The position of city officials and civil servants in the city of Osijek from 1918 to 1934

Abstract

In this paper, author discusses and analyzes the normative regulation of the position of city officials and civil servants, their legal status and the payment system in the Osijek city administration in the period from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918 to the promulgation of the 1934 Municipalities Act. In covering the topic, the author primarily used the relevant legislation and the archival material available at the State Archives in Osijek. Considering the position of city officials and civil servants in the city of Osijek between the two world wars in relation to their position during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the normative analysis shows that city officials and civil servants were part of the occupational classification system in the interwar period. The city employees were ranked according to types of occupations and the level of professional qualifications required to perform them. Until then, the salaries of city employees were regulated by Austro-Hungarian laws, according to which there were wage classes, and city municipalities had some kind of financial autonomy in determining the amount of salaries of city employees. A significant novelty in the inter-war period was the established system of dividing payments into basic and position wages, including bonuses. The salaries of city employees were made equal to those of state servants. It resulted in introducing an evaluation system which was directly related to the exercise of individual rights and determining the responsibilities of city employees. The Statutes related to the evaluation system included the possibility of promotion and demotion (to a higher or a lower payment class), termination of service, and loss of pension. Consequently, it may be concluded that the main purpose of the evaluation system was to institute the standards for rewards or penalties.