[pic] | COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES |

Brussels, 1.4.2009

COM(2009) 152 final

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL

on the use made in 2007 by the institutions of Council Regulations 300/76, last amended by Regulation 1873/2006 (on shift work), 495/77, last amended by Regulation 1945/2006 (on standby duty), 858/2004 (on particularly arduous working conditions)

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL

on the use made in 2007 by the institutions of Council Regulations 300/76, last amended by Regulation 1873/2006 (on shift work), 495/77, last amended by Regulation 1945/2006 (on standby duty), 858/2004 (on particularly arduous working conditions)

1. INTRODUCTION

The Council Regulations on standby duty (495/77) and particularly arduous working conditions (858/2004) require the Commission to report regularly to the Council on the number of officials and other servants in each category receiving the allowances referred to in the relevant Regulation 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 2007, which was the first full year under the modified Regulations, as approved by the Council in December 2006. 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 300/76).

2. SHIFT WORK ALLOWANCE

The legal bases for this allowance are Article 56a of the Staff Regulations, and Council Regulation 300/76 of 9 February 1976, as last amended by Council Regulation 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

- in 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 at 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, or

- employed to run or supervise technical installations.

Four different rates of the monthly allowance are provided for (2007 figures):

- rate 1: work with two shifts, excluding weekends: €357

- rate 2: work with two shifts, including nights and weekends: €540

- rate 3: 24 hrs. per day, excluding weekends: €590

- rate 4: 24 hrs. per day, 7 days a week: €805

The following figures indicate the number of allowances granted by each institution.

2.1. Number of beneficiaries by rate:

Institution | Rate 1 €357,- | Rate 2 €540,- | Rate 3 €590,- | Rate 4 €805,- | Total |

Parliament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

Court of Justice (CoJ) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

Parliament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

CoJ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

CoR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

Parliament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

CoJ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

CoR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

Commission | 247 | 75 | 31 | 353 |

- of which: JRC | 201 | 14 | 31 | 246 |

Council | 50 | 0 | 0 | 50 |

Parliament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

CoJ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

CoA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

EESC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

CoR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

EDPS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

Mediator | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

Total | 297 | 75 | 31 | 403 |

3.2. Number of beneficiaries by grade:

Institution | AD | AST | Contract Agent | Total |

Commission | 103 | 214 | 36 | 353 |

- of which: JRC | 78 | 139 | 29 | 246 |

Council | 9 | 41 | 0 | 50 |

Parliament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

CoJ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

CoA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

EESC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

CoR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

EDPS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

Mediator | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

Total | 112 | 255 | 36 | 403 |

3.3. Number of beneficiaries by purpose:

Institution | JRC | Indirect actions | Technical installation | Safety & Security | ICT | CFSP/ ESDP | MS 24/7 |

Parliament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

CoJ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

CoR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

Commission | 35 | 191 | 31 | 257 |

- of which: JRC | 35 | 191 | 31 | 257 |

Council | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

Parliament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

CoJ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

CoA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

EESC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

CoR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

EDPS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

Mediator | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

Total | 35 | 191 | 31 | 257 |

5. SERVICES CONCERNED AND MOTIVATION

The above figures show that in 2007 only the Council and the Commission were utilising these allowances. The European Parliament, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the Committee of the Regions, the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Data Protection Supervisor and the European Mediator did not make any use of them. The arduous working conditions allowance was applied solely by the Commission, within the JRC.

5.1. Motivation for shift work

Commission : Within the Commission, it is the JRC which has, for mainly technical reasons, the greatest need for this type of work organisation (82 out of a total of 130 for the Commission).

In the other DGs (operational budget), shift work is being done by some 48 persons and in the following types of services:

- Security and prevention: 21

- Technical installations: 15

- Information and communication technology (ICT): 5

- Telephone/reception: 7

All four rates (types of allowance) are applied in the Commission, predominantly rates 2 and 4, with the latter (continuous work) being used mainly in the security services.

Council : The number of shift work allowances in the Council stands at 103. This allowance is used exclusively in the areas of security and prevention and CFSP/ESDP. The types of shift work are either a two shift arrangement (rate 1) or a continuous 24 hour a day service (rate 4).

5.2. Motivation for standby duty

Commission : In 2007, the Commission paid standby allowance to some 353 members of staff, more than two thirds (246) of them being employed in one of the research centres.

Of the total of 246 persons committed to standby duty in the JRC, 107 were posted in Ispra, 41 in Karlsruhe, 70 in Geel and 28 in Petten. The reasons for standby duty are in general security and safety-related, from firemen through radiological protection to radiation monitoring, plus some technical services. In most cases at the JRC, standby duty is carried out at home, with the exception of Ispra and Karlsruhe, where duty is undertaken at the workplace or at home and at the workplace.

In the other Commission Directorates-General, a standby service was maintained, in particular, in the central informatics service (DIGIT), where 32 persons carried out this type of duty. Certain other technical departments (Offices for Infrastructure in Brussels and Luxemburg, Publications Office) and OLAF also had to maintain standby services, as well as a limited number of security personnel. Furthermore, two officials of ECHO and three of DG RELEX ensured a continuous availability for members of missions abroad in case of crises or security problems. Finally, four officials of the Justice, Freedom and Security DG assured the continuous operation of the EURODAC central processing unit.

Council : The number of persons receiving standby duty allowance in the Council stood at 50 in 2007. They were limited to the running and supervision of technical installations, to security services and to support for CFSP/ESDP. Standby duty was performed exclusively at home.

5.3. Motivation for particularly arduous working conditions allowance

Commission : The Commission is the only institution to use this provision and, within the Commission, its use in 2007 was still limited to the Joint Research Centre.

With respect to the criteria for arduous working conditions, all three categories listed in the Regulation and for which the allowance can be granted were applicable, i.e. concerning

a) the safety of the individual (e.g. the wearing of particularly uncomfortable protective clothing),

b) the place of work (e.g. high noise levels, dangerous sites), and

c) the nature of work (e.g. handling of corrosive substances).

The total number of hours worked under these various conditions amounted to 221 957 hours in 2007, broken down as follows:

69 457 hours relating to individual protection,

138 400 hours relating to the place of work, and

14 100 hours relating to the nature of the work.

6. BUDGETARY EXPENDITURE 2007, BY INSTITUTION AND BY ALLOWANCE (IN €)

Institution | Shift work | Standby duty | Arduous working conditions | Total |

Commission | 754,691.44 | 1,552,594.52 | 627,727.51 | 2,935,013.47 |

- of which: JRC | 335,053.72 | 700,973.78 | 627,727.51 | 1,663,755.01 |

Council | 645,660.22 | 76,763.52 | 0 | 722,423.74 |

Parliament | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

CoJ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

CoA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

EESC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

CoR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

EDPS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

Mediator | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

Total | 1,400,351.66 | 1,629,358.04 | 627,727.51 | 3,657,437.21 |

Total expenditure, that is the amount spent for all three allowances and in all Community institutions together, was some €3.7 million in 2007.