!!!Beamte

Civil Servants (German: Beamte), persons who are subject to employment 
under public law, the employer being a federal, provincial or 
municipal authority ( Territorial Authorities). Employment is not 
created by means of a service contract, but through a unilateral act 
of the sovereign authority (Bescheid, approx. notice of a decision). 
In Austria, civil servants are initially appointed on a provisional 
basis and are later awarded tenureship (appointed for life). 
Employment is governed by the Civil Service Code, and agreements 
deviating from these regulations are invalid.

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The following principles apply to all civil servants: strict 
allegiance, duty of obedience, official secrecy, liability for losses 
caused in the course of the performance of their duties, criminal 
responsibility for their conduct as officials, special disciplinary 
law and pension scheme. Civil servants are appointed for life, and 
therefore their employment relationship is not terminated when they 
retire but is merely changed.

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Since Austria became a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), 
Austrian citizenship as a requirement to be appointed as a civil 
servant has only been necessary in the core areas of public 
administration.

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Sometimes, other groups of employees are called Beamte, namely those 
whose contractual relation is also characterised by high job security, 
e.g. persons working in a bank or for the Austrian Federal Railways.

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History: From the late 15%%sup th/%  century on, Austrian princes as 
well as the Estates had civil servants to carry out their 
administrative affairs. Later on, landlords also employed such 
officials. It was under the rule of the emperors Joseph II and 
Franz I that government officials were endowed with more rights 
(tenureship, pensions), but at the same time their duties increased. 
Ever since, the civil service has developed as a distinct social group 
which has become characteristic of public administration. The civil 
service grew considerably after 1850 when lower grades and court 
officials were included. In the last third of the 19%%sup th/%  
century, it exercised a uniting function in a state that was home to 
many different ethnic and linguistic varieties and was threatened by 
nationalistic tendencies. In the First Republic, the body of public 
officials was taken over (with their previous titles), and employees 
in other areas (railway and postal service) were given civil servant 
status. During the Second Republic, the responsibilities of public 
administration again increased, and with it the number of civil 
servants employed with federal, provincial and local authorities 
soared (today approx. 700,000).

!Literature
H. Kocian und G. Schubert, Beamten-Dienstrechtsgesetz 
1979, Loseblattsammlung, 1980ff.; B. Schimetschek, Der 
oesterreichische Beamte, 1984.


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