EMPLOYMENT SYSTEM

As a result of the recent reform process, the employment system is position-based with integration of staff appointed and contracted for an indefinite period of time in general and special regime careers.

General regime careers are deemed those which legal job description characterizes work posts that organs or services generally need for the development of the respective activities. Law establishes three general regime careers: Senior Officials (uni-category career); Specialist Assistant category career); Operational Assistant (multi-category career).

Special regime careers are governed according to specific contents and functional duties and are dependent upon training for at least 6 months as to normal general training.

Regarding promotion, the former rules apply to appointed staff until the entering into force of a new regulation of such careers. Therefore, in order to be promoted it is compulsory to be approved in a specific internal open competition and the promotion takes place to the next grade of the corresponding career.

As regards contracted staff, career advancement is made through open competition procedures, whose scope of recruitment privileges the workers who have already job attachment to public administration.

The concept of promotion is not applied: advancement in the career is made through the change in the remuneration pay step, either through open competition procedures, with the possibility to negotiate the pay step, or trough means of performance assessment, generally dependent upon budgetary availability.

Each year public workers are assessed regarding the parameters results and competences. The final assessment is expressed in qualitative ratings (excellent, relevant and adequate performance) corresponding to quantitative references.

A change of remuneration pay step may occur by managerial option taking into consideration the budget appropriations that are defined each year for this purpose.

Top managers opt to promote these changes in a well defined career/categories universe³ of workers that have achieved in two consecutive years the maximum rating (excellent performance) or in three consecutive years the rate below the maximum one, as well as those who in five consecutive years achieve the rating of adequate performance that substantiate positive consecutive performances.

However, in this matter, the law lays down an exception that allows the top manager of a public organ or service, after having heard the Assessing Coordinating Council, to promote the change to the remuneration pay step immediately following that one held by the public employee if the last performance assessment achieved by him/her

3 The criteria used to define this universe are chosen by the top manager.

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is the maximum rating or the immediately lower, even if he/she is not included in the universe of aforementioned workers. Likewise, the top manager may determine that the change of the remuneration pay step occurs to any other remuneration pay step following that one in which the employee is placed, but in this case, it is mandatory that the worker fulfills the requirements mentioned in the above paragraph.

In order to guarantee a change in the pay step, even if the service’s budget appropriation is, that year, limited, a point system was created: to excellent performances are granted 3 points, to relevant performance are granted 2 points, to adequate performances is granted 1 point and to inadequate performance a negative score (-1 point) is granted.

A compulsory change for the remuneration pay step immediately following that in which he/she is placed occurs when the worker achieves 10 points.

9. TRAINING

Workers are entitled to and have the duty of attend every year training and further training actions in the activity in which they perform functions.

Annually a diagnosis of training needs is carried out by PA services and bodies. This diagnosis aims at determining gaps of performance, the failures of competences or the lack of knowledge, necessary to the carrying out of a professional activity, with a view to planning and executing projects and training programmes and personal development.

Based upon the referred to diagnosis annual training programmes are drawn up.

Training courses destined to workers performing public functions are provided by duly certified entities.

The need for training in specific areas may result from the performance assessment procedure.

10. REMUNERATION

Remuneration scheme of workers fulfilling public functions is made of three components: basic remuneration; remuneration supplements and performance bonuses.

a) Basic Remuneration

The monthly basic remuneration is the pecuniary amount corresponding to the remuneration level of the remuneration pay step in which the public employee is placed in the category/career of which is holder or of the position fulfilled under a limited executive tenure.

The identification of the remuneration levels corresponding to the remuneration pay steps of categories, as well as the pay steps of the position fulfilled under a limited executive tenure is made by regulatory decree.

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A joint order from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Finance and Public Administration established the single pay scale (made up of 115 pay steps) to be applied to all workers fulfilling functions under the public employment legal relationships, the number of remuneration levels and the pecuniary amount corresponding to each one.

b) Remuneration Supplements

Remuneration supplements consist of pay increases resulting from the fulfilment of jobs that require more demanding conditions in relation to other jobs characterized by identical post or career and category. Its value is defined, as a rule, as a fixed pecuniary amount and only exceptionally corresponds to a percentage of the monthly basic remuneration of the worker.

Remuneration supplements are broken down in provisional and permanent supplements.

Provisional supplements – granted in situations of extraordinary work; night 1.

work; work on weekly rest days, complementary rest day and official holidays and work performed outside the normal workplace.

Permanent supplements – granted when workers perform functions in 2.

workplaces characterised by conditions of higher demand, due to reasons of a permanent nature, namely: risk, hard or hazardous work; shift work; work performed in outlying areas; exemption from clock in and out; management secretariat and amounts due to officers in charge of finances and collection areas involving responsibility inherent in the handling and surveillance of values, cash, securities, bonds documents etc.

c) Performance Bonuses

Workers who cumulatively fulfil functions in a body or service and have achieved in the last performance assessment, the maximum rating or the immediately lower to this one and integrate universes previously defined by order of the top manager of the service, are entitled to the grant of a performance bonus, equal to a monthly basic remuneration, provided that the available amount to bear this type of charges has not been spent.

In predicted budget limits, other performance rewarding systems may be created and regulated, namely according to results accomplished in team or of performance of workers who are integrated in the last pay step of the respective category.

The creation of these rewarding systems is made by law (regarding the appointees) or by collective labour regulation instrument, in case of public employment legal relationships formed by contract.

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