There is no systematic definition in many legislations that defines what is meant by a public employee. This is due to the difference in the legal status of employees in the public sector between one country and another and to the constant renewal of administrative law.

Most of the legislation issued in the field of public employment was limited to defining the meaning of public employee in the field of its applications. Article 1 of the French Public Employee Law stipulated that this system applies to all employees who are appointed in the central departments of the Ministry of Public Health and does not apply to judges, military personnel, and workers in public departments, departments, and institutions. Of an industrial and commercial nature.

It seems that legislators have left the issue of defining a public employee to jurists and the judiciary, and this definition differs in the field of administrative law from it in other fields such as civil law, criminal law, and political economy. Its meaning in these fields may be broader or narrower than its meaning in administrative law.