Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2016)832 - Use made in 2014 by the institutions of Council Regulations No 495/77 - Main contents
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dossier | COM(2016)832 - Use made in 2014 by the institutions of Council Regulations No 495/77. |
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source | COM(2016)832 |
date | 06-01-2017 |
Contents
COM(2016) 832 final
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
on the use made in 2014 by the institutions of Council Regulations No 495/77, last amended by Regulation No 1945/2006 (on standby duty), No 858/2004 (on particularly arduous working conditions), and No 300/76, last amended by Regulation No 1873/2006 (on shift work)
on the use made in 2014 by the institutions of Council Regulations No 495/77, last amended by Regulation No 1945/2006 (on standby duty), No 858/2004 (on particularly arduous working conditions), and No 300/76, last amended by Regulation No 1873/2006 (on shift work)
1. Introduction
The Council Regulations on standby duty (No 495/77) and on particularly arduous working conditions (No 858/2004) require the Commission to report annually to the Council on the number of officials and other servants in each category receiving the allowances referred to in the respective Regulations and the total related expenditure.
This report is based on the latest full-year figures available at the time of its preparation and thus refers to 2014. It covers all the Institutions, and for the sake of completeness also contains the same type of information on the use of shift work (Council Regulation No 300/76).
2. Standby duty allowance
The legal bases for this allowance are Articles 55 and 56b of the Staff Regulations and Council Regulation No 495/77 of 8 March 1977, as last amended by Council Regulation No 1945/2006 of 11 December 2006.
Payment of the allowance is limited to officials and other servants paid from research appropriations and employed in:
– an establishment of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), or
– indirect action, or
paid from operating appropriations and employed in:
– the running or supervision of technical installations,
– a safety and security department,
– an information and communication technology (ICT) services department,
– a department providing support for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)/European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) or for emergency and crisis coordination arrangements, or
– a mechanism established to provide assistance to Member States 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (MS 24/7), for emergency and crisis coordination arrangements or in services where there is a confirmed necessity for the execution of tasks in order to guarantee a mechanism for providing assistance to Member States.
The standby duty allowance is expressed in points. The number of points granted for each hour of actual standby duty is fixed as follows:
– standby duty at home, working day: 2.15 points;
– standby duty at home, weekend and public holidays: 4.3 points;
– standby duty at the place of work, working day: 11 points;
– standby duty at the place of work, weekend and public holidays: 22 points.
Each point is equal to 0.032% of the basic salary of an official in grade 1, step 1 (= EUR 0.86 in 2014).
2.1.Number of beneficiaries (officials/temporary staff and contract staff) 1 :
Institution | AD | SC / AST | CA | Total | |||
FG I | FG II | FG III | FG IV | ||||
Commission | 122 | 246.5 | 36.5 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 419 |
– of which JRC: | 76 | 127 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 218 |
Council | 3 | 45 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
Parliament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Court of Justice | 6 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
Court of Auditors | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
EESC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CoR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
EDPS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
EEAS | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
Total | 138 | 310.5 | 48.5 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 511 |
2.2.Number of beneficiaries per type of standby duty:
Institution | At home | At home and at the place of work | At the place of work | Total |
Commission | 376 | 6 | 37 | 419 |
– of which JRC: | 176 | 6 | 36 | 218 |
Council | 50 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
Parliament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Court of Justice | 0 | 16 | 0 | 16 |
Court of Auditors | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
EESC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CoR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
EDPS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
EEAS | 17 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
Total | 452 | 22 | 37 | 511 |
2.3.Number of beneficiaries per type of employment:
Institution | JRC | Indirect action | Technical installations | Security | ICT | CFSP/ESDP | MS 24/7 | Total |
Commission | 218 | 0 | 55 | 36 | 74 | 0 | 36 | 419 |
– of which JRC: | 218 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 218 |
Council | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 25 | 10 | 0 | 50 |
Parliament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Court of Justice | 0 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
Court of Auditors | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
EESC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CoR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
EDPS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
EEAS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 17 |
Total | 218 | 0 | 67 | 67 | 109 | 14 | 36 | 511 |
3. Allowance for particularly arduous working conditions
The legal bases for this allowance are Article 56c of the Staff Regulations and Council Regulation No 858/2004 of 29 April 2004, which replaced Council Regulation No 1799/72.
The allowance for particularly arduous working conditions is expressed in terms of points granted for each hour of actual work, with a distinction being made between special working conditions connected with ‘safety of the individual’, ‘place of work’ and ‘nature of work’. The number of points varies between 2, e.g. for an average sound level exceeding 85 decibels, and an upper limit of 50 in the case of an official wearing a self-contained fire protection suit. Each point is equal to 0.032 % of the basic salary of an official in grade 1, step 1 (= EUR 0.86 in 2014).
3.1.Number of beneficiaries (officials/temporary staff and contract staff):
Institution | AD | SC / AST | Contract staff | Total | |||
FG I | FG II | FG III | FG IV | ||||
Commission | 36 | 172 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 243 |
– of which JRC: | 36 | 167 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 228 |
Council | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Parliament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Court of Justice | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Court of Auditors | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
EESC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CoR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
EDPS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
EEAS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Total | 36 | 172 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 243 |
4. Shift work allowance
The legal bases for this allowance are Article 56a of the Staff Regulations and Council Regulation No 300/76 of 9 February 1976, as last amended by Council Regulation No 1873/2006 of 11 December 2006.
Payment of the allowance is limited to officials and other servants paid from research appropriations and employed in:
– an establishment of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), or
– indirect action, or
paid from operating appropriations and employed in:
– an information and communication technology (ICT) services department,
– a safety and security department,
– a telephone switchboard/information service or on a reception desk,
– a department providing support for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP)/European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) or for emergency and crisis coordination arrangements,
– a service providing support for emergency or crisis coordination arrangements, or
– the running or supervision of technical installations.
The following figures indicate the number of allowances granted by each institution for 2014.
4.1.Number of beneficiaries (officials/temporary staff and contract staff) 2 :
Institution | AD | SC / AST | CA | Total | |||
FG I | FG II | FG III | FG IV | ||||
Commission | 9 | 67.5 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 100.5 |
– of which JRC: | 9 | 34 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 |
Council | 0 | 62 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62 |
Parliament | 0 | 30 | 283 | 16 | 14 | 1 | 344 |
Court of Justice | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Court of Auditors | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
EESC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CoR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
EDPS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
EEAS | 0 | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
Total | 9 | 194.5 | 311 | 22 | 16 | 1 | 553.5 |
Four different rates of the monthly allowance are provided for (2014 figures):
– rate 1: work involving two shifts, excluding weekends and public holidays: EUR 385.23;
– rate 2: work involving two shifts, including nights, weekends and public holidays: EUR 581.45;
– rate 3: 24 hours a day, excluding weekends and public holidays: EUR 635.74;
– rate 4: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: EUR 866.72.
4.2.Number of beneficiaries per rate:
Institution | Rate 1 | Rate 2 | Rate 3 | Rate 4 | Total |
€ 385.23 | € 581.45 | € 635.74 | € 866.72 | ||
Commission | 11.5 | 21 | 8 | 60 | 100.5 |
– of which JRC: | 0 | 21 | 8 | 20 | 49 |
Council | 37 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 62 |
Parliament | 123 | 119 | 58 | 44 | 344 |
Court of Justice | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Court of Auditors | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 11 |
EESC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CoR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
EDPS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
EEAS | 26 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 36 |
Total | 199.5 | 140 | 66 | 148 | 553.5 |
4.3.Number of beneficiaries per type of employment:
Institution | JRC | Emergency & crisis coordination | ICT | Security | Switchboard/Reception | CFSP/ESDP | Tech. installations | Indirect action | Total |
Commission | 49 | 0 | 1.5 | 47 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 100.5 |
– of which JRC: | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 |
Council | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 62 |
Parliament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 320 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 344 |
Court of Justice | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Court of Auditors | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
EESC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CoR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
EDPS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
EEAS | 0 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
Total | 49 | 0 | 14.5 | 448 | 26 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 553.5 |
5. Services concerned and reasons
The Council, the Commission, the EEAS (which took over much of the former DG RELEX) and the Court of Auditors use standby duty and shift work and pay the allowances provided for by the legislation.
In November 2014, the Court of Justice set up a new standby service at the DirectorateGeneral for Infrastructure to cover the supervision of technical installations and performance of security-related tasks.
The Commission remains the only institution to pay allowances for particularly arduous working conditions, at the JRC and the Office for Infrastructure and Logistics in Brussels (OIB).
5.1.Reasons for standby duty
Joint Research Centre (JRC)
In 2014, the Commission paid standby allowance to some 419 members of staff, approximately 52 % (218) of whom are employed in one of the research centres. The reasons for standby duty are, as in previous years, generally security- and safety-related (fire-fighting service, radiation monitoring, radiation protection, etc.). In most cases at the JRC, standby duty is carried out at home, with the exception of Ispra and Karlsruhe, where the duties are undertaken at the place of work – or at home and at the place of work – owing to the specific nature of the tasks to be performed.
In the other Commission Directorates-General, the standby services are mainly used for security and safety, technical installations and IT services, plus assistance for Member States.
In 2014, there was a significant increase in the number of beneficiaries at the OIB (rising from 17 to 39), owing to the creation of four new at-home standby services (in addition to the existing service) to cover the four geographical zones in which the various buildings in Brussels are located, enabling continuous provision of a rapid response in the event of an incident affecting the building stock’s technical installations.
Council: The Council paid allowances for standby services at home to 50 members of its staff in 2014. The fields in question were information and communication technology (ICT) services, security services and support for the CFSP/ESDP. Standby duty was performed exclusively at home.
Court of Auditors: The Court of Auditors paid allowances for standby services at home to nine members of its staff in 2014.
EEAS: In 2014, the EEAS paid allowances for standby services at home to 17 members of its staff in three fields: security services, support for the CFSP/ESDP, and information and communication technology (ICT) services.
Court of Justice: In November 2014 a new standby service was set up in two fields, namely technical installations and security services, at home and at the place of work. The Court of Justice paid allowances for standby services to 16 members of its staff.
5.2.Reasons for using the allowance for particularly arduous working conditions
Commission: The Commission is the only institution to have used this possibility in 2014. The Office for Infrastructure and Logistics in Brussels (OIB) introduced it in one of its services (reproduction service) in 2008; the Joint Research Centre was already using it (for reasons relating to the nature of the tasks).
In 2014, the total number of hours worked under particularly arduous conditions was broken down as follows:
76 996.59 hours relating to individual protection (for example, the wearing of particularly uncomfortable protective clothing),
129 751.25 hours relating to the place of work (for example, high noise levels, dangerous sites), and
16 561.14 hours relating to the nature of the work (for example, handling of corrosive substances).
5.3.Reasons for shift work
Commission: Within the Commission, it is the JRC (for reasons relating to the nature of the tasks) and DG HR (safety and security department) which have the greatest need for this type of work organisation (49 and 32 persons respectively in 2014).
In 2014 shift work was performed in the other DGs (operating budget) by 19.5 persons in the following types of services:
– Security and prevention: 15
– Technical installations: 3
– Information and communication technology (ICT): 1.5
All four rates (types of allowance) are applied in the Commission, rate 4 (around-the-clock service) being used mainly in the security services.
Council: The number of individuals paid shift-work allowances in the Council stands at 62 for 2014. This allowance is used primarily in the fields of security and prevention (59 members of staff) and CFSP/ESDP (3 members of staff). Shift work consists of either a twoshift arrangement (rate 1) or a continuous 24-hour service (rate 4).
European Parliament: To safeguard and protect people, infrastructure, information and events occurring during public holidays, weekends or nights and to ensure the continued presence of security staff in buildings while avoiding recourse to overtime, which would increase Parliament's budget, it was decided to apply Council Regulation 300/76 of 9 February 1976, as last amended by Council Regulation No 1873/2006 of 11 December 2006, and to replace overtime by specific work patterns. Therefore, security and prevention staff are entitled to the allowance for shift work.
In 2014, 344 allowances were granted for shift work at the European Parliament; this was more than double the number in 2013. This allowance is currently used in the fields of security and the telephone service/reception. The sharp increase referred to above was in the security services.
Shift work consists of a two-shift arrangement (rate 1), a two-shift arrangement including nights, weekends and public holidays (rate 2), a 24-hour service excluding weekends and public holidays (rate 3), or a continuous 24-hour service (rate 4).
Court of Auditors: The Court of Auditors has been using shift work in the fields of security and telephone service/reception since 2011. Shift work consists of either a two-shift arrangement (rate 1) or a continuous 24-hour service (rate 4). A total of 11 allowances were paid in 2014.
EEAS: In 2014, the EEAS paid 36 allowances in the fields of information and communication technology (ICT), security, and the CFSP/ESDP.
6. Budget expenditure, per institution and per allowance (in EUR)
Institution | Shift work | Standby duty | Arduous working conditions | Total |
Commission | 813 756.85 | 1 399 835.26 | 588 256.91 | 2 801 849.02 |
– of which JRC: | 258 328.90 | 644 199.79 | 563 607.34 | 1 466 136.03 |
Council | 413 194.56 | 187 498.74 | 0 | 600 693.30 |
Parliament | 1 795 946.01 | 0 | 0 | 1 795 946.01 |
Court of Justice | 0 | 0 3 | 0 | 0 |
Court of Auditors | 103 964.78 | 15 354.90 | 0 | 119 319.68 |
EESC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
CoR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
EDPS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ombudsman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
EEAS | 215 023.23 | 62 138.41 | 0 | 277 161.64 |
Total | 3 341 885.43 | 1 664 827.31 | 588 256.91 | 5 594 969.65 |
The amount spent on the three allowances in all the European Institutions stood at EUR 5 594 969.65 in 2014.
(1) Two people share standby duty at OLAF to provide a 24/7 security presence as members of the security standby team (= 0.5 SC/AST + 0.5 FG I).
(2) DG BUDG reported that shift work was carried out by two members of statutory staff up to 1 July 2014 and by one staff member from 1 July 2014 (= 1.5 SC/AST for 2014 as a whole).
(3) Since the standby service at the Court of Justice was only set up in November 2014, no budgetary expenditure was recorded for 2014.