Lula’s administrative reform provides for employee evaluation and does not affect stability

The campaign of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) is considering proposing an evaluation system for federal public servants, within the reach of the citizens themselves, as one of the pillars of its administrative reform if it wins the elections.

Other points that guide the proposal are the deepening of the digital transition, the modernization of the format of public tenders and the fight against moral and sexual harassment in the federal administration. An employee qualification program must be one of the topics discussed at the negotiation tables with the categories, which must be resumed.

Changing career structures is also advocated by campaign members. The idea is to increase the number of steps between the starting salary and the one at the end of the careers – today, some servers take a few years to reach the maximum remuneration. Messing with the stability of servers, however, is something that Lula’s team has ruled out.

In conversations with interlocutors, PT allies signaled that the change in careers should only apply to new civil servants, that is, those who enter the career after its approval. In this way, current employees would not be affected by this change.

To implement these proposals, the campaign works with a scenario of recreating the Ministry of Planning, extinct in the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government and whose functions were integrated into the current Ministry of Economy.

The administrative reform was defended by Lula at an event with businessmen promoted by Fiesp (Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo) in early August. The details, however, were not officially released by the campaign.

“We will have to carry out an administrative reform, yes. There are few people earning a lot and many people earning little. It is necessary to mold the bureaucracy to a new culture”, said the PT member at the time.

The review of public service rules is considered, outside the government, an essential measure to make it more efficient and at the same time generate resource savings in the future.

Since the Michel Temer government (MDB), there has been a diagnosis that, in many careers, few steps separate a beginning server from the top salary of the category. This ends up, in the view of some technicians, reducing incentives for constant improvement.

Since then, however, a reform of this structure, in order to increase the number of steps for career advancement, never got off the ground.

Bolsonaro sent the National Congress a PEC (proposed amendment to the Constitution) that sought to change the administrative structure. The controversial text made the stability of a large part of the civil servants more flexible, preserving only the categories considered State, such as Federal Revenue auditors and federal police.

The proposal faced several criticisms, not only for affecting stability, but also for excluding members of the Judiciary and the Legislative from the toughest measures, such as cutting trinkets that boost salaries and help to circumvent the salary cap (currently at R$39, 3 thousand monthly).

In PT governments, federal servants had wide salary appreciation. There were also a large number of public tenders. In Lula’s two terms alone, the number of civil servants’ contracts rose from 371,800 in 2003 to a peak of 794,200 in 2010, according to data compiled by IPEA (Institute of Applied Economic Research).

The history feeds uncertainty in the financial market about what the administrative reform proposed by the PT will be, if he is elected. Campaign members, in turn, point out that, even with the appreciation, personnel expenses remained between 4.3% and 4.5% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

“We deal with this issue within the discussion of State reform. We are not just discussing a new career structure or anything of that kind. The focus is always on improving the quality and delivery of public service to the population”, says the economist. Guilherme Mello, coordinator of the Economics Napp (Public Policy Monitoring Center) at the Perseu Abramo Foundation and who collaborates with the PT program.

“This goes through valuing professionals, through permanent qualification and training, also by modernizing the format of public tenders, constituting a well-structured performance management system, training leaders”, he says.

Mello does not rule out changes from a career and salary point of view, although he avoids giving details on what changes would be made.

“I’m not saying that there’s nothing to be done from the point of view of career, salaries, it’s obvious that there is. But this has to be discussed within this space of dialogue and negotiation, to build solutions agreed between the parties and aimed at to improving the quality of service, not just spending”, he says.

On the part of the current servers, there is also an expectation of reopening the dialogue for the granting of readjustments. Most careers, with 1 million employees, have been on frozen pay since early 2017.

To interlocutors, members of Lula’s campaign have expressed a preference for carrying out the reform through bills, without the need for a PEC.

The evaluation of management and performance, for example, is already provided for in the Constitution and can be regulated through a complementary bill. The restructuring of careers can also be done via a bill.

The negotiation tables, in turn, can deal not only with the remuneration issue, but also with a program for the training of civil servants, including through the offer of courses and qualifications by government schools.

The discussion of tools to combat moral, institutional and sexual harassment is also a concern of the campaign’s members. The episode involving the former president of Caixa, Pedro Guimarães, fired after employees accused him of sexual harassment, is considered emblematic and a portrait of the type of conduct that must be curbed.

Lula’s team also intends to deepen the digital transition of public administration, which gained momentum in the face of the need to serve the population remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the team’s plans, this pillar involves strengthening data governance (to avoid leaks of sensitive information from the population), innovation and humanized service to citizens.

The PT also wants to use administrative reform to link best practice recommendations in public administration to the achievement of inclusive and sustainable development goals. Lula’s ticket is betting on this agenda to help restore the country’s credibility not only in the economic area, but in the eyes of the international community.

Candidate proposals for administrative reform

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT)

It proposes an evaluation system for civil servants, within the reach of citizens. It also foresees a change in the structure of careers, increasing the number of steps between the starting salary and the final salary. Plan to maintain functional stability. Another point under discussion is the resumption of negotiation tables with the categories, to discuss salaries, training initiatives and tools to combat harassment in the work environment. It plans to deepen the digital transformation of public administration.

Jair Bolsonaro (PL)

It proposes the improvement of job and salary plans to encourage the civil servant, as well as the recognition of their talents, their potential and the accomplishment of their merit promotions, as a result of evaluations that encourage the achievement of goals. During his first term, he sent a PEC proposing flexibility in stability and new ways of entering the public service.

Ciro Gomes (PDT)

It proposes mandatory selection processes based on competences in the occupation of leadership positions and functions. It also promises to articulate a “Spending Quality Law”, which would require budget planning focused on the quality of public spending.

Simone Tebet (MDB)

It advocates promoting an administrative reform that makes the State more efficient, agile, productive and citizen-friendly, with the aim of expanding and improving the supply of public services.