Two failing grades and you're out: parliament brings in automatic dismissal for civil servants, but who will write the appraisals?

Parliament passed amendments to the Law on Administrative Servants by fast-track procedure, and the loudest change fits in one sentence: a civil servant who receives a "1 - unsatisfactory" rating two years in a row loses their job by force of law. The employment ends automatically, with no new procedure and no second chance.

The change is harsh when compared with the original law, passed only in July 2025. There, one failing grade meant extra training and three years without promotion, and two in a row meant a 20 percent pay cut for six months. Less than a year and a half later, the smaller pay cheque has become the sack.

The amendments passed with 65 votes in favour and one against, without the opposition's support. VMRO-DPMNE says it is correcting mistakes that should have been fixed back in 2019. SDSM warns that behind the talk of an independent parliamentary service lie mechanisms for pressuring employees. The option of promotion without an internal vacancy notice is also being scrapped - something that on paper sounds like a merit system.

The law says the failing grade is not arbitrary. It is given when a civil servant does not carry out their duties, misses deadlines or lacks the necessary expertise, and before that they must receive a written warning no later than three months before the end of the appraisal period. On paper, everything is in order. The question is who holds the pen.

In an administration where hiring and promotion have for years been part of the debate about de-politicisation, the appraisal is a powerful tool. Will it go to the civil servant who genuinely does not work - or to the one who got in somebody's way? Will the boss who writes the failing grade have to defend it in court when the dismissed employee sues?

The right of appeal remains, the sponsors say. If the "two failing grades - you're fired" rule is applied equally to everyone, it is a reform. If it is applied selectively, we get yet another legal way to empty an office. Which of the two versions we end up living with, the first dismissals will tell.