The Subjects of the Public Service Legal Relationship with Special Regard to the Legal Status of the Employer

Abstract

The study examines the subjects of the public service legal relationship, including the characteristic features of the employer’s legal status. Although there are many similarities between public and private employer status, public service employers show a significant difference regarding their essential features. The study is built upon the functional approach of the public service, with a focus on the need of a more unified and theoretically well-founded legislation. The study concludes that the public service employer acts iure gestionis in the public service legal relationship, and the power imbalance between the parties derives from the external public nature and function of the employer, in addition to the inherent subordination stemming from the legal relationship. The study proposes to extend the role of the state and the local government as an employer in order to
ensure the “transfer” between public legal relationships, provide comparative advantages of the public employment and eliminate the formal role of the employer.