TRANSITIONAL MEASURES TO BRING EXISTING BASIC SALARIES INTO LINE WITH THE NEW PAY AND CAREER SCALES (MULTIPLICATION FACTOR)

The following information concerns those officials recruited before 1st May 2004

The transitional measures provided for in the Staff Regulations to bring existing basic salaries in line with the pay and career scale in force since 1st May 2004 have lately given rise to a lot of queries.

Some staff members recruited before 1st May 2004, but promoted in 2005, expected to advance in step pursuant to Article 44 of the Staff Regulations, but then remained in the first step of their grade. Likewise, others have seen their multiplication factor reduced to one and have directly advanced to step 3, 4 or 5.

The purpose of this Administrative Notice is to explain how the pay of staff recruited before the entry into force of the revised Staff Regulations on 1st May 2004 will be progressively brought into line with the new pay and career scales.

You can find a list with most frequently asked questions and answers at: http://www.cc.cec/pers_admin/promotions/keyconcept_en.html#6

Why is there a Multiplication Factor?

The revised Staff Regulations created a new career system, moving from categories A, B, C and D to the AD and AST function groups. As you know, there has been a phased transition to the new career system. From 1st May 2006 all staff could see that their grades were renamed. The grade C*4 became for example AST 4, or the grade A*11 became AD 11.

This transition affects not just your grade, but also the pay scale by which you are paid. If you look, on the upper left-hand side of your pay slip, you will see that your 'multiplication factor' is indicated.

At the end of the transition period, which varies for each official, basic salaries are brought into line with the new pay scale so that all officials in the same grade and step will receive the same basic pay.

Your pay will therefore be progressively inserted into the new pay scale (as provided for by Article 7(7) of Annex XIII on transitional measures of the Staff Regulations).

These transitional measures initially served the purpose of ensuring that your basic pay would not be reduced as a result of the entry into force of the revised Staff Regulations on 1st May 2004 thanks to the multiplication factor. Equally, they foresee that your basic pay will become at the end of the transitional period equal to that provided for in the new pay scale. Once this happens, your multiplication will be 1.

What is the Multiplication Factor?

On 1st May 2004, basic salaries remained unchanged, but were instead calculated by reference to the new pay and career scale.

The multiplication factor, as calculated on 1st May 2004, expresses the relationship between the salary you received on that date and the salary provided for by the new salary grid ("reference salary").

What will change?

Until you are promoted for the first time under the revised Staff Regulations (after 1st May 2004), your basic salary will remain below the reference salary for your grade and step in the new salary grid.

When you are promoted, the relationship between your new basic salary (based on the percentage increase you receive) and the reference salary will change. You will have a new multiplication factor. Your basic salary will now need to be brought into line with the reference salary. This will be done in one of two ways:

For officials with a multiplication factor lower than 1

For the vast majority of staff whose basic salary is below the reference salary provided for by the new scale after their first promotion, you will receive automatic salary increases every two years while remaining in the first step of that grade, until your basic salary reaches the reference salary for that grade's first step. With each two-yearly salary increase, the recalculated multiplication factor will approach 1.0. Once that point is reached, you will continue to progress in salary and in step.

Chart available as for a better visualisation.

For officials with a multiplication factor higher than 1

For another smaller group of officials, however, promotion under the new career system will mean that their new basic salary is higher than the reference salary, resulting in a multiplication factor greater than 1. In order to ensure that at the end of the transitional period all staff in the same grade and step receive the same basic pay, the multiplication factor has to be reduced to one.

This approach has been adopted by all Community institutions. The goal is to ensure that similar situations are not treated differently. If officials benefit from a multiplication factor higher than one, a relatively small group of officials would, without reason, receive a basic salary higher than that of the majority of colleagues in the same grade and step.

In order to avoid such a preferential treatment, two years after promotion, on the occasion of the advancement in step, the part of your multiplication factor which exceeds 1 will be converted into seniority in the step. This could mean that you will advance directly to step 2, 3, 4 or 5, depending on the value of your base salary.

The information about your new seniority in the step is available to you in your Sysper2 file under "Career history", index card "Official/Temp.Ag.", section "History of grades".

Those of you promoted in the 2005 exercise and who have a new multiplication factor higher than 1.0 have been informed by letter.

Chart available as for a better visualisation.

Commitment by the Appointing Authority regarding officials subject to a multiplication factor higher than 1

The Appointing Authority has received several complaints pursuant to Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations concerning the way in which the Administration is applying the provisions of Article 7 of Annex XIII to the Staff Regulations in situations where the multiplication factor has become higher than one. Namely:

• The first promotion after the entry into force of the revised Staff Regulations on 1 May 2004 leads to an increase in basic monthly salary to be calculated on the basis of the table contained in Article 7(5) of Annex XIII Staff Regulations;
   

• This calculation gives rise to a multiplication factor which is greater than one;
   

• Pursuant to Article 7(7) of Annexe XIII Staff Regulations, when two years after the first promotion the automatic advancement in step takes place, that part of the multiplication factor which is higher than one is converted into seniority in step, so that the official is placed in step 2, 3, 4 or 5 of his grade, in certain cases subject to an additional seniority in step.

Recently, the first appeal relating to this issue was lodged before the Civil Service Tribunal (case F-22/07, L v Commission).

In order to avoid the proliferation of complaints and appeals, the Appointing Authority will apply the interpretation of the provisions of Article 7 of Annex XIII of the Staff Regulations by the Tribunal to all officials with respect to whom the Administration has applied those provisions in the manner described above, regardless of whether they have or have not objected by lodging a complaint pursuant to Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations and/or an appeal to the Civil Service Tribunal.