Traditional Modes of Paying Wages in Kind to Communal Servants in Slovakia

Abstract

The municipal civil service in Slovakia represented, on the one hand, the auxiliary personnel of the state administration and the self-government of cities and municipalities, on the other hand, servants, craftsmen and members of specific occupations, who were employed by the municipality and various interest and economic associations. Lower municipal civil servants (municipal servant, bell ringer, gravedigger, gamekeeper, herald, cowherd, pig herder, etc.) belonged to the lowest social stratum of the population. A higher social status was enjoyed by servants and employees of the municipality, for whom specific abilities, craft skills or education were required: shepherds managing their own farms, municipal blacksmiths, etc. Wage in kind prevailed among lower civil servants due to mutual benefits. The basic component of wages in kind used to be grain, rations of bread, in-kind and food, firewood and various benefits from municipal and federal property: use of land, pastures, ... Collectivization, nationalization, ... contributed to the disruption of the traditional system of municipal service and caused its gradual disappearance.