Inadequate conditions of work and employment of public service personnel

Public administration personnel policies rarely compare in quality with those of the private or voluntary sectors. Employees are poorly trained and poorly rewarded. They perform accordingly. Civil servants are subjected to overcrowded offices, lack of appropriate working equipment, lack of proper residential accommodations, very low incomes with irregular pay increases, draconian codes of conduct and expenditure, poor health and welfare conditions. The results of such neglect are absenteeism, corruption and behaviour towards the public that is often obstructive. Further, many public administrations offer but rudimentary systems of labour relations.

The majority of developing countries have no procedure for the settlement of labour disputes on pay or working conditions. Strikes and industrial action, often the only negotiating tool available, are very often discouraged or forbidden in the public sector. Brazil, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Nepal, Pakistan and Thailand, as well as most Arab countries, forbid strikes. Several countries have suspended this right for several years as part of martial law. Individual resistance such as indiscipline, negligence and corruption become the only options available.