LOWER HOUSE DEBATES BILL ON GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

ZAGREB, March 9 (Hina) - Parliament's lower house began Friday's session with a debate on a bill on government employees. The bill was presented by Justice Minister Stjepan Ivanisevic, who said it was the result of numerous faults in the current civil servants' system. He said the purpose of the bill was to simplify the system by abandoning the system of occupations and functions and introducing a standardised jobs system. The bill envisages covering the entire salary sector from the state budget, said the minister. He added that consenting to demands to leave certain sectors out of the new system and passing special legislation to regulate them would be tantamount to saying no to any systematic job specification in state services. Ivanisevic said the bill clearly specified the qualifications necessary for certain jobs. It also abandons promotion according to salary class and introduces promotion according to advanced training. The bill also envisages the possibility that employees whose performance has been highly evaluated receive up to three monthly salaries at the end of the year. Under the new bill, the salary of government employees would comprise the multiplied sum of the basic salary and coefficient, plus 0.5 percent per year of service. The government would establish the coefficient range for specific jobs with a special decree. The lower house resumed the session with a debate among the benches. (hina) ha sb