Ombudsman Office: Layoff in Administration Violate the Law

01 February 2006

The Office of the Ombudsman of Albania receives a huge number of complaints in 2005, from employees that have been sacked from their jobs in the adminsitration upon entry into office of the new Government. The public sector and Customs and Taxes Bureau seem to be striken the most by this practice.

"This is a clear violation of the Law that regulates termination of employment�, says Emir Dobjani, the Chairman of the Office of the Ombudsman and added that the lay offs were not substantiated by any official decision or act.

The Law regulates the manner and conditions of termination of employment and removal from office, but the procedure was not invoked and implemented during this last round of lay-offs.

The sacking of employees in state administration followed the restructuring of the Government and the grouping of several sectors, such as finance, economy and energy, into a single portfolio. The reconstruction should not have any legal effect, having in mind that it is not mandated by the existing legislation, which makes the lay offs a clear violation of the Law.