Rule No. 1234 laying down the conditions of recruitment and employment of locally recruited staff members working in Council of Europe Duty Stations located outside of France
III.1 Conditions of recruitment
III.2 Conditions of employment
2.2 Physical Ability and medical examination
2.5 Effect of sickness, maternity/paternity
APPENDIX: List of indicative job profiles for contracts of locally recruited staff members
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe,
HAVING REGARD to the Council of Europe Staff Regulations adopted by Resolution Res(2021)6 of the Committee of Ministers on 22 September 2021 at their 1412th meeting, as amended,
CONSIDERING that rules should be laid down concerning the conditions of recruitment and employment of locally recruited staff members working in Council of Europe Duty Stations located outside of France,
HAVING CONSULTED the Staff Committee in accordance with Article 5 of the Regulations on Staff Participation (Appendix I to the Staff Regulations adopted by Resolution Res(81)20 of the Committee of Ministers on 25 September 1981 and subsequently revised on numerous occasions),
DECIDES:
1. This rule applies to all locally recruited staff members working in Council of Europe Duty Stations located outside of France.
2. A “locally recruited staff member” is a person already present in the host country at the time of recruitment, whatever the reason for such presence (permanent residence, studies, training, former employment of whatever length, family or personal reasons), who is engaged for a limited period of time to work for the Organisation, under the authority of the Secretary General, on the basis of a contract drawn up in accordance with this Rule.
3. “Host country” is the country where a Duty Station is based.
4. The Code of Conduct, the Policy on Respect and Dignity in the Council of Europe, the Speak Up: Council of Europe Policy on reporting wrongdoing and protection from retaliation and the following provisions of the Staff Regulations and of the Staff Rules, as in force on 1 January 2023, shall apply to members of staff referred to in Article 2 above:
§ Article 1 of the Staff Regulations on Duties, Obligations and Privileges, with the exception of Articles 1.1, first sentence, and 1.2, and the corresponding Staff Rule;
§ Article 2 of the Staff Regulations on Rights and the corresponding Staff Rule;
§ Article 13 of the Staff Regulations on Staff Participation and the corresponding Staff Rule;
§ Article 4.2 of the Staff Regulations on Entry into Service, except for the provision on citizenship;
§ Articles 410, 420 and 430 of the Staff Rule on Entry into service, except for the provision on citizenship;
§ Articles 11.1.3 and 11.2 of the Staff Regulations on Expenses borne by the Organisation and Articles 1130 and 1140 of the corresponding Staff Rule;
§ Articles 7.5 and 7.6 of the Staff Regulations on Salaries and Allowances, and Article 7110 of the corresponding Staff Rule;
§ Articles 8.1, 8.2 and 8.6 of the Staff Regulations on Working hours and leave, and the corresponding Staff Rule;
Articles 5.1 and 5.2 of the Staff Regulations on Career Development and Articles 510 and 520 of the corresponding Staff Rule;
§ Article 12 of the Staff Regulations on Discipline and the corresponding Staff Rule;
§ Articles 14 of the Staff Regulations on Grievance Procedures and the corresponding Staff Rule.
4 bis. The following privileges and immunities provided for in Article 18 of the General Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the Council of Europe, referred to in Article 1.13 of the Staff Regulations, shall be granted to locally recruited staff members in the interests of the Council:
§ Immunity from legal process in respect of words spoken or written and all acts performed by them in carrying out their tasks and duties within the limit of their authority (Article 18.a);
§ Exemption from taxation on salary (Article 18.b).
Following negotiations pertaining to Duty Stations in host countries which are not Council of Europe member states, the Secretary General may decide, where appropriate and on a case-by-case basis, that one or both of these exemptions shall not be granted to locally recruited staff members of certain Duty Stations in such countries.
5. The employment contracts of locally recruited staff members shall be concluded for specified periods of time. They may be renewed as long as the Duty Station exists, but renewal shall not confer entitlement to further renewal or to conversion into another type of contract.
6. Unless otherwise stipulated in the contract, if the length of the initial employment contract is from one month to six months, the trial period shall be for one week in respect of each month covered by the employment contract. For longer contracts, the first two months of the work shall be regarded as a trial period. During the trial period the employment contract may be terminated by either party without prior notice.
7. The employment contracts shall terminate without prior notice on the date stipulated therein or on the last day of the month in which the staff member reaches the upper age limit for employment of 65 years
8. The employment contracts of locally recruited staff members may be terminated by the Secretary General:
a. without prior notice, where the termination has been imposed as a disciplinary measure in the manner prescribed by the provisions Article 12 of the Staff Regulations on Discipline and the corresponding Staff Rule;
b. without prior notice, if they knowingly made false statements in their application for employment or at the time of their engagement;
c. with one month’s notice and after a written warning, for manifest unsuitability or unsatisfactory work on their part;
d. with three months’ prior notice, for a lack of available financing.
9. In the cases referred to in paragraph 8 b. and c. above the reasoned decision to terminate an employment contract shall be taken after the locally recruited staff member concerned has been heard by his or her hierarchical superior.
10. Employment contracts up to 12 months may be terminated by staff members with one month’s prior notice. In the event of a contract being extended beyond a period of 12 months, the period of prior notice shall be three months.
11. A contract of a locally recruited staff member may be offered by the Director of Human Resources, with the agreement of the Head of the Major Administrative Entity concerned, to persons within the definition laid down in Article 2 who are selected on the basis of the qualifications and experience required for the job for which they are being considered.
12. A candidate may be engaged on such a contract only if he or she is a national of a member state of the Organisation or of the host country.
13. The aim of recruitment shall be to employ staff of the highest ability, efficiency and integrity.
14. The offer of employment shall set out the various items of remuneration as well as any deductions for social insurance etc. It shall also specify the duration of the contract, the grade corresponding to the duties to be performed by the locally recruited staff member (in accordance with the list of standard duties appearing in the Appendix hereto), the working hours and all other conditions of employment.
15. The candidate may be engaged only if he or she meets the physical requirements for performance of the contractual duties and presents a medical certificate attesting to that fact, written in one of the two official languages of the Organisation.
16. Remuneration shall comprise a basic salary and, where appropriate, one or more of the following indemnities, allowances or supplements, payable on the conditions set out in Article 7 of the Staff Regulations on Salaries and Allowances and the corresponding Staff Rule:
§ the allowance in respect of dependent children or the dependent child supplement, except for the additional supplement for single parent families provided for in the Staff Rule on Salaries and Allowances;
§ the indemnity for disabled child or the supplements for disabled or severely disabled child.
Locally recruited staff members will be required to provide the necessary documentary evidence (translated into one of the official languages of the Organisation), as well as a declaration on their honour indicating what allowances in respect of dependent or disabled children they receive from any other source.
Any such amounts will be deducted from the indemnities, allowances and supplements payable under this article.
17. The salaries of locally recruited staff members shall be based on the scales of the Co-ordinated Organisations. Where such scales do not exist, salaries shall be based on UN scales for the General Service Category in the country concerned, or if not on any other equivalent scale.
The basic salary shall be fixed by reference to the first step of the grade corresponding to the duties of the locally recruited staff member, who shall be entitled to salary-scale increments in accordance with the table below, provided that their performance and conduct as evidenced by their assessment reports have proven satisfactory.
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Steps 2 to 7 |
Steps 8 to 11 |
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Grade A2 |
After twenty-four months of service in the step immediately below. |
After forty-eight months of service in the step immediately below. |
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Steps 2 to 8 |
Steps 9 to 11 |
|
|
Categories B and C all grades |
After twenty-four months of service in the step immediately below. |
After forty-eight months of service in the step immediately below. |
Advancement shall take effect on one of the step advancement dates. The step advancement dates are 1st January, 1st April, 1st July and 1st October. For staff members whose employment did not commence on a step advancement date, advancement shall take effect on the nearest forthcoming step advancement date to the date on which they were appointed.
The Director of Human Resources, with the agreement of the Head of the Major Administrative Entity concerned, may, in exceptional circumstances, and having stated the reasons for this decision, allow additional seniority in the grade on initial recruitment in order to take account of the staff member’s training, relevant experience and/or specific responsibilities.
The remuneration shall be adjusted in accordance with the development of the reference scale. Should there be any retroactive effect it may not extend beyond the financial year preceding the change in the reference scale.
The Director of Human Resources, with the agreement of the Head of the Major Administrative Entity concerned, may lay down special remuneration scales for locally recruited staff members whose duties cannot be assimilated to any of those listed in the Appendix hereto.
18. Remuneration shall be paid:
a. in the currency of the applicable scale of the Co-ordinated Organisations; or
b. in Euro where it is based on a United Nations salary scale or equivalent. If the reference salary is in a currency other than the Euro, the relevant conversion rate shall be fixed by the Secretary General once a year in order to limit fluctuations in salaries. Should such a conversion result in a reduction in remuneration, the Secretary General may decide to maintain the previous remuneration as long as is necessary.
19. Remuneration shall be paid monthly at the end of each calendar month.
The above-mentioned forms of remuneration are fixed amounts and are exclusive of all bonuses or allowances.
Compensation for overtime shall be secured through the overall adjustment of working hours and/or by the granting of compensatory time-off by the locally recruited staff member’s Head of Office.
20. Locally recruited staff members shall be affiliated to the Council of Europe’s compulsory insurance scheme (CEMSIS) and a compulsory pension scheme established by the Council of Europe for this purpose, unless agreements with the host State provide otherwise.
21. The Council of Europe shall inform all staff that their employment with the Council of Europe is not subject to any national unemployment insurance scheme or any similar private scheme.
22. Locally recruited staff members’ contributions to the social insurance schemes shall be deducted from their salaries.
[Deleted]
23. Locally recruited staff members shall be entitled to annual leave in the same conditions as permanent staff. They must use up their leave entitlement before the final expiry of their employment contracts, and to this end the Head of Office must ensure that they are able to do so.
24.a. Locally recruited staff members shall be entitled to short periods of special leave granted on the same grounds and for the same periods as for permanent staff. They shall also have the same overall entitlement as staff members employed in France with regard to public holidays and other non-working days.
b. Locally recruited staff members shall be entitled to special leave after completing six months of service.
c. Notwithstanding the provision of paragraph b, the entitlement to special leave on the following grounds shall take effect on the first day of employment:
§ birth or adoption of a child,
§ death of a child,
§ death of a spouse or partner,
§ death of a parent, brother or sister.
25. Locally recruited staff members shall be entitled to special leave to care for sick children in the same conditions as permanent staff.
26. Locally recruited staff members may be sent on an official journey within the context of the duties assigned to them and relevant rules and instructions on official journeys shall apply.
27. The rules governing assessment of permanent staff shall apply to locally recruited staff members.
28. Every employment contract of locally recruited staff members shall include the following notice:
“It is brought to your attention that
§ this employment contract will terminate without prior notice on the stipulated date;
§ your employment with the Council of Europe is not subject to any national unemployment insurance scheme or any similar private scheme;
§ any renewal of the employment contract will not confer entitlement to further renewal or to conversion into another type of contract.”
29. This Rule was adopted on 15 December 2005, entered into force on 1 January 2006 and was revised with the effective date of 1 January 2023.
Strasbourg, 30 December 2022
The Secretary General
(signed)
Marija Pejčinović Burić
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Reference grade |
Job profiles (non-exhaustive) |
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C2 |
Receptionist |
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C3 |
Driver/Office Clerk |
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C4 |
Security Agent |
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C5 |
Conference or Office Technician |
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B1 |
Project Support Assistant Office Support Assistant |
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B2 |
Office Assistant Project Assistant |
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B3 |
(Project) Financial assistant / Linguistic assistant / IT assistant / Logistics assistant |
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B4 |
Project Officer/ Communication Officer / Senior Financial Assistant |
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B5 |
Senior Project Officer |
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B6 |
Project Specialist |
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A1/A2 |
Programme/Project Manager Policy Advisor Legal Advisor |