2023-06-25 13:14:00
The selection procedure had to be repeated
In the newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, the mayor of Turnhout, Paul Van Miert (N-VA), affirmed that the time factor played a major role in the decision of the municipality to recruit outside the framework. According to the mayor, we had to go quickly. We are fast approaching the summer holidays. Above all, the municipal authorities felt that they had already lost a lot of time. In the civil service, it is impossible to call for candidates without involving the municipal council, which does not meet during the summer holidays. In addition, the selection procedure was lengthy. We had to organize selection tests. The authorities realized that no candidate had passed the tests. Result of the races: the selection procedure had to be restarted from scratch. “Today, we have found a candidate who meets the criteria”, underlined the mayor. “We hope that he will obtain the approval of the municipal council and that he can start at the end of the month. In the meantime, we had hired a freelance civil servant,” said the mayor.
Within a legal framework
Turnhout is no exception in Flanders. According to a survey, nearly two out of three municipalities use freelance civil servants to ensure the continuity of services when it is impossible to take over within a reasonable time. Municipalities ask specialized agencies to recruit temporary profiles with adequate skills. They have every right to use independent freelancers, observes VVSG, the Flemish Union of Towns and Municipalities. Provided that the legal framework is respected. “It is always temporary assignments, legally defined, as was the case during the pandemic, or seasonal work. There is no question of replacing a statutory civil servant with an independent one”, warns Nathalie Debast of VVSG. The public sector (CPAS, cities and towns) recruits a variety of profiles. “That private companies come to poach high potential profiles for higher salaries, it is indeed the case. Subsequently, it happens that these talents, better paid in the private sector, return to carry out missions in the public sector”, claims to know the VVSG.
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