EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 8.10.2020 COM(2020) 634 final REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT on the use made in 2018 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)



REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT on the use made in 2018 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 2018. 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 amended. 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 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 0.93 in 2018). The following figures indicate the number of allowances granted by each institution for 2018. 2.1.Number of beneficiaries (officials/temporary staff and contract staff): Institution AD SC/AST CA Total FG I FG II FG III FG IV Commission 120 210.33 51.67 10 16 8 416 - of which JRC: 46 81 19 0 1 3 150 Council 14 59 4 0 0 0 77 Parliament 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Court of Justice 10 16 1 0 0 0 27 Court of Auditors 0 0 17 0 0 0 17 EESC 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 CoR 0 3 0 0 1 0 4 EDPS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ombudsman 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 EEAS 14 9 0 1 5 0 29 Total 158 299.33 73.67 11 22 8 572



2.2.Number of beneficiaries per type of standby duty: 1- Number of beneficiaries

per type of standby duty 2018 Institution At home At home and at the place of work At the place of work Total Commission 399 6 11 416 - of which JRC: 134 6 10 150 Council 77 0 0 77 Parliament 0 0 0 0 Court of Justice 27 0 0 27 Court of Auditors 17 0 0 17 EESC 2 0 0 2 CoR 4 0 0 4 EDPS 0 0 0 0 Ombudsman 0 0 0 0 EEAS 29 0 0 29 Total 555 6 11 572 2.3.Number of beneficiaries per type of employment: Institution JRC Indirect action Technical installations Security ICT CFSP/

ESDP MS 24/7 Total Commission 150 2 70 41 103 0 50 416 - of which JRC: 150 0 0 0 0 0 0 150 Council 0 0 0 21 44 12 0 77 Parliament 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Court of Justice 0 0 15 12 0 0 0 27 Court of Auditors 0 0 0 17 0 0 0 17 EESC 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 CoR 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 4 EDPS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ombudsman 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 EEAS 0 0 0 4 9 16 0 29 Total 150 2 85 101 156 28 50 572 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, as amended. The allowance is granted to compensate for particularly arduous working conditions relating to (1) ‘personal protection’ (wearing of uncomfortable special clothing, partial protection), (2) ‘place of work’ (confined, noisy and dangerous places) and (3) ‘nature of work’ (for example, handling of corrosive substances, work with explosives). The allowance is expressed in terms of points granted for each hour of actual 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 0.93 in 2018). 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 31 145 24 1 1 7 209 - of which JRC: 31 139 16 1 1 7 195 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 31 145 24 1 1 7 209 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 amended. 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 2018.



4.1.Number of beneficiaries (officials/temporary staff and contract staff): Institution AD SC/AST CA Total FG I FG II FG III FG IV Commission 0 76 16 12 8 0 112 - of which JRC: 0 20 5 0 0 1 25 Council 0 65 10 0 0 0 75 Parliament 4 57 527 5 8 2 603 Court of Justice 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Court of Auditors 0 0 19 0 0 0 19 EESC 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 CoR 0 3 0 0 1 0 4 EDPS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ombudsman 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 EEAS 0 37 0 0 0 0 37 Total 4 240 572 17 17 2 852 Four different rates of the monthly allowance are provided for (2018 figures): –rate 1: work involving two shifts, excluding weekends and public holidays: EUR 420.64; –rate 2: work involving two shifts, including nights, weekends and public holidays: EUR 634.89;

–rate 3: 24 hours a day, excluding weekends and public holidays: EUR 694.17; –rate 4: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: EUR 946.38. 4.2.Number of beneficiaries per rate: Institution Rate 1 Rate 2 Rate 3 Rate 4 Total €420.64 €634.89 €694.17 €946.38 Commission 14 0 8 90 112 - of which JRC: 0 0 8 17 25 Council 25 0 0 50 75 Parliament 48 500 0 55 603 Court of Justice 0 0 0 0 0 Court of Auditors 2 0 0 17 19 EESC 2 0 0 0 2 CoR 4 0 0 0 4 EDPS 0 0 0 0 0 Ombudsman 0 0 0 0 0 EEAS 25 0 0 12 37 Total 120 500 8 224 852



4.3.Number of beneficiaries per type of employment: Institution JRC Crisis/ emerg.

coord. ICT Security Switchboard/

reception CFSP/

ESDP Tech. Inst. Ind. Action Total Commission 25 9 14 64 0 0 0 0 112 - of which JRC: 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 25 Council 0 0 0 75 0 0 0 0 75 Parliament 0 0 0 545 58 0 0 0 603 Court of Justice 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Court of Auditors 0 0 0 17 2 0 0 0 19 EESC 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 CoR 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 4 EDPS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ombudsman 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 EEAS 0 0 13 12 0 12 0 0 37 Total 25 9 27 719 60 12 0 0 852 5.Services concerned and reasons The Council, the Commission, the EEAS, the European Parliament, the Court of Justice and the Court of Auditors use standby duty and/or shift work and pay the allowances provided for by the legislation. From 2017, the Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee have been running a joint standby duty and shift work service. The Commission is still the only institution that pays allowances for particularly arduous working conditions, at the JRC, the Office for Infrastructure and Logistics in Brussels (OIB) and for the nuclear inspectors at DG ENER (creation of a new service in 2018). 5.1.Reasons for standby duty Commission:

In 2018, the Commission paid allowances for standby duty to 416 members of its staff (394 staff in 2017). About 36% (150) of them work at 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, where the duties are undertaken at the place of work or at home owing to the specific nature of the tasks to be performed. In the other Commission Directorates-General, there was a significant increase in the number of beneficiaries in IT services (103 compared to 83 beneficiaries in 2017). This trend can be noted in particular in DIGIT following the creation of 3 new services, namely (1) DISS (central management of digital identities and access rights), (2) TESTA (secure communication with the Member States and the European institutions/agencies) and (3) EU SEND (secure electronic communication between the European institutions). For the other services, there was little change compared to 2017. There was a slight increase in the number of beneficiaries in DG ECHO providing assistance to Member States 24/7 (50 staff in 2018 compared to 45 in 2017) in order to monitor incidents in real-time and respond immediately to disasters around the world. Council: The Council paid allowances for standby duty to 77 members of its staff in 2018 (71 in 2017). Three services have been set up to cover the following areas: (1) Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), to guarantee the protection and proper functioning of the IT and communications networks, (2) Safety/Security to respond immediately to any incident that could affect the staff of the General Secretariat of the Council and the activities of the Council and the European Council, and to provide 24/7 support to security officers on mission, (3) swift action to draft, publish on the internet and disseminate immediate and urgent statements by the rotating Presidency and the President of the European Council in the context of the CFSP/ESDP. In 2018, standby duty was performed exclusively at home. Court of Auditors: In 2018, the monthly planning of the security and safety department set up in 2011 includes standby duties at home for 17 staff members (14 in 2017). They ensure the safety of buildings and their occupants round the clock throughout the year.

EEAS: In 2018, the EEAS paid allowances for standby duty to 29 members of its staff (15 staff in 2017). These standby services covered three areas of work: (1) security services, to provide round-the-clock protection to EEAS staff, visitors, premises and property in Brussels and to protect classified information (at Headquarters and in the Delegations); (2) support to the CFSP/ESDP to monitor events around the world 24/7, respond to crises, incidents, critical events, specific situations or emergencies, provide support to the High Representative and EU actors, facilitate meetings of the EEAS Crisis Platform outside normal working hours; (3) the information and communication technology service via the COMCEN (Communication Centre) which provides services for the transmission of classified information to all EEAS staff members, while also providing services to the General Secretariat of the Council in order to ensure swift handling of urgent classified information. Court of Justice: In 2018, the Court of Justice paid allowances for standby services at home to 27 members of its staff. This service was established in November 2014 at the Directorate‑General for Infrastructure. The Buildings Directorate is responsible for protecting the institution, fire prevention, and health and safety at work. It comprises three units responsible for new work, buildings management and safety and security. CoR-EESC: There has been a joint standby service within the security service at the CoR and the EESC since 1 March 2017 to ensure that security staff can be reached and are ready to react at all times should incidents requiring action arise when the institution is closed. In 2018, the standby service at home concerned 4 CoR staff and 2 EESC 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 2018. 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. In 2018, DG ENER also introduced it for inspections of installations at nuclear sites (19 beneficiaries with a total of 986.5 hours). In 2018, the total number of hours worked under particularly arduous conditions was broken down as follows: Ø65 808.19 hours relating to individual protection (for example, the wearing of particularly uncomfortable protective clothing); Ø117 127.13 hours relating to the place of work (for example, high noise level, dangerous sites); Ø11 539.68 hours relating to the nature of the work (for example, handling of corrosive substances); Ø26.20 hours relating to the combination of personal protection and places of work (nuclear inspectors: high noise level, protective clothing with self-contained breathing apparatus). 5.3.Reasons for shift work Commission: Within the Commission, the JRC (for reasons relating to the nature of the tasks) and DG HR (safety and security department) made the greatest use of this type of work organisation (25 and 56 persons respectively in 2018). In 2018 shift work was performed in the other Directorates-General (operating budget) by 31 persons in the following areas: –Security and prevention: 8 (OIL) –Information and Communication Technologies: 14 (DG COMM) –Assistance to Member States: 9 (DG ECHO) The shift work arrangement at DG COMM was established in 2015 in order to prepare press reviews for the President, the College and the Spokesperson’s Service. The around-the-clock service at DG ECHO has been operational since 2013 following the establishment of a Monitoring and Information Centre to assist Member States and the Commission during disasters.