Governments employ people in a variety of ways through different types of employment contract, or “contractual modality”. One of the most common distinctions is between people hired as statutory civil servants (usually governed by a distinct legal framework) and other employees hired under a different type of legal framework, such as the private sector labour law, with different employment conditions. Employment modalities can affect pay, job security, performance evaluation and access to training, among others. They also have a clear impact on the effectiveness of public employment systems in attracting and retaining skilled employees, and motivating them to contribute at the best of their potential to the production of good governance outcomes. If used well, different employment modalities can give public services the flexibility they need to develop and manage a workforce with the appropriate range of skills. However, without a clear understanding of the ideal mix of modalities and employment contracts for various occupational functions, public administrations risk fragmentation of their internal labour market.
A common trend in most OECD countries is for central government administrations to be staffed mainly by civil servants. The average share of civil servants in central administration across OECD countries where data were available was 68% in 2018. In Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia and Switzerland, people who work in central government administrations apart from external consultants and temporary workers are all civil servants. On the other end of the spectrum, Sweden does not distinguish between civil servants and “other employees”. Similarly, Denmark, Mexico and Ireland, too, count relatively few statutory civil servants in their central public administration. The importance of this distinction derives from the fact that the roles and responsibilities of civil servants and other public employees vary greatly from country to country.
In 67% of OECD countries, civil servants are reported to have more job security compared to other public employees. Civil servants also undergo a more rigorous recruitment process in 58% of the cases, have greater access to career advancement opportunities and have a different pay scale. Slightly less than half of OECD countries have a specific performance management regime for civil servants and, in 39% of countries, specific values and ethical standards apply to civil servants. When it comes to health insurance and pension rights, there appears to be less difference between civil servants and other public employees.
The policy challenges of the future will require a continuous reassessment of the mix of skills and competences in the civil service (OECD, 2017). Clear and transparent employment modalities, aligned to the job and labour market, are key to prospective candidates and retain in-house talent in the public sector, particularly in areas where there could be skills shortages.
