The European Union’s low cost Officials
Contract Agents FG IV 3a
in Delegations
Equal qualifications, equal classification?
Equal job, equal pay?
Respectable professional career?
Equal living conditions?
Equal expatriation discomfort?
INTRODUCTION
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
Example of a career path for an Official and Temporary Agent over a period of 27
years
Director
Type of post
Head of Unit
Principal Econom ist
Principal Econom ist
Steady, although
‘slower’ since 2004
Senior Econom ist
Senior Econom ist
Econom ist
Econom ist
Junior Econom ist
Junior econom ist
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Function group
NO CAREER AT ALL!
Type of post
Only possible career path for a CA FG IV over any period
of time
Project officer
13
14
15
16
17
18
Grade
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
Salary Trend for Contract Agents over an average
period of 27 years
Such significant differences
exist regardless of the level
of
experience
and
qualifications….which for CA
are often higher
14,000.00
10,000.00
8,000.00
Contract Agents
6,000.00
4,000.00
2,000.00
0.00
13
14
15
16
17
18
Grade in FG IV
….and regardless of the fact
that CA perform “core tasks”
regularly….apparently,
the
only reason is that Officials
passed an EPSO Competition
whereas CAs passed an EPSO
Test….
Salary trend for officials over an average period
of 27 years
Salary (Euro)
Salary (Euro)
12,000.00
14,000.00
12,000.00
10,000.00
8,000.00
6,000.00
4,000.00
2,000.00
0.00
AD Officials
5
6
7
8
9 10 11 12 13 14
Function Group
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
Example of remuneration packages of an AD8 and a CA FG IV G XIV
Net salary difference
10% Living Conditions
10,000
Household Allowance
8,000
16 % Expat Allowance
6,000
Basic Salary
4,000
2,000
0
AD 8
1
CA FG IV
2
Staff Category
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
The genesis:
The Kinnock “savings” reform, back in 2004, introduced the staff category of
Contract Agents (CA) under title IV of chapter II of the Conditions of Employment
of Other Servants of the European Communities (CEOSEC) of the Staff
Regulations (SR)
Their role in theory:
According to Art. 80 of the CEOSEC, CA shall be subdivided into four function
groups corresponding to the duties to be performed:
Function group
Grades
Duties
IV
13 to 18
Administrative, advisory, linguistic and equivalent technical tasks,
performed under the supervision of officials or temporary staff
III
8 to 12
Executive tasks, drafting, accountancy and other equivalent technical
tasks, performed under the supervision of officials or temporary staff.
II
4 to 7
Clerical and secretarial tasks, office management and other equivalent
tasks, performed under the supervision of officials or temporary staff
I
1 to 3
Manual and administrative support service tasks, performed under the
supervision of officials or temporary staff
The European Union’s low cost Officials
The requirements:
According to Art. 82 of the CEOSEC, recruitment as a member of the contract
staff shall require at least:
Function group
Qualifications
IV
(i) a level of education which corresponds to completed university
studies of at least three years attested by a diploma, or
(ii) where justified in the interest of the service, professional training
of an equivalent level
(iii) one year of relevant professional experience
II - III
(i) a level of post-secondary education attested by a diploma, or
(ii) a level of secondary education attested by a diploma giving
access to post-secondary education, and appropriate professional
experience of at least three years, or
(iii) where justified in the interest of the service, professional
training or professional experience of an equivalent level
I
successful completion of compulsory education
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
The nature of the contract:
According to Art. 85, the contracts of contract staff referred to in Article 3a may
be concluded for a fixed period of at least three months and not more than five
years. They may be renewed not more than once for a fixed period of not more
than five years. The initial contract and the first renewal must be of a total
duration of not less than six months for function group I and not less than nine
months for the other function groups. Any further renewal shall be for an
indefinite period.
Contract staff in function group IV shall before renewal of a contract for an
indefinite period be required to demonstrate the ability to work in a third
language among those referred to in Article 314 of the EC Treaty. The common
rules on access to training and the modalities of the assessment mentioned in
Article 45(2) of the Staff Regulations shall apply by analogy
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
A few statistics:
Distribution of active contract agents by gender and grade (all budgets)
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
A few statistics:
Distribution of active contract agents by gender and grade (all budgets)
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
Contract Agents FG IV 3a
FACTS
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
Career perspectives of a CA:
Flat
A Function Group IV CA entering
at grade XIII will do exactly the
same job for his entire career. No
professional career perspectives at
all.
AD
Career perspectives of an official:
very attractive
An official recruited at AST 1 level
can find his/her way right to the
top grades of the AD function
group
through
internal
competitions (Art. 29 SR) and the
certification procedure (Art. 45a
SR).
AST
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
AD
Career
perspectives
of
a
Temporary Agent (TA): very
attractive
A TA can find his/her way right to
the top grades of the AD function
group
through
internal
competitions (Art. 29 SR).
TA
LA Group I
Career perspectives of a Local
Agent (LA): attractive
A LA recruited at group V level can
find his/her way right to the top
group I level through the
reclassification procedure (Art. 4
FWR) and internal recruitment
possibilities.
LA Group V
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
EU’s Human Resources Policy in respect of CA (Analysis limited to FG IV):
• According to Art. 3, Par. 10, Com. d of Annex IV of the General Provisions for
Implementing (GIPs) Article 79(2) of the CEOSEC, members of the contract staff
shall be graded as follows:
Length of professional experience
Grade
Between 1 year and 7 years
13
Between 8 years and 21 years
14
21 years or more
16
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
EU’s Human Resources Policy in respect of CA (Analysis limited to FG IV):
• According to Art. 9 of Annex VII of the GIPs, the desired average
reclassification period for each grade is:
Function Group Grade Average number of years spent in the
grade before reclassification into the
next grade
IV
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A CA needs on average 27 years to get here
17
between 6 and 10
16
between 5 and 7
15
between 4 and 6
14
between 3 and 5
13
between 3 and 5
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
EU’s Human Resources Policy in respect of CA (Analysis limited to FG IV):
CA salary grids:
Grade
1st Step (Euro)
13
3,145.45
14
3,558.9
15
4,026.7
16
4,555.99
17
5,154.85
18
5,832.42
Difference in 27 Years is
2,686.97
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
EU’s Human Resources Policy in respect of Officials:
• According to latest competition notices, professional experience required for
the following AD function groups is:
Minimum Length of
experience
Function Group
0 years
AD 5
6 years
AD 7
9 years
AD 8
16 years
AD 11
• According to Art 45 of the SR, a minimum of only two years is required to
be considered for promotion to the next higher grade in the function group to
which the official belongs.
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
EU’s Human Resources Policy in respect of Officials:
Salary grids for Officials and Temporary Agents:
Function Group
1st Step (Euro)
AD 5
4,349.59
AD 6
4,921.28
AD 7
5,568.11
AD 8
6,299.95
AD 9
7,127.99
AD 10
8,064.86
AD 11
9,124.87
Difference in 17 Years is
4,775.28
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
Contract Agents FG IV 3a
Equal qualifications, equal classification? No
Equal job, equal pay? No
Respectable professional career? No
Equal living conditions? No
Equal expatriation discomfort? No
CONSEQUENCES
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
Salary entry levels CA vs Official based on applicable regulations (see
slides 12, 14 and 16) :
Entry level
Experience
required
Salary
1st Step (Euro)
CA FG 13
1 year
3,145.45
Official AD 5
0 years
4,349.59
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
Salary perspectives CA vs Official based on respective average
reclassification and promotion periods (see slides 14 and 16):
Reclassification or
promotion timeframe
Time required Salary difference
based on
1st Step (Euro)
average
period of each
CA FG and Art
45 for officials
CA FG IV from Grade 13 to
Grade 18
27 years
2,686.97
Official from AD 5 to AD 11
17 years
4,775.28
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
Organizational layout inconsistencies CA vs Official:
1. Based on the entry requirements and career perspectives of both
categories, it is very likely that an Official has less experience than
the CA he/she is supervising!!!??? The most bizarre scenario
happens when a neo-laureate AD 5 with no experience acts as a
direct superior of a multi annual experienced CA.
2. Contract staff in function group IV, before renewal of a contract for
an indefinite period, are required to demonstrate the ability to work in
a third language while Officials only need to fulfill such requirement
for promotion purposes. Such requirement not only reinforces the
assumption that CA are very likely more qualified than AD5 officials,
but introduces higher requirements for a CA indefinite contract
compared to an Official’s indefinite contract.
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
Organizational layout inconsistencies CA vs Official:
3. AST Officials with less qualification requirements (level of postsecondary education Art. 5(3) SR) supervise CA FG IV and perform
validation functions denied to CAs;
4. It is common and a matter of fact that CAs act as Head of Section ad
interim, manage sub-offices in Delegations, perform same tasks as
AD or AST colleagues and go well beyond their non-core
“administrative, advisory, linguistic and equivalent technical tasks”.
Obviously such additional responsibilities and competencies
assigned to a cheaper staff category represent an undisputable
windfall for the EU;
5. All statutory staff categories have an opportunity to take on a
professional career, except CAs. Not only, CAs are denied access to
internal competitions (Art. 29 SR), a possibility unreasonably allowed
to TA;
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
Financial inconsistencies between CA and Official:
1. In substance the SR are adopting double standards, example:
•
•
•
•
•
A CA FG IV G 13 with 7 years of experience corresponds to a basic
salary level of Euro 3,145.45;
A AD7 official with 6 years of experience corresponds to a basic
salary level of Euro 5,568.11;
On average, it will take a CA FG IV G13 27 years to earn (Euro
5,832.42) what an AD5 will earn after just 5 years of service;
A CA FG IV with between 8 and 21 years of experience corresponds
to an entry level of Grade 14 (see slide 15), which equals to a salary
level of Euro 3,558.90;
An Official with 16 years of experience corresponds to an entry level
of AD 11 (see slide 16) which equals to a salary level of Euro 9,124.87
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
Financial inconsistencies between CA and Official:
2. Allowances
•
Allowances such as Living Conditions Allowance, Expatriation
Allowance, Household Allowance calculated on a percentage of the
staff basic salary (Annex VII SR) should be converted into a lump
sum as the living conditions, expatriation discomforts and
household needs do not depend of the amount of a person’s salary
level;
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
Contract Agents FG IV 3a
CONCLUSIONS &
RECOMMENDATIONS
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
Conclusions:
1. The EU’s HR policy reform, which introduced the category of CAs,
was obviously inspired by the only pressing need to save funds. 9
years later, the EU institutions can not deny that such short-sighted
and monochromatic policy has, besides significant savings,
introduced a number of unjustified and intolerable incongruities
among different staff categories.
The EU has to abandon its current source of policy inspiration and
recognize the fact that a respectable HR policy can not neglect
essential elements such as:
• A professional fulfilling career for every staff member;
• A professional career based on seniority levels or objective
meritocratic assessments equal to every staff member;
• Equal opportunities to all staff members;
• Equal job, equal pay principle;
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
Recommendation:
1. The EU should abolish the wording “under the supervision of
officials or temporary staff” in the duty description of Art. 80 of the
CEOS as the current exploitation of CA is in violation of the
provisions set forth in such Art.;
2. The EU should introduce a provision allowing CA access to
internal competitions;
3. The EU should introduce a provision putting Temporary Agents
and CA on an equal footing;
4. The EU should reduce the manifest and unreasonably high
remuneration differences between TA/Officials and CA, not
necessarily by increasing CA salary levels;
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
Recommendation:
8. The EU should introduce a provision establishing a rotation system
and the possibility for CA to work in HQs;
9. Given the aforementioned discrepancies (lack of career
perspectives, job insecurity, lower salary levels compared to equal
job, etc.) the imminent financial savings measures should not affect
all staff across the board in the same way:
• Given the higher salary of officials, the cut of lump sums (travel),
the reduction of leave days (6), the increase of working hours
(40) will definitely have a greater impact on CAs. CAs by
definition already represent the result of the biggest HR savings
measure put in place so far by the EU. If the EU considers CAs a
“different” staff category, it should keep such consideration even for
it’s smart savings exercise.
• Allowances such as Living Conditions Allowance, Expatriation
Allowance, Household Allowance calculated on a percentage of
staff basic salary (Annex VII SR) should be converted into a lump
sum as the living conditions, expatriation discomforts and
household needs do not depend on the amount of a person’s
salary level;
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The European Union’s low cost Officials
Recommendation:
9. Such measures may represent significant savings, as the
allowance amounts currently received by CA (being considered
reasonable) would be allocated to officials as well.
10.The EU should introduce a provision abolishing the third
language requirement as a pre-requisite for CA indefinite
duration contract;
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