The special staff arrangements and employment conditions for core government employees are at the heart of the state’s relationship to its employees and they are often firmly rooted in national tradition and administrative culture. As such, employment conditions and human resources systems such as recruitment procedures, career development, pay systems and social security benefits have traditionally been rather different in the public and private sectors in many countries. Until recently, some of the working conditions such as working hours and employee benefits tended to be more attractive in the public service than in the private sector in many countries. They remain an important part of the overall remuneration package of employees today and a tool for attracting qualified staff to government employment.

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Note added at 1 hr (2012-07-06 13:14:26 GMT)
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See also: http://tinyurl.com/dy23o2h

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Note added at 1 hr (2012-07-06 13:19:50 GMT)
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Working conditions [...] Many federal workers' duties require travel away from their duty station to attend meetings, complete training, or perform inspections while others - such as auditors, instructors, field engineering crews, and safety investigators - may require extensive travel for weeks or months at a time. Some employees are on continuous travel and receive lump sum payments to cover travel costs. Alternative work schedules are available to many workers through negotiated union contracts that permit flextime or compressed work schedules. Some agencies are experimenting with flexiplace or telecommuting which allow workers to perform some job duties at home and many larger federal workplaces now offer child care facilities for working parents...
http://federaljobs.net/overview.htm

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Note added at 1 hr (2012-07-06 13:22:59 GMT)
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the general working
conditions of government staff, as reflected in salary levels, office
accommodation and career development prospects, deteriorated
substantially during the 1980s. These developments rendered the
employment and retention of staff difficult, especially in those areas
where there is competition from the private sector, such as accountants,
economists and project analysts...

http://tinyurl.com/cje2as9