st-30th November).
This procedure evaluates:
- the degree of fulfilment of the aims set out in the working plan;
- the degree of fulfilment of the obligations laid down for this post;
- the necessary competence for this post.
The assessment is carried out by the Evaluation Manager with the participation of union representatives. For the positions of Director-General and Director of Directorate, the Head of Evaluation is normally the Secretary-General.
According to Bulgarian Labour Law, each Administration reports the overtime of its employees over a 6-month period to the Chief Labour Inspectorate, which is remunerated, in accordance with the amount regulated by Law. This does not apply to civil servants. Civil servants are entitled to additional leave (apart from the general leave determined in the Labour Law and in the Civil Service Act) according to their position, up to a maximum 15 days.
Career-based system and training
Career: This is mainly based on the position. There are mobility programmes for civil servants, who can transfer to another administration provided that they have completed a probationary period of one year, that there is an agreement between both administrations and they fulfil the requirements for the post. The Law regulates permanent and temporary mobility.
Training: When service requirements arise, training costs shall be borne by the administration. Each administration presents a Training Plan for its civil servants each year. In the State sphere, this plan is reviewed by the Minister of State Administration and Administrative Reform, who will approve it and take care of the annual budgetary allowance for this concept.
Training of state public employees is carried out by an executive Agency, dependent on the aforementioned Ministry, the Public Administration and European Integration Institute. Training is compulsory at the beginning of public service and for civil servants appointed to managerial positions for the first time. Senior civil servants must pass a training programme organised by the Public Administration Institute at least once a year.
Remuneration
The Civil Service Act regulates the official minimum salary for public employees. The basic salary may be increased in accordance with work performance.
Social dialogue and system of representation
The main trade unions in the Social Dialogue are the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions and the Confederation of Podkrepa Labour. The trade unions take part in the determination of wages, working conditions, holidays, etc., for public employees. Around 25 to 40% of civil servants are members of a union. Negotiations take place within the tripartite National Council, which consists of 2 representatives of the Council of Ministers, 2 representatives of the trade unions and 2 representatives of the employer. It is presided over by the Deputy Prime Minister. Trade unions and employers elect a Vice-Chairman on the principle of rotation. The results of collective bargaining must be implemented, and they therefore take the form of a legal text or political agreement.
There are no differences in the institutional framework between employment relations in the public and private sector, but there are specific conditions regarding education, health or culture.
Senior civil servants
There is no special equality policy for women in senior civil service positions. This type of personnel has a one year probationary period.
Recent reforms and prospects
In 2002, the Council of Ministers drew up an e-administration strategy to improve on- line relations with citizens, making them play a role in decision-making, as well as an anti-corruption strategy, with the creation of a Commission for this purpose. Laws have also been approved regarding the rights and obligations of public employees, conflicts of interests, efficiency and transparency in recruitment processes and the development of fiscal controls.