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COUNCIL REGULATION (EC,  EURATOM) No 858/2004 
of 29 April 2004  
 
determining the rates and conditi ons of the special allowances 
provided for in Article 56c of the Staff Regulations 
which may be granted to compensate for particularly arduous 
working conditions 
 
  THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,  Having regard to the Staff Regula tions of Officials and the Cond itions of Employment of Other 
Servants of the European Communities laid down in Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 
259/68 
1 as last amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 723/2004 2, and in particular Article 56c 
of the Staff Regulations,  Having regard to the proposal from the Co mmission submitted after consulting the Staff 
Regulations Committee,  
                                                
 
1 OJ L 56, 4.3.1968, p. 1. 
2 OJ L 124, 27.4.2004, p. 1. 
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Whereas: 
 It is for the Council, acting on a proposal from the Commission, to determine the rates and 
conditions of the special allowanc es which may be granted to certa in officials to compensate for 
particularly arduous working conditions,  HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:  
Article 1 
 
Special allowances determined in accordance with  the following Articles shall be granted to 
officials called upon to do particularly arduous work.  
Article 2 
 
The allowances shall be expressed in points.  One point shall be e qual to 0,032% of the basic salary 
of an official in grade 1, step 1 
1.  The allowances shall be adjusted by the correction coefficients 
applicable to the remuneration of officials.  The allowances shall be paid monthly.  
Article 3 
 
1.   The following table lists the special working conditions in which allowances may be granted 
and the number of points per hour of actual work: 
                                                
 
1 For the period from 1 May 2004 to 30 April 2006: Grade D*1, step 1. 
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Special working conditions Number of points 
per hour of actual 
work for function 
groups AD and 
AST 1 
I.   Safety of the individual 
(a) Wearing of particularly uncomfortable clothing for protection against fire, 
contamination, radiation or corrosive substances:   
1. Special heavy clothing 10 
2. Self-contained protective suits against fire 50 
3. Other self-contained protective suits 34 
4. Protective clothing with self-contained breathing apparatus 25 
5. Other protective clothing with breathing apparatus 20 
(b) Partial protection:   
1. Self-contained breathing apparatus 16 
2. Complete respirators  10 
3. Anti-dust respirators 6 
4. Other protective apparatus against toxic, asphyxiating, corrosive substances, etc.  2 
5. Glove-boxes and remote handling devices 2 
II.   Place of work 
(a) Confined  
Work in confined spaces, without daylight, wh ich are crossed by high-tension cables or 
by high-temperature pipework and which are so cluttered as to make it difficult to move 
about  2 
(b) Noisy  
Work in spaces with an average so und volume exceeding 85 decibels 2 
(c) Dangerous sites necessitating the us e of onerous protective appliances  
1. Underground passages 2 
2. Places where work is carried out at  more than 6 metres above the ground 
involving exceptional risks 5 
In these cases the allowance shall be grante d by decision of the appointing authority 
after consulting, where approp riate, a joint committee.   
III.   Nature of work 
(a) Handling or working with certain substances in conditions which make the work 
arduous (see list in Annex) 2 
(b) Work with explosives as a certified explosives expert  5 
 
                                                 
1 For the period from 1 May 2004 to 30 April 2006: categorie s A*, B*, C*, D*. 
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2.   In order to make constant supervision possi ble, work performed under the conditions defined in 
paragraph 1 must be recorded promptly and in ch ronological order.  The record must detail the 
work performed by reference to the above table.  The appointing authority shall lay down the procedure for carrying out the supervision; where the 
number of hours of work in question can be ta ken as being the same every month the appointing 
authority may dispense with the record.  
Article 4 
 
The allowances for work performed under the conditions  defined in item I of the table in Article 3 
may not be aggregated; nor may those provide d for in items II and III of that table. 
 The allowances for work performed under the conditions  defined in items I and III of that table may 
also not be aggregated.  For the purposes of applying the above paragraphs, where more than one allowance would be due at 
the same time the highest allowance only shall be paid.  
Article 5 
 
Subject to the applicatio n of Article 2 of Regulation (ECSC,  EEC, Euratom) No 300/76 determining 
the categories of officials enti tled to allowances for shiftwor k, and the rates and conditions 
thereof 
1, the allowances paid under this Regulation shall not exceed 1 500 points per official 
per month.  
                                                
 
1 OJ L 38, 13.2.1976, p. 1.  Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) 
No .../2004 (OJ L ...). 
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Article 6 
 
This Regulation shall apply by analogy to temporary, auxiliary and contract staff. 
 
Article 7 
 
In April each year the Commission sha ll submit to the Council a report on:  
 – the number of officials and servants in each ca tegory who received the allowances referred to 
in this Regulation, broken down by institution and location, and the number of hours worked 
under the various conditions set out in the table in Article 3, 
 – the total expenditure relating to these allowances.  
Article 8 
 
Regulation (EEC) No 1799/72 
1 is hereby repealed on the day on wh ich this Regulation enters into 
force. 
                                                 
1 OJ L 192, 22.8.1972, p. 1. 
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Article 9 
 
This Regulation shall ente r into force on 1 May 2004. 
   This Regulation shall be binding in  its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States. 
 Done at Luxembourg, 29 April 2004.   For the Council  The President  M. McDOWELL  
  
 
 
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ANNEX 
 
 
List referred to in Article 3 
  A. Corrosive and asphyxiating substances:  
1. In handling:   
Halogens, hydrohalogen acids (hydrochloric and hydrofluoric acids), halogen fluorides; 
sulphuric acid, sulphur chloride, caus tic soda and caustic potash, ammonia. 
 
2. In technical processes:  
Scouring and passivation of stainl ess steels and light alloys by submersion in, or contact 
with, scouring or oxidising agents.  
 
B. Toxic substances:  
1. In handling:  
 
Toxic forms of radioactive substances ; beryllium and compounds; arsenic and 
compounds; mercury, compounds and amalgams ; tetraethyl lead; hydrocyanic acid; 
cyanides and acrylonitrile ; nitrogen oxide and nitr ogen dioxide; phosphorus and 
phosphoric ethers; seleni um; deuterium oxide. 
 
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2. In technical processes: 
 
Manufacture, concentration and storage of toxic forms of radi oactive substances; 
casting, welding and working of lead a nd alloys or lead antimony and cadmium 
antimony. 
 
C. Highly flammable and/or explosive substances:   
1. In handling: 
 
Compressed gases: acetylene, oxygen, methane, ethane, ethylene and rare gases; volatile 
organic solvents such as methyl alcohol, et hyl alcohol, diethyl ethe r, acetone, benzene, 
toluene; liquid metals such as sodium or potassium; sulphur.  
2. In technical processes:  
Argon welding; cleaning and degreasing very  dirty parts with solvents such as 
trichloroethylene; use of organic liquids such as di phenyl, triphenyl, polyphenyl, 
Dowtherm, highboiler residues in circui ts; pouring of paraffin or bitumen. 
 
D. Dirty products:  
1. In handling:   
Cadmium, chromium, nickel, bismuth, bari um, vanadium and manganese compounds in 
powder form; powdered iron oxide.   
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2. In technical processes: 
 
Processing of graphite; greasing and draining pumps and motors su ch as vacuum pumps, fluid 
circulation pumps, decompressi on pumps, compressed air genera tors; polishing with special 
substances; handling of metal slag.  This Annex shall be amended by the Council on a proposal from the Commission in the light 
of scientific and technical developments.