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)
Date: 2009-04-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European official, activity report, allowances and expenses, exchange of information, regulations for civil servants, statistics, working conditions

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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) 

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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. 

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2.1. 

Number of beneficiaries by rate: 

Institution 

Rate 1 
€357,-  

Rate 2 
€540,-  

Rate 3 
€590,-  

Rate 4 
€805,-  

Total 

Commission 

- of which: JRC 

Council 

Parliament 

Court of Justice (CoJ) 

Court of Auditors (CoA) 

European  Economic 
Social Committee (EESC) 

and 

19 

0 

58 

0 

0 

0 

0 

Committee of Regions (CoR)  0 

European  Data  Protection 
Supervisor (EDPS) 

Mediator 

Total 

0 

0 

77 

40 

40 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

40 

8 

8 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

8 

63 

34 

45 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

130 

82 

103 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

108 

233 

2.2. 

Number of beneficiaries by grade: 

Institution 

Commission 

- of which: JRC 

Council 

Parliament 

CoJ 

CoA 

EESC 

CoR 

EDPS 

Mediator 

Total 

AD 

11 

11 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

AST 

Contract Agent 

Total  

104 

62 

103 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

15 

9 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

130 

82 

103 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

11 

207 

15 

233 

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2.3. 

Number of beneficiaries by purpose: 

Institution 

JRC 

Indirect 
actions 

ICT  Safety/ 
Security

Switchboard/
Reception 

CFSP/ 
ESDP 

Technical 
installations 

Commission 

82 

- of which: JRC  82 

Council 

Parliament 

CoJ 

CoA 

EESC 

CoR 

EDPS 

Mediator 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

Total 

82 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

5 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

5 

21 

0 

78 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

99 

7 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

7 

0 

0 

25 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

15 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

25 

15 

3. 

STANDBY DUTY ALLOWANCE 

The  legal  bases  for  this  allowance  are  Articles  55  and  56b  of  the  Staff  Regulations  and 
Council  Regulation  495/77  of  8  March  1977,  as  last  amended  by  Council  Regulation 
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  
in indirect action, or 

paid from appropriations in the operating budget and  

– 

employed to run or supervise technical installations,  

or employed to work 

– 
– 
– 

– 

in a safety and security department, 
in an information and communication technology (ICT) services department, 
in  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 
for the purposes of a mechanism established to provide assistance to Member 
States 24 hours a day, seven days a week (MS 24/7) 

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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 pts 
standby duty at home, weekend: 4.3 pts 
standby duty at the place of work, working day: 11 pts 
standby duty at the place of work, weekend: 22 pts 

Each point is equal to 0,032% of the basic salary of an official in grade 1, step 1 (= €0,78 in 
2007). 

3.1. 

Number of beneficiaries by type of standby duty: 

Institution 

at home 

at home & at work at work  Total  

Commission 

247 

- of which: JRC 

201 

Council 

50 

Parliament 

CoJ 

CoA 

EESC 

CoR 

EDPS 

Mediator 

Total 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

75 

14 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

31 

31 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

353 

246 

50 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

297 

75 

31 

403 

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3.2. 

Number of beneficiaries by grade: 

Institution 

Commission 

- of which: JRC 

Council 

Parliament 

CoJ 

CoA 

EESC 

CoR 

EDPS 

Mediator 

Total 

AD 

103 

78 

9 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

AST 

Contract Agent Total  

214 

139 

41 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

36 

29 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

353 

246 

50 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

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 

Commission 

- of which: JRC 

246 

246 

Council 

Parliament 

CoJ 

CoA 

EESC 

CoR 

EDPS 

Mediator 

Total 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

246 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

23 

0 

18 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

30 

0 

16 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

32 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

5 

0 

16 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

17 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

41 

46 

32 

21 

17 

4. 

ALLOWANCE FOR PARTICULARLY ARDUOUS WORKING CONDITIONS 

The  legal  bases  for  this  allowance  are  Article  56c  of  the  Staff  Regulations  and  Council 
Regulation 858/2004 of 29 April 2004, which replaced Council Regulation 1799/72. 

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The particularly arduous working conditions allowance is expressed in terms of points granted 
for  each  hour  of  actual  work,  with  a  distinction  being  made  between  special  working 
conditions  resulting  from  ‘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 (= €0,78 in 
2007). 

Institution 

Commission 

- of which: JRC 

Council 

Parliament 

CoJ 

CoA 

EESC 

CoR 

EDPS 

Mediator 

Total 

AD 

35 

35 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

AST 

Contract Agent  Total  

191 

191 

31 

31 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

257 

257 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

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 

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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. 

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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 

- of which: JRC  335,053.72 

700,973.78 

627,727.51 

Council 

645,660.22 

76,763.52 

Parliament 

CoJ 

CoA 

EESC 

CoR 

EDPS 

Mediator 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

2,935,013.47 

1,663,755.01 

722,423.74 

0 

0 

0 

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. 

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