1. What working in the public interest means
Working in the public interest, or public service, means the performance of work for employers defined by the Public Service Act. Respective workers may be staff of authorities, schools, social service facilities, and even, for example, museums, theatres and many other public institutions.
Employers are:
- state bodies, municipalities, higher territorial units;
- legal entities authorised to take decisions on the rights and obligations of natural and legal persons in the field of public administration;
- legal entities established by law or legal entities established by state bodies, municipalities or higher territorial units, where defined by special regulations.
The types of work performed in the public interest can be divided into:
- mental or intellectual work activities;
- manual work activities.
The Public Service Act does not apply to manual workers.
2. ‘Public interest’ as a concept
Public service is provided with the main objective of protecting the public interest. In this respect, employees are obliged to prioritise the economic or other enrichment of the majority over their own benefit or that of relatives or other close persons .
Other specific factors:
- the requirement of integrity;
- selection and duties of managers;
- the system of remuneration;
- the ban on having relatives or other close persons as subordinates;
- the requirement for managers to file declarations of assets;
- a ban on accepting gifts.
3. Requirements to work in the public interest
Employment is open to individuals who:
- have full legal capacity;
- are persons of integrity;
- meet general qualification requirements (education) and specific qualification requirements (if laid down by special regulations).
Under special regulations, the following may also be required of employees:
- medical fitness for the work to be performed;
- election or appointment;
- authorisation to come into contact with classified information;
- mandate from a church or religious community, if they are to teach religion.
Proof of integrity
A natural person who is a citizen of Ukraine or a family member of a citizen of Ukraine who is a resident and who for objective reasons cannot prove his / her integrity may, during an emergency situation involving an armed conflict in the territory of Ukraine, prove his integrity by making an affidavit to the employer prior to the employment.
A ‘person of integrity’ is someone who has not been convicted, by a final judgment, of an intentional crime. Integrity is proven by an extract from the register of criminal convictions (or a similar document issued by the state of which the applicant is a citizen) that is no more than 3 months old.
4. Filling of posts
The procedure for filling positions differs depending on whether a position is to be filled by a rank-and-file employee or a manager.
Employee
Employers are required to advertise vacancies. They decide who to appoint after assessing the knowledge and skills of the individual candidates.
Manager
Managerial positions are usually filled in recruitment competitions. In the absence of a competition, managerial vacancies may be filled only temporarily (for a maximum of 6 months). Exceptions are made if special regulations allow for another method of selection or if a candidate is elected or appointed by a collective body.
Recruitment competitions
- are advertised in the press and/or on television, the radio or the internet;
- are announced at least 3 weeks before they start;
- invitations must be delivered to candidates at least 7 days before the competition;
- the result is notified in writing within 10 days after the competition.
Recruitment competitions take place:
- in writing; or
- in the form of an interview; or
- in writing and with an interview.
5. Obligations and restrictions applicable to employees and managers
Employees
Employees must:
- abide by the Slovak Constitution and national legislation;
- be impartial in their actions and decisions;
- exercise the greatest discretion with regard to facts they came across at work;
- refrain from any action that could result in a conflict of interests;
- not misuse information obtained in connection with the performance of their duties;
- refrain from any action resulting in unauthorised promises or commitments that are binding on the employer.
Employees must not:
- carry out activity diminishing their dignity or impartiality;
- mediate business with the state, a municipality, a higher territorial unit, a state enterprise, or other public administration entities for themselves or someone else;
- solicit or accept gifts or other benefits in connection with or in the performance of their duties;
- acquire property from the state, a municipality or a higher territorial unit other than in an open competition or in a public auction;
- use symbols associated with the performance of their duties for their own personal benefit;
- abuse the benefits of working in the public interest;
- make false declarations relating to their work in the public interest.
Relatives or other close persons as subordinates
Employees and persons holding public office who are relatives or otherwise persons mutually close cannot be directly subordinate or superior to each other or in positions where one is subject to cash or accounting checks by the other. Exceptions are made for employees of Slovakia’s embassies abroad and employees of an employer with only one manager, where this manager serves as the governing body.
Second jobs and other similar work
In addition to their employment, employees may engage in other gainful activity identical to the subject of their employer’s business only if the employer gives prior written consent.
Exceptions:
- EU development assistance projects;
- assessment of a project financed from Slovakia’s central government budget;
- implementation of a supervision programme.
Obligations and restrictions applicable to a manager
Declaration of assets
Managers are required to prove their assets to their employer’s governing body:
- within 30 days of their appointment as a manager;
- by 31 March of each calendar year.
Restrictions on business
Managers acting as the statutory authority must not engage in business or other gainful activity and may not be a member of the management, controlling or supervisory bodies of legal entities that are businesses. This restriction does not apply to scientific, teaching, training, publishing, literary, sporting or other similar activities.
6. Public-service pay
Public-service pay is set according to pay scales and depends on the difficulty of the work and the employee’s education as well as on the previous job relating experience of respective employee.
Employers place employees in a pay grade reflecting the most demanding work activity they are supposed to perform. The pay grade reflects the years of practise (this does not apply to teachers or specialist staff in schools). Employees’ pay rises as they gain more experience. The resulting pay is the sum of the pay defined by the relevant scale (see the Annex to the Act on the Remuneration of Certain Workers Working in the Public Interest) and the individual allowances to which the employee is entitled. The individual pay scales are increased in collective bargaining.