Draft bill #6504 of January 5, 2022 

Status: awaits to be signed by the President of Ukraine 

Who is affected: civil servants of local governments, local councilors, community heads, government bodies, and residents of communities. 

Summary of the bill: 

  • the bill lays the foundation for professional civil service in local self-government bodies: 
    • civil servant positions will be separated from elected positions: civil servants will be appointed as a result of a competition or other special procedure, while elected officials will be appointed as a result of local elections or approval from local councils with specific powers to perform functions of local self-government 
    • a standardized competition procedure for local self-government officials will be introduced: first, submission of documents, then testing, and finally an interview with the candidates. Competition procedures will be approved by local councils, taking into account the model procedure issued by the National Agency for Civil Service 
    • competition announcements will be published on official websites of local councils and the Unified Portal of Public Service Jobs. The period of a competition should not exceed 45 days 
    • local self-government officials are supposed to become politically impartial. They will not be allowed to demonstrate their political views, be members of political parties (for Category I positions), be local councilors, participate in or organize election campaigns 
    • if an official registers as a candidate in the elections, this person will be obliged to notify their superior and be suspended from their work as an official for the duration of the election. Non-compliance with political impartiality requirements will be considered a disciplinary offense, for which the official may be dismissed 
    • results of local elections or rotation of elected officials, heads of units, or direct superiors of local self-government officials cannot justify the dismissal of these officials 
  • categories of local self-government positions will be redefined. Currently, political positions, such as city mayors, their deputies, heads of local councils, and chairpersons of standing commissions are considered servants of local government. The bill will exclude political positions from this list, leaving three categories: 
    • Category I: heads of executive committees of local councils, heads of departments, boards, and other executive bodies of local councils, their deputies 
    • Category II: department heads of local council apparatus and their deputies; 
    • Category III: chief specialists, leading specialists, and other officials not included in the previous categories 
  • a unified approach to defining salary ranges for local self-government officials will be introduced. Salaries will consist of a base salary, additional wages (allowances, bonuses, and supplements), and other cash payments (assistance, incentives, and compensatory payments) 
  • the salary ranges for service officials will be approved by local councils at the proposal of community heads, taking into account the following: 
    • the minimum salary for Category III officials cannot be less than the minimum wage, and the maximum cannot exceed the minimum salary for Category II officials 
    • the minimum salary for Category II officials has to be at least 30% higher than the minimum salary for Category III officials, while the maximum may not exceed the minimum salary for Category I officials 
    • the minimum salary for Category I officials has to be at least twice the minimum salary for Category III officials, and the maximum may not exceed more than five times the minimum salary for Category III officials 
  • long service allowance will amount to 3% of the base salary for each year of service in local self-government bodies but cannot exceed 50% of the base salary 
  • bonuses will be awarded by the service head, depending on the individual contribution of particular officials to the overall work results. Bonus policies will be approved by local councils 
  • elected officials of local self-government will start receiving remuneration. Their salaries cannot be less than the maximum salary for Category I officials and cannot exceed more than six times the minimum salary for Category III officials 
  • the law will come into effect six months after the termination of martial law. 

Why this is important: the current Law on Civil Service in Local Self-Government is in effect since June 2001. Although it has been amended more than thirty times since then, many of its provisions are outdated and do not meet today’s challenges: local self-government bodies are to be depoliticized and become more professional. 

What is right: 

  • service in local self-government will become more professional and less dependent on politicians: civil servants should work for the community and its residents, not for the community head or local councilors 
  • competitions for local self-government officials will be standardized. Community residents will be able to apply as candidates, and politicians will have much less influence on the results of the competitions 
  • salary rates set for local self-government officials ensure that there is not too large a disparity in remuneration among different categories of officials. Communities with larger budgets can offer higher pay, while for communities with smaller budgets there are minimum requirements that cannot be violated 
  • the bill sets clear lower and upper limits for salaries for self-government officials. This should prevent imbalances in remuneration and potential abuse. 

What is wrong: the bill does not address the problem that the bonus system for local self-government officials can be abused. Monthly and quarterly bonuses will be awarded at the discretion of the service head according to the approved regulations, but the bill does not set the upper limit for such bonuses. Thus, service heads will be able to use the bonuses to reward officials more loyal to them and deprive less loyal subordinates of a significant portion of their remuneration. 

Alternative solution: in order to prevent the abuse of power, it is recommended to set the upper limit for the monthly or quarterly bonuses of local self-government officials.