The effects of the implementation of Law no. 153/2017 on the unitary remuneration of personnel paid from public funds

Regarding remuneration, the last 20 years in the Romanian public sector have been marked by extensive debates on the discrepancies between the incomes of the different categories of public personnel, the differences in the application of the legal framework, as well as the lack of correlation between the results of individual work performance and the level of remuneration. The low level of remuneration and the lack of legal forms for rewarding public personnel for their achievements as a form of developing motivation, led to low performance in the public sector. In 2017, the Romanian authorities conducted a reform regarding public personnel remuneration through the adoption of Law no. 153/2017 on the unitary remuneration of the personnel paid from public funds. The purpose of the mentioned law was to ensure a uniform remuneration framework in the public sector by applying clearly formulated principles and criteria as well as to decentralize the decisions taken in this area. From this perspective, the purpose of the present study is to analyze the impact of the implementation of Law no. 153/2017 on the unitary remuneration of the personnel paid from public funds from the perspective of its application, its effects, and the correlation of individual performance with the level of payment. Within the framework of the research, the process of applying the new rules, the principles underlying the new payment system, the criteria for adopting the new payment system, the level of income increases, the correlation between civil servants’ activities and the level of remuneration as well as, the objectivity of the individual evaluations were considered. The research methodology consists of an opinion survey conducted in public administration institutions using as a research instrument, a self-administered questionnaire where 320 civil servants participated. The study revealed a high degree of dissatisfaction among civil servants regarding the new remuneration system as well as the existence of certain factors that are more relevant and important than the income level, for developing civil servants’ motivation, such as the hierarchical superiors’ attitudes and the appreciation expressed by the beneficiaries of the provided services. The study also revealed that the current remuneration system does not support sufficiently the modernization process in the public administration and more than that, it led to an increase in the costs of implementing the regulations of the normative act because a significant proportion of public servants have contested in court the manner in which this law was applied.