Brussels, 28.4.2004
C(2004) 1597

COMMISSION DECISION

measures concerning leave on personal grounds for officials and unpaid leave for temporary and contract staff of the European Communities

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Staff Regulations of Officials and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Communities as laid down by Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 ⁽¹⁾, and in particular Articles 15, 37 and 40 of the Staff Regulations and Articles 11, 17 and 88a of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants,

Having regard to the Commission decision of 28.4.2004 on outside activities and offices,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

• Article 1 - Conditions for granting leave on personal grounds
• Article 2 - Duration
• Article 3 - Professional activity
• Article 4 - Link with the Commission
• Article 5 - Career development
• Article 6 - Vacancy of posts
• Article 7 - Extension
• Article 8 - Return to work
• Article 9 - Dismissal
• Article 10 - Secondment
• Article 11 - Temporary staff
• Article 12 - Contract staff
• Article 13
  
   

Article 1
Conditions for granting leave on personal grounds

Leave on personal grounds may be granted by the Appointing Authority at the request of the official concerned. The Appointing Authority shall take a decision on granting that leave after consulting the applicant’s immediate superiors, having examined the request in detail and taken into account all relevant factors, in particular the reason for the leave, its duration and the immediate needs of the service. The official shall be notified of his or her precise obligations when the decision is taken to grant or extend leave on personal grounds.

Article 2
Duration

1. The duration of leave on personal grounds shall not be less than one month. However, for major family reasons, leave on personal grounds may be granted for a period of 15 days if there are no other possibilities of reducing working time (parental leave, family leave or part time working). Without prejudice to paragraph 2, the duration of the leave provided for in the Staff Regulations shall be restricted to one year, extendable several times for one year. The total duration of leave on personal grounds may not exceed fifteen years over an official’s whole career.
   
   For the purposes of calculating those fifteen years, periods of leave on personal grounds granted and – if applicable – extended shall not be taken into account for:
    
   • accompanying his or her spouse, if the spouse is an official or other servant of the Communities and is required under Article 20 of the Staff Regulations to establish their usual residence at such a distance from the official’s place of employment that establishing the conjugal residence there would entail having to disregard Article 20 of the Staff Regulations;
      
   • bringing up a child who is considered dependent within the meaning of Article 2(2) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations and who suffers from a serious mental or physical handicap recognised by the institution’s medical officer and requiring constant supervision or care.
      
   • an official who has been elected or appointed to public office.
      
2. The period of leave on personal grounds granted to an official elected or appointed to public office shall be restricted to the duration of the term of office.
   
   Other than in exceptional cases (serious illness of a close relative, election to public office, etc.), leave on personal grounds shall start on the 1st or 16th of the month and end on the 15th or last day of the month.

Article 3
Professional activity

An official who, during leave on personal grounds, envisages engaging in a professional activity or changing from the professional activity already authorised, must obtain prior authorisation from the Appointing Authority in accordance with the rules laid down by the Commission decision of 28.4.2004 on outside activities and offices.

Article 4
Link with the Commission

During leave on personal grounds, the official shall maintain a link with the department of origin for the purposes of approving a request for extending that leave or for engaging in a professional activity. If, during leave on personal grounds, reorganisation takes place entailing transfer of the official’s former tasks to another Directorate General or department, the official shall come under the new Directorate General or department to which the tasks have been assigned.

Article 5
Career development

In accordance with Article 40(3) of the Staff Regulations, during leave on personal grounds an official shall not be entitled to advancement to a higher step or promotion in grade. In addition, a pro rata shall be applied to the merit mark contained in the career development reports drawn up pursuant to the general implementing provisions of Article 43 of the Staff Regulations where those reports cover a period during which the official has been on leave on personal grounds. The rules for calculating the pro rata shall be as set out in Annex II to the general implementing provisions of Article 45 of the Staff Regulations.

Article 6
Vacancy of posts

A post which is unoccupied following departure on leave on personal grounds for a period of six months or more shall be considered vacant from the first day of that leave on personal grounds.

Article 7
Extension

Extension of leave on personal grounds must be applied for by the official two months before expiry of the initial period and may be granted by the Appointing Authority, provided that the conditions set out in Article 2 are met.

Article 8
Return to work

At the latest three months before the end of leave on personal grounds, and if the official has not already submitted an application to return to work, the Directorate General for Personnel and Administration shall contact the official and request a written notification of his/her wish to return to work, accompanied by an updated curriculum vitae which includes details of any professional activity engaged in and new knowledge acquired while on leave. In order to facilitate the return to work and the identification of the appropriate post, the Director General for Personnel and Administration shall take the measures necessary for the official, on expiry of the period of leave on personal grounds, to return to work in his or her Directorate General of origin in the first vacant post in his or her function group that corresponds to his or her abilities. The official’s application shall be examined as a priority before any publication of the posts to be filled. Only if the official returning to work does not possess the abilities required for the post to be filled shall the vacant post be published. If no post corresponding to his/her abilities is available for the official to return to work at the end of the period of leave on personal grounds, the Directorate General for Personnel and Administration shall, subject to the budgetary resources available, place a vacant post at the disposal of the official’s directorate general or department of origin for a period of 12 months at most. At the end of that period at the latest, the directorate general or department concerned shall reassign the official to a post within its allocation and return to the Directorate General for Personnel and Administration the post placed at its disposal.

The official may also apply for posts corresponding to his or her profile in other directorates general or departments and the Directorate General for Personnel and Administration shall provide technical assistance for making that application.

Article 9
Dismissal

An official who has asked to return to work may refuse the first offer of a post corresponding to his or her function group; in the event of a second refusal, the official may be dismissed after consultation of the Joint Committee. The same applies to an official who has reached a cumulative total of fifteen years of leave on personal grounds or who can no longer claim the exemptions set out in Article 2 and who does not apply to return to work.

Article 10
Secondment

An official on leave on personal grounds who is offered a secondment in the interests of the service shall return to work in his or her directorate general or department of origin or in the Commission department most specifically involved with that secondment. The official’s rights to advancement in step and eligibility for promotion shall recommence from the date on which secondment takes effect.

An official on leave on personal grounds who is then seconded at his or her own request shall enjoy the right to advancement in step from the date on which secondment takes effect. If the official thus seconded wishes to return to work at the institution within the six month period provided for in Article 39 of the Staff Regulations and if an appropriate post is not available in his/her directorate general or department of origin, the Directorate General for Personnel and Administration shall make a post available subject to the same conditions as at Article 8 above.

At the end of the secondment period, the official shall either:

• apply to return to work in accordance with Article 8 above;
   
• apply for a new period of leave on personal grounds, provided that the conditions for granting it are met;
   
• tender his or her resignation.

Article 11
Temporary staff

1. Temporary staff may be granted unpaid leave, subject to the conditions set out in Article 1 of this Decision.
    
2. In accordance with Article 17 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, the duration of unpaid leave requested by a temporary staff member shall not exceed one quarter of the length of time already worked by the servant or three months if the servant’s seniority is less than four years or twelve months in other cases; such leave may not exceed twelve months over the whole of his or her career. For a temporary staff member on a fixed term contract, the period of unpaid leave may not exceed the duration of the employment contract still to run.
    
3. If the temporary staff member requests unpaid leave to serve a term in public office, that leave shall be restricted to the duration of the term of office and shall not exceed the duration of the employment contract still to run.
    
4. Article 3 shall apply by analogy if the temporary staff member requests unpaid leave in order to engage in a professional activity.
    
5. At the end of unpaid leave, the temporary staff member shall return to work in the post occupied before departure. Where a temporary staff member does not take up his duties again at the end of unpaid leave, his absence shall be regarded as unjustified and the person authorised to conclude contracts shall terminate the contract pursuant to Article 47 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants.

Article 12
Contract staff

Article 11 shall apply mutatis mutandis to all contract staff.

Article 13

This Decision shall enter into force on 1 May 2004. The Commission Decision of 5 September 1988 concerning leave on personal grounds is hereby repealed.Article 23

Done at Brussels, 28.4.2004.

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Footnotes

⁽¹⁾ OJ L 56, 4.3.1968, as last amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 723/2004 (OJ L 124, 27.4.2004, p. 1).