Bill 148.

Summary.

The bill establishes a grade system and job titles for licensed engineers and architects employed by the State. It covers the financial and nonfinancial public sectors, autonomous and semiautonomous entities, municipalities, charitable organizations, and companies in which the State holds an interest. Its objectives include organizing appointments and promotions according to time in professional practice, enabling advancement, and linking salaries to education, experience, years of service, and performance. It also proposes employment stability subject to professional competence and job titles aligned with the job functions manual of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas).

The text defines, among other terms, the professional license certificate, occupational competence, professional experience, grades, and levels. Professional experience begins when the Technical Board of Engineering and Architecture (Junta Técnica de Ingeniería y Arquitectura) issues the license. For professional certification, it refers to Law 15 of 1959 as written in the text; in describing the Board, it cites Law 15 of 1959, Law 53 of 1963, Decree 175 of 1959, Decree 775 of 1960, and Decree 257 of 1965. The Administrative Career Law (Ley de Carrera Administrativa) and other rules governing professional practice in the Republic of Panama (República de Panamá) would apply on a supplementary basis. Where rules govern the same employment situation, the bill provides for application of the rule the State considers more beneficial to the professional.

The system has five grades based on academic qualifications. The first covers a bachelor's degree with a professional license and levels ranging from issuance of the licensing resolution to more than eight years of licensed professional experience. Subsequent grades cover relevant postgraduate study, a master's degree, a combination of master's and postgraduate studies, and a doctorate. Professionals already practicing would be placed in the corresponding category after certification by the Institutional Human Resources Office (Oficina Institucional de Recursos Humanos) or the appropriate certifier, without prejudice to their current position or salary scale. At every grade, advancement between levels depends on performance evaluation, professional updating, further education, and seniority every two years.

To qualify for the salary scale, a professional must hold a license certificate and occupy a position with an engineering or architecture title and functions, whether permanent, temporary, transitional, or contractual. The bill sets salaries by grade and level. It proposes reviewing the scale every 2 years using professional salary statistics prepared by a commission comprising the General Directorate of Administrative Career (Dirección General de Carrera Administrativa) and the Panamanian Society of Engineers and Architects (Sociedad Panameña de Ingenieros y Arquitectos, SPIA). That commission would be regulated by executive decree within 90 working days after the law enters into force. Each public institution would prepare its budget to incorporate the scale. The scale would apply from the fiscal period following publication in the Official Gazette, without retroactive effect or salaries below those specified; the law would enter into force with the State budget for the year following its promulgation.

The provisions concern the Technical Board of Engineering and Architecture, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, institutional human resources offices, the General Directorate of Administrative Career, and public employers in the financial and nonfinancial sectors. They could affect engineers and architects working in those bodies, as well as municipalities, charitable organizations, and companies with State participation.