EN   EN 
 
 
 EUROPEAN  
COMMISSION   
Brussels, 14.2.2022  
COM(2022) 42 final  
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT  
on the use made in 2020 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 sh ift work)   
 
1 
 REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT  
on the use made in 2020 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 submit a report to the Council each year 
on the number of officials and other servants in each category receiving the allowances 
referred to in the respective  Regulations and on the total related expenditure.  
This report is based on the latest full -year figures available at the time of its preparation and 
refers to 2020. It covers all the Institutions, and for the sake of completeness also contains the 
same typ e of information on the use of shift work (Council Regulation No  300/76).  
2. STANDBY DUTY ALLOWANC E 
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 sup ervision 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 Pol icy (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 con firmed 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 follow s: 
– 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.  
 
2 
 Each point is equal to 0.032% of the basic salary of an official in grade  1, step  1 (= EUR  0.96 
in 2020).  
The following figures indicate the number of allowances granted by each institution for 2020.  
2.1. Number of beneficiaries (officials/temporary staff and c ontract staff)  
Institution  AD AST  AC 
Total  FG I FG II FG III FG IV 
Parliament  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
Council  15 79 3 0 0 0 97 
Commission  139 190 52 12 13 15 421 
- of which JRC:  43 79 18 0 1 7 148 
Court of Justice  8 16 1 0 0 1 26 
Court of Auditors  0 1 16 0 0 0 17 
EESC  0 2 0 0 1 0 3 
CoR 0 3 0 0 1 0 4 
EEAS  13 8 0 1 5 1 28 
Ombudsman  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
EDPS  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
Total  175 299 72 13 20 17 596 
 
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 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  
Parliament  0 0 0 0 
Council  97 0 0 97 
Commission  405 5 11 421 
- of which JRC:  133 5 10 148 
Court of Justice  26 0 0 26 
Court of Auditors  17 0 0 17 
EESC  0 3 0 3 
CoR 0 4 0 4 
EEAS:  28 0 0 28 
Ombudsman  0 0 0 0 
EDPS  0 0 0 0 
Total  573 12 11 596 
2.3. Number of beneficiaries per type of employment:  
Institution  JRC  Indirect 
action  Technical 
installations  Security  ICT CFSP/
ESDP  MS 
24/7 Total  
Parliament  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
Council  0 0 0 27 56 14 0 97 
Commission  148 2 61 39 122 0 49 421 
- of which 
JRC:  148 0 0 0 0 0 0 148 
Court of 
Justice  0 0 16 10 0 0 0 26 
Court of 
Auditors  0 0 0 17 0 0 0 17 
EESC  0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 
CoR 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 4 
EEAS:  0 0 0 4 6 18 0 28 
Ombudsman  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
EDPS  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
Total  148 2 77 104 184 32 49 596 
3. ALLOWANCE FOR PARTICU LARLY ARDUOUS WORKIN G CONDITIONS  
The legal bases for this allowance are Article  56c of th e 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 (i) ‘ safety of the 
 
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 individual’ (wearing of uncomfortable special clothing, partial protection), (ii) ‘place of work’ 
(confined, noisy and dangerous places) and (iii) ‘nature of work’ (for example, ha ndling of 
corrosive substances, work with explosives)1.  
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 a verage sound level exceeding 85 decibels, and 
an uppe r limit of  50 in the case of an official wearing a self -contained protective suit against 
fire. Each point is equal to 0.032% of the basic salary of an official in grade  1, step  1 
(= EUR  0.96 in 2020).  
3.1. Number of beneficiaries (officials/temporary staff and contract staff)  
Institution  AD AST  AC Total  FG I FG II FG III FG IV 
Parliament  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
Council  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
Commission  27 136 24 0 1 11 199 
- of which JRC:  26 128 15 0 1 9 179 
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 
EEAS:  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
Ombudsman  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
EDPS  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
Total  27 136 24 0 1 11 199 
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 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 Forei gn 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  
                                                 
1 Article  3 of Council Regulation No  858/2004.  
 
5 
 – the running or supervision of technical insta llations.  
The following figures indicate the number of allowances granted by each institution for 2020.  
4.1. Number of beneficiaries (officials/temporary staff and contract staff)  
Institution  AD AST  AC Total  FG I FG II FG III FG IV 
Parliament  1 69 468 1 6 0 545 
Council  0 71 0 7 0 0 78 
Commission  0 99 21 10 24 1 155 
- of which JRC:  0 18 10 0 0 0 28 
Court of Justice  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
Court of Auditors  0 1 16 0 0 0 17 
EESC  0 2 0 0 1 0 3 
CoR 0 3 0 0 1 0 4 
EEAS:  0 30 0 0 0 0 30 
Ombudsman  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
EDPS  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
Total  1 275 505 18 32 1 832 
Four different rates of the monthly allowance are provided for (2020 figures):  
– rate 1: work involving two shifts, excluding weekends and public holidays: EUR  432.05;  
– rate 2: work involving two shifts, including nights, weekends and public holidays: 
EUR  652.12;  
– rate 3: 24  hours a day, excluding weekends and public holidays: EUR  713.01;  
– rate 4: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: EUR  972.07.  
 
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 4.2. Number of beneficiaries per rate  
Institution  Rate  1 Rate  2 Rate 3 Rate  4 Total  432.05  652.12  713.01  972.07  
Parliament  49 257 0 239 545 
Council  24 0 0 54 78 
Commission  14 0 8 133 155 
- of which JRC:  0 0 8 20 28 
Court of Justice  0 0 0 0 0 
Court of Auditors  0 0 0 17 17 
EESC  3 0 0 0 3 
CoR 4 0 0 0 4 
EEAS:  20 0 0 10 30 
Ombudsman  0 0 0 0 0 
EDPS  0 0 0 0 0 
Total  114 257 8 453 832 
4.3. Number of beneficiaries per type of employment:  
Institution  JRC  MS 
24/7 ICT Securit
y Switchboa
rd/Recepti
on CFSP/   
ESDP  Technical 
installations  Total  
Parliament  0 0 0 512 33 0 0 545 
Council  0 0 0 78 0 0 0 78 
Commission  28 22 14 91 0 0 0 155 
- of which 
JRC:  28 0 0 0 0 0 0 28 
Court of 
Justice  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
Court of 
Auditors  0 0 0 17 0 0 0 17 
EESC  0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 
CoR 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 4 
EEAS  0 0 11 9 0 10 0 30 
Ombudsman  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
EDPS  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
Total  28 22 25 714 33 10 0 832 
5. SERVICES CONCERNED AN D REASONS  
The European Parliament, the Council, the Commission, the Court of Justice, 
the Court  of Auditors, and also both Committees and the EEAS, use standby duty and/or 
shift work and pay the allowances provided for by the legislation.  
 
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 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 (OI B) 
and, since 2018, to the nuclear inspectors working for the Directorate -General for Energy  
(DG ENER).  
Four institutions stated that the COVID -19 health crisis had had an impact on the 
departments, in particular as a result of the difficulties encountered  in finding replacements 
for absences linked to the pandemic, and also as a result of the increase in teleworking. Where 
presence at the place of work was required, specific procedures were implemented to ensure 
business continuity while maintaining social  distancing and complying with other hygiene 
measures. The COVID -19 health crisis also had an impact at times on the number of 
beneficiaries. This situation is further detailed below, in the explanations provided by the 
Institution or department concerned.   
5.1. Reasons for standby duty  
Council:  The Council paid allowances for standby duty to 97  members of its staff in 2020  
(85 in 2019).  
The standby services have been set up to cover the following areas: (i) Information and 
Communication Technologies (ICT), to guarantee the protection and proper functioning of the 
IT and communications networks, to provide support for the unforeseen activities of the 
European Council, the Council and their preparatory bodies, and to cover urgent needs of the 
European C ouncil, the Council and the General Secretariat , in terms of managing the 
EU’s  classified information and support for the activities of the P resident and the 
Secretary -General as part of external policy; (ii) Safety/Security, to respond immediately to 
any incident that could affect the staff of the European Council, the Council and the activities 
of the  General Secretariat, and to provide 24/7 support to secu rity officers on mission; 
(iii) swift action to draft, publish on the internet and disseminate immed iate and urgent 
statements by the rotating Presidency of the Council an d the President of the 
European  Council in the context of the CFSP/ESDP, and support for the activities of the 
President of the  European Council and the Secretary -General as part of ext ernal policy.  
In 2020, standby duty was performed exclusively at home.   
The upward trend can be explained by a slight increase in the number of beneficiaries in the 
existing services on the one hand, and by the creation of new teams within the cabinets of  the 
President and the Secretary -General and in SMART (Classified information services) on the 
other.  
Commission: In 2020, the Commission paid allowances for standby duty to 421 members of 
its staff, representing an increase of almost 3% compared to 2019 ( 410 beneficiaries).  
This slight increase is mainly due to an extra five beneficiaries in DG ECHO and an extra 
three beneficiaries in DG ENER in the field of crisis/emergency coordination.  
 
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 About 35% of the beneficiaries (148) work at one of the Commission’ s Research Centres. 
Most of the standby duty at the JRC is carried out at home, with the exception of the JRC in 
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 Commis sion’s other Directorates -General, the number of beneficiaries has (i) decreased 
slightly for DG DIGIT ( -14) as a result of departures or transfers t o other services or units; 
(ii) increased for DG TAXUD in the Information and Communication Technologies (I CT) 
services (+14) as a result of the setting -up of a new service to ensure business continuity and 
the security of the IT infrastructure. For the other services, there was little change compared 
to 2019.  
Court of Justice: In 2020, the Court of Justice pa id allowances for standby services at home 
to 26  members of its staff (28 in 2019). All the beneficiaries work in the Directorate for 
Buildings and Security in the Directorate -General for Administration. The units where the 
beneficiaries work are responsib le for the Court’s development projects and also for 
managing buildings and security.  
Court of Auditors:  In 2020, the monthly planning of the security and safety department 
includes the need for standby duties at home for 17 staff members, the same as in 2019. They 
ensure the safety of buildings and their occupants round the clock throughout the year.  
EESC -CoR: There is a joint standby service within the security service at the EESC and the 
CoR 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 2020, as in 2019, the standby 
service (at home and at the place of work) was performed by three EESC staff and 
four CoR staff.  
EEAS : In 2020, the EEAS paid allowances for standby duty  to 28 members of its staff 
(33 staff in 2019). The retirement, mobility or end of se rvice of some beneficiaries or the fact 
that they changed posts explain this decrease since, owing to the COVID -19 health crisis, it 
was not necessary to replace those beneficiaries who retired or left the service. The standby 
services cover three areas of  work: (i) 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);  (ii) 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;  (iii) the infor mation 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 o rder to ensure swift 
handling of urgent classified information, via the Strategic communication division, which 
guarantees the prompt publication of press releases, and via the Council’s General Secretariat 
which supports the High Representative’s press ac tivities.   
 
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 5.2. Reasons for using the allowance for particularly arduous working conditions  
Commission : As in 2019, the Commission is the only institution to have used this possibility 
in 2020 for the Office for Infrastructure and Logistics in Brussels (OI B) for the reproduction 
service, the JRC and DG ENER for inspections of installations at nuclear sites, for a total of 
199 beneficiaries in 2020 (216 in 2019). This decrease of almost 8% is due, among other 
things, to the COVID -19 health crisis, during whi ch some beneficiaries did not perform their 
duties in particularly arduous working conditions, and during which it was not necessary to 
replace those beneficiaries who retired or left the service.  
In 2020, the total number of hours worked under particularl y arduous conditions was broken 
down as follows:  
 25 282.64  hours (64  889.11 in 2019) relating to safety of the individual (for example, the 
wearing of particularly uncomfortable protective clothing);  
 42 379.07 hours (115  973.35  in 2019) relating to the place of work (for example, high 
noise level, dangerous sites);  
 5 073.61 hours (12  162.74  in 2019) relating to the nature of the work (for example, 
handling of corrosive substances);  
The number of hours has considerably decreased owing to the decrease in the number of 
beneficiaries. The COVID -19 health crisis, which has led to a greater number of teleworkers, 
and the decrease in the number of missions also explains the decrease in the number of hours 
worked under particularly arduous conditions.  
5.3. Reaso ns for shift work  
European Parliament:  In 2020, the European Parliament paid shift work allowances to cover 
(i) safety and security services in the three places of work:  Brussels, Strasbourg and 
Luxembourg; (ii) services related to the reception, security and control of visitors 
(Parlamentarium, House of European History and the Jean Monnet House, Sports Centre 
(since 2017)) and communication via the switchboard, which offers a variety of services in 
several languages, including the transfer of incoming and  outgoing calls, the provision of 
contact information (telephone and fax numbers, email and office addresses), information on 
meetings and the buildings of the European Parliament.   
The set -up consists of: a two -shift arrangement (rate  1), a two -shift arra ngement including 
nights, weekends and public holidays (rate  2), or a continuous 24 -hour service (rate  4). The 
number of beneficiaries in 2020 considerably decreased (545 compared to 595 in 2019). This 
decrease is due to the COVID -19 health crisis which le d to several services being closed or 
reduced.    
Council:  The Council has a system of shift work, which is essential to ensure the continuity 
of the services responsible for prevention and for the safety and security of buildings and 
persons in the two Cou ncil buildings. There was little change in the number of beneficiaries, 
78 in 2020, compared to 75 in 2019.  
 
10 
 Commission:  Within the Commission, the JRC (for reasons relating to the nature of the 
activities) and DG HR (safety and security department) made us e of this type of work 
organisation (28 and 83 persons respectively in 2020). The increase in the number of 
beneficiaries reported by DG HR in 2020 (+26) is the result of the increase in the number of 
posts allocated to close protection in order to guarant ee compliance with health and safety 
requirements.  
In 2020, shift work was performed in the other Directorates -General (operating budget) by  
44 persons in the following areas:  
– Security and prevention: 8 (OIL);  
– Information and Communication Technologies: 14  (DG COMM);  
– Assistance to Member States: 22 (16 in 2019) (DG ECHO).  
The shift work arrangement at DG COMM prepares press reviews for the President, the 
College and the Spokesperson’s Service.  
DG ECHO has reallocated the available resources to reinforce the  shift work implemented by 
the Monitoring and Information Centre which assists the Member States and the Commission 
in the event of a disaster, which explains the increase in beneficiaries.  
Rates 1, 3 and 4 (types of allowance) are applied in the Commissio n, with rate  4 (continuous 
service) being used mainly in the security services.  
Court of Auditors:  In 2020, the only shift work service reported by the Court of Auditors was 
a service put in place in the Human Resources, Finance and General Services Directorate to 
ensure the safety of buildings and their occupants. It is a continuous 24 -hour service (r ate 4) 
with 17 beneficiaries (the same as in 2019).  
EESC -CoR: A joint shift work service is operating at the EESC and at the CoR to meet the 
need for continuous presence in the security service. As in 2019, the EESC paid allowances to 
three beneficiaries (rate 1) and the CoR to four beneficiaries (rate  1). 
EEAS : In 2020, the EEAS paid 30 shift work allowances to provide round -the-clock 
protection to EEAS staff, visitors, premises and property in Brussels, and to ensure the daily 
monitoring, assessment and flagging -up of politically significant  events or situations on a 
24/7 basis, and to provide services for the transmission of classified information to all EEAS 
staff and to the High Representative and other EU actors (European Commission,  
General  Secretari at of the Council, EU Agencies, EU Member States).  
Two types of allowance are applicable at the EEAS, mainly rate  1 and rate  4. The number of 
beneficiaries decreased due to the COVID -19 health crisis, in particular as a result of the 
smaller number of staf f present at the place of work. Furthermore, it was not possible to fill 
some vacant posts during that period.   
 
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 6. BUDGET EXPENDITURE , PER INSTITUTION AND  PER ALLOWANCE (IN EUR)  
Institution  Shift work  Standby duty  Particularly 
arduous 
working 
conditions  Total  
Parliament  5 137 953.53  0 0 5 137 953.53  
Council  726 640.00  270 845.00  0 997 485.00  
Commission  1 407 631.14  1 587 768.45  335 668.27  3 331 067.86  
- of which JRC:  246 719.68  628 320.00  319 183.17  1 194 222.85  
Court of Justice  0 53 836.98  0 53 836.98  
Court of Auditors  197 612.76  15 993.68  0 213 606.44  
EESC  11 191.30  6 557.41  0 17 748.71  
CoR 20 008.54  14 280.78  0 34 289.32  
EEAS  221 575.33  84 887.55  0 306 462.88  
Ombudsman  0 0 0 0 
EDPS  0 0 0 0 
Total  7 722 612.60  2 034 169.85  335 668.27  10 092 450.72  
The amount spent on the three allowances in all the European Institutions stood at 
EUR  10 092 450.72  in 2020 (EUR  10 492 246.93 in 2019).