2011 APPRAISAL AND PROMOTION EXERCISE

Reference period: 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2010

• GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF APPRAISAL
• GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF PROMOTION
• THE APPRAISAL AND PROMOTION EXERCISE

The appraisal exercise aims to assess the yearly individual performance, through a substantial dialogue with the jobholder, setting objectives and effective work planning. This exercise is complementary to the ongoing feedback given during the year and aims to contribute to the optimisation of performance and to the future development of the jobholder's career. The award of promotion points is directly related to the appraisal of the performance that has been demonstrated during the reference period.

The 2011 exercise has been launched on the basis of the general provisions for implementing Article 43 and Article 45 of the Staff Regulations (DGE), adopted on 18 June 2008, as amended by Commission Decisions C(2010)2957 and C(2010)2958 of 6 and 7 May 2010.

Nevertheless, DG HR drew on experience from the 2009 and 2010 appraisal and promotion exercises and took due note of the comments submitted by the various stakeholders.

Therefore substantial modifications of the DGE are likely to be introduced for the future exercises, in close cooperation with the social partners and stakeholders.
 

1. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF APPRAISAL
   
   The performance of Commission staff is evaluated every year. This evaluation is the subject of an individual report – the appraisal report – which is produced using the Sysper2 IT application.
   
   
   Who has to be appraised?
   
   All officials and temporary staff (jobholders) who were in active employment¹ or on secondment in the interests of the service for a continuous period of at least one month in 2010 have to be appraised. Contract staff are appraised under separate rules.
   
   Exceptions:

• A report does not have to be drafted for jobholders who left the EU Institutions in 2010 or who are going to leave in 2011, unless they request one from their reporting officer in writing.
   
• This annual exercise does not affect those holding posts of Director-General or equivalent, or Director or equivalent; they will be assessed according to special rules.

Tools for the appraisal

Objectives and assessment criteria

The reporting officers must make sure that objectives are set for each official and member of temporary staff, because these serve as the basis for assessing their efficiency. The objectives must be consistent with the work programme of the DG, the unit and the jobholder's job description. They must be accompanied by criteria for assessing the results and an explanation of when they will be considered to have been met.


Common appraisal standards

The common appraisal standards which must be applied in all Commission departments were published in Administrative Notice No (IA No 22-2008) and have been used from the 2009 appraisal exercise onwards.

The standards will be used to assess efficiency, abilities and conduct in the service. Their aim is to harmonise staff appraisals within a DG, to facilitate the dialogue between the reporting officer and the jobholder and to ensure that appraisals are comparable across all DGs. With the agreement of DG HR, DGs may, if necessary, supplement the standards at the beginning of the reference period in order to cover specific aspects related to their work. In that case they must be published for the staff of that DG at the beginning of the reference period.


What period does the appraisal exercise cover?

The reference period runs from 1 January to 31 December 2010.

If the jobholder or the reporting officer moves during the reference period, not less than four months after the period covered by the preceding report, the reporting officer for that period shall make comments relating to the efficiency, ability and conduct in the service of the jobholder via Sysper2 and the jobholder may comment on them. These comments shall be taken into account by the reporting officer responsible for the annual report².


The appraisal report and the five performance levels

The appraisal report brings together the information relating to the jobholder's individual performance during the reference period.

There is a section for the jobholder to insert a self-assessment.

The report itself is divided into three sections, in which the reporting officer comments on:

• Efficiency: assessed in the light of the individual objectives and assessment criteria set for each jobholder at the beginning of the reference period. To what extent has the jobholder attained the objectives, taking into account the work situation? The common appraisal standards for organising, planning and performing work and ensuring quality must also be used.
   
• Abilities: assessed on the basis of the common appraisal standards relating to communication, negotiation skills, analysing problems and applying solutions and awareness of the working environment. In the case of jobholders in management positions, their skills in leadership, people management and financial resources management must also be appraised.
   
• Conduct in the service : describes the jobholder's behaviour in the working environment. The common appraisal standards cover aspects such as the ability to work in a team, service culture, commitment to the job, personal development and leadership.

The comments are summarised by one of the five performance levels below:

IA	® The jobholder's performance constantly exceeded expectations*.
IB	® The jobholder's performance frequently exceeded expectations*.
II	® The jobholder's performance fully met expectations*.
III	® The jobholder's performance partly met expectations*.
IV	® The jobholder's performance failed to meet expectations*.
* in terms of efficiency, abilities and conduct in the service.

Maximum percentages apply to each DG for performance level IA (8% of officials in each grade) and IB (22% of officials in each grade). The result of applying these percentages is systematically rounded up to the nearest whole number, so a second check is carried out at the level of each function group to ensure that the percentages are adhered to.


Assessing the demonstration of potential for the purpose of the certification procedure

When completing their self-assessment, AST function-group officials with no career restriction who wish to apply for the certification procedure must ask their reporting officer to fill in the section marked "Potential".

The "potential" section of the appraisal report only has to be filled in if the jobholder explicitly requests it in his self-assessment.

Using a drop-down menu, the reporting officer indicates what administrator level tasks the jobholder took on in the course of 2010 (see guidelines on the website "certification, exercise 2010"). Where appropriate, the reporting officer will indicate any occasions on which the jobholder has shown the potential to become a good administrator through his efficiency, ability or conduct in the service.

It will be up to the countersigning officer to decide, on the basis of the reporting officer’s comments, whether or not the jobholder has shown the potential to become a good administrator.


What are the implementing rules?

The general provisions for implementing Article 43 of the Staff Regulations, adopted by the Commission on 18 June 2008, as amended by Commission Decision C(2010)2957 of 6 May 2010, will apply to the annual appraisal reports covering the year 2010 for officials and temporary staff paid from both the administrative budget and the research budget of the Commission.

For personnel presently assigned to the external service of the Commission, the Commission decision of 19 December 2008 on the rules for the appraisal and promotion of staff working in the External Service of the Commission equally applies, at the exception of the definition of actors (see "actors" title).
 

2. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF PROMOTION
   
   A promotion exercise is organised each year. It entails awarding promotion points and drawing up a list of the officials promoted.
   
   Who takes part in the promotion exercise?
   The promotion exercise applies to all officials paid from appropriations in the general budget, with the exception of grades AST11, AST7/C and AST5/D, and officials in grades higher than AD13.
   
   There is no promotion exercise for temporary staff or for contract staff (special rules apply to the reclassification exercise for some temporary and contract staff).
   
   
   Promotion points and criteria for awarding them
   
   Officials may be awarded:

• 10, 11 or 12 promotion points if their performance corresponds to performance level IA;
   
• 7, 8 or 9 promotion points if their performance corresponds to performance level IB;
   
• 4, 5 or 6 promotion points if their performance corresponds to performance level II;
   
• 1, 2 or 3 promotion points if their performance corresponds to performance level III;
   
• no promotion points if their performance corresponds to performance level IV.

The following are eligible for promotion points:

• officials who, in the year before the promotion exercise, were in active employment (this includes sick leave, maternity, parental or family leave, leave for military service) or seconded in the interests of the service;
   
• probationary officials whose probation period ended no later than 31 December 2010.

At the beginning of each year the Director-General, having consulted the Directors and Heads of Unit, draws up the list of criteria for awarding promotion points. These criteria take account of four elements:

• the qualitative appraisal covering the year preceding the promotion exercise;
   
• the official's use, in the course of his work, of languages other than the one for which he produced evidence of a thorough knowledge at the time of his recruitment;
   
• the level of responsibilities during the reference period;
   
• the tasks performed in the interests of the institution, in so far as these are not part of the official's normal activities; these tasks no longer give rise to the allocation of PPII, but they are among the criteria to be taken into consideration for awarding promotion points.
  
  These tasks are:

• chair/member of a competition selection board or joint committee for the selection of temporary staff,
   
• advisor to a selection board,
   
• marker of competition papers,
   
• chair/member of a joint committee.

Each DG will inform its staff of the detailed criteria for awarding promotion points.

Information about the use of languages and level of responsibilities will be included in the appraisal report for each official. In the case of tasks performed in the interests of the Institution, the information will be collected centrally by DG HR from EPSO, from the chair of the joint committees and from the DGs. The list of officials who have carried out the tasks referred to above will be published in an administrative notice.


Promotion thresholds

All grades, except end-of-career grades (AD12, AST10, AST6/C and AST4/D)
The general provisions for implementing Article 45 of the Staff Regulations provide for a convergence plan for the period 2008-2011. This specifies the pace at which the transition will be made from the "historic" promotion speeds in the period 2000-2004 to the speeds resulting from the multiplication rates set out in Annex IB to the Staff Regulations.

For each year, the convergence plan gives the average waiting time in each grade before promotion. The waiting time is the basis for calculating the promotion threshold using the following formula:

Average waiting time x average number of promotion points awarded per official
= promotion threshold.

The advantage of such an approach is that it makes it possible to calculate the promotion threshold in advance.

Will be promoted all officials with a number of points higher than or equal to the promotion threshold and who fulfil the conditions specified under the title "who will be promoted"

	2011 promotion thresholds
AD13	30
AD11	24
AD10	24
AD09	24
AD08	18
AD07	18
AD06	18
AD05	18
AST09	30
AST08	24
AST07	24
AST06	24
AST05	24
AST04	18
AST03	18
AST02	18
AST01	18
AST05.C	27
AST04.C	27
AST03.C	24
AST02.C	24
AST03.D	27

Considering the very limited number of officials in the grade AST2/D, the threshold of this grade will be communicated directly to the staff concerned


End-of-career grades (AD12, AST10, AST6/C and AST4/D)

There is no historic average waiting time for end-of-career grades. The annual thresholds for these grades will be announced at the official launch of the exercise, but will remain indicative until the end of the promotion exercise. By promoting the specified number of officials, the definitive threshold will be determined by the number of points obtained by the last official promoted.

If budgetary constraints make it impossible to promote all the officials who have accumulated exactly the same number of points as the threshold, the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee will suggest which of them can be promoted, by referring to subsidiary criteria such as seniority in the grade and considerations related to equal opportunities or the nature of the tasks performed.

However, the Staff Regulations do provide for a gradual increase in the annual promotion rates for the end-of-career grades until 2011, which means that the number of promotions increases further during this period.

	Indicative promotion thresholds 2011
AD12	33
AST10	53
AST06.C	34
AST04.D	56

Accumulation of points in the rucksack

The promotion points (between 1 and 12) awarded each year on the basis of the official's appraisal report and of the criteria for awarding promotion points laid down by the Director-General are collected in a rucksack.

After promotion, the number of points corresponding to the promotion threshold is deducted from the total number of points accumulated. The balance, if any, is carried over to the next promotion exercise.
Quotas of promotion points by performance level, grade and DG
The total number of promotion points available for each DG for each grade and performance level is as follows:

Performance level	Promotion points available by performance level
IA	10.5 points per official in level IA
IB	7.5 points per official in level IB
II	5.1 points per official in level II
III	2 points per official in level III
IV	0 points

The points are calculated by grade only; points cannot be transferred from one grade to another. The results are rounded up to the nearest whole number.

If the quota of points available for a performance level in certain grades is not enough to allow at least one official to be awarded the highest number of possible promotion points for the performance level in question, the Director-General may request a derogation from the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee.


Who will be promoted?

An official may be promoted if:

• he has accumulated a number of points in the rucksack which is higher than or equal to the promotion threshold in the current grade;
   
• by 31 December of the year of the promotion exercise, at the latest, he has achieved the minimum seniority in the grade required by the Staff Regulation (two years);
   
• he has demonstrated his ability to work in a third language if it is the first promotion after recruitment;
   
• he is in active employment (this includes sick leave, maternity, parental or family leave and military service) or seconded in the interests of the service on the date of adoption of the promotion decisions by the Appointing Authority;
   
• his performance has not been rated at level IV (underperformance).

Any decision on the promotion of an official who is the subject of disciplinary proceedings will be suspended until the results of those proceedings are known.


When does the promotion take effect?

Promotions will take effect on 1 January of the year of the promotion exercise. If the official does not have the required minimum seniority on that date, the promotion will take effect on the first day of the month following that in which he attains the seniority required.


Demonstrating the capacity to work in a third language

All officials whose first promotion after recruitment takes effect after 30 April 2006 are required to demonstrate the ability to work in a third language. With effect from the 2009 exercise, the minimum requirement is level 6 of an inter-institutional language course (equivalent to level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEF) of the Council of Europe).

The demonstration of this ability can be made in three main ways: successfully passing level 6 of an inter-institutional language course, passing a test organised by EPSO or having a language certificate which is recognised by the appropriate assessment committee of EPSO.

For further details an additional Administrative Notice will be published in January 2011.


What are the implementing rules?

The general provisions for implementing Article 45 of the Staff Regulations, adopted by the Commission on 18 June 2008, as amended by Commission Decision C(2010)2958 of 7 May 2010, apply to the promotion of officials paid from either the administrative budget or the research budget.

With the exception of Article 9(3), these general provisions do not apply to promotions resulting from an appointment following the publication of a vacancy notice under Article 29(1)(a)(iii) of the Staff Regulations (management posts).
 

3. THE APPRAISAL AND PROMOTION EXERCISE
   
   The appraisal and promotion processes will take place at the same time. The exercise will be launched on 17 December 2010. Generally speaking the annual appraisal reports should be finalised by 10 May 2011.
   
   The appraisal and promotion procedure is managed using the secure IT application Sysper2. Every official has an appraisal file and a promotion file, which form an integral part of the official’s personal file. An official has access to the system via a personal, secret password. The appraisal file comprises all the appraisal reports entered in Sysper2, and the promotion file shows the number of promotion points awarded in the course of the current exercise and the total number of points accumulated. Jobholders who know they will be unable to access Sysper2 over a long period can communicate in writing by arrangement with the HR Unit of their DG.
   
   Actors
    

   Title	Person(s) concerned
   Jobholder	The person to be appraised
   Reporting officer	The jobholder’s line manager (usually the Head of Unit) at the end of the period covered by the report (31 December)
   Countersigning officer	The reporting officer’s immediate superior (usually the Director); the person who is to be countersigning officer is determined at the time the countersigning officer appears in the appraisal report.
   Appeal assessor	In most cases this will be the Director General; the appeal assessor is likewise determined at the time at which he first appears in the process
   Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee	A Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee for each function group (one for ADs and one for ASTs); each Committee has seven joint working parties (one per group of DGs or services)
   Director	In the context of the promotion exercise, the Director is determined at the time he first appears in the promotion process
   Director-General	For the purposes of the promotion exercise, the Director General establishes his formal intentions for the award of promotion points
   Appointing Authority (promotion)	For the purposes of the promotion exercise, the Appointing Authority is the Director-General of DG HR.

   
   What are the steps in the procedure?
   
   Self-assessment
   
   The reporting officer asks the jobholder to write a self-assessment; the jobholder has eight working days in which to do so. The jobholder should make use of the common appraisal standards. With an eye to the promotion procedure, the jobholder is also asked to comment on his level of responsibility and to list the languages he actually uses in the execution of his duties in response to the requirements of the service.
   
   If the jobholder has been elected or designated to represent staff, he should mention the fact in his self-assessment. In that case the self assessment should be divided in two, so that the reporting officer can consult the ad hoc group regarding the work the jobholder has done as a staff representative. That consultation takes place outside Sysper2.
   
   Specific rules for officials who are absented on a full time or half time basis to work for the staff representation are set out in the general provisions for implementing Article 43 and Article 45 of the Staff Regulations.
   
   Days of justified absence (for missions, leave, illness, etc) are to be deducted from the time-limits given to job holders during the procedure.
   
   
   Dialogue
    
   After receiving the self assessment, the reporting officer holds a dialogue with the jobholder. The dialogue constitutes one of the reporting officer’s basic management duties (Article 7, paragraph 4, of the General Provisions for implementing Article 43 of Staff Regulations). It is also an essential opportunity for the jobholder to obtain a constructive feedback on his performances during the reference period and to discuss his future objectives and career development. The dialogue must be transparent, substantial, and well prepared both by the reporting officer and by the jobholder.
   
   The reporting officer and the jobholder discuss in particular the appraisal of the jobholder’s performance in 2010, the objectives to be set for 2011, and an updating of training needs for 2011 and perhaps beyond. The objectives must be measurable and consistent with the work programme of the DG and the unit.
   
   If the self assessment refers to staff representation work for which the jobholder has been elected or designated, the reporting officer must have consulted the ad hoc group. He must have received the opinion of the ad hoc group before the dialogue can take place.
   
   
   The reporting officer draws up the qualitative report
   
   In the ten working days following the dialogue the reporting officer drafts a qualitative report. This personalised report has to reflect the real performance of the jobholder during the reference period.
   The reporting officer has an obligation to state reasons in the report in a sufficient and detailed way, thus allowing the jobholder to grasp an informed understanding of his evaluation.
   
   As input for drafting the report, the reporting officer has the self-assessment, the discussion at the dialogue, the objectives for the reference period, and the common appraisal standards. He should take account of any contributions made by other reporting officers in the course of 2010, and of the opinion of the ad hoc group if any was called for.
   
   
   The countersigning officer examines the report and the jobholder’s comments
   
   The countersigning officer examines the comments in the report and checks that the standards have been applied; he then confirms or supplements the qualitative appraisal, and sends it to the jobholder, who has five working days in which to respond. Any comments by the jobholder are sent back to the countersigning officer.
   
   
   The countersigning officer proposes a performance level, and the Director proposes promotion points
   
   On the basis of the suggestions of reporting officers and the content of the qualitative appraisals, the countersigning officer proposes a performance level for each official and member of the temporary staff.
   
   The Director proposes promotion points for each official on the basis of the performance level indicated by the countersigning officers.
   
   
   Coordination
   
   The Director-General, acting in consultation with senior management, identifies the officials in each grade whose performance corresponds to levels IA and IB, and draws up his provisional formal intentions for the promotion points to be awarded. These are entered in the Sysper2 module. This coordination stage identifies any grades where the quota of points available for a performance level does not allow the highest number of promotion points laid down for that performance level to be awarded to at least one official. A request for exemption may be submitted to the Joint Appraisal and
   
   Promotion Committee to allow the quotas of promotion points to be increased in the problem grades.
   
   Consultation of the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee
   
   The Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committees will meet within five working days of the transmission by DG HR of a statistical analysis of the proposals made by the DGs. The Committees have eight working days in which to send any recommendations they wish to make to the DGs. These recommendations are brought to the notice of staff by means of an administrative notice.
   
   The Joint Committees will also consider any requests for exemption submitted by the DGs. If the Committee agrees, the quotas of promotion points are adjusted accordingly in Sysper2.
   
   Appraisal reports and promotion points finalised
   
   Following the recommendations of the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committees, the Director-General may confirm or amend the list of officials in performance levels IA and IB, and confirm or amend his formal intentions for the award of promotion points.
   
   DG HR will then check that the maximum percentages laid down for levels IA and IB and the quotas of promotion points available have been complied with.
   
   Once DG HR has given its agreement, the countersigning officers countersign all the appraisal reports by function group. This sends the reports to the jobholders.
   
   The Director-General countersigns the promotion lists at the same time, and makes them accessible to the jobholders.
   
   
   The jobholder accepts or refuses the report and the promotion points
   
   The jobholder has fifteen working days to accept his appraisal report, with or without comments, and the promotion points, or to refuse either or both. Acceptance closes the report; refusal moves the report to appeal.
   
   
   Specific provisions for the External Service
   
   Each jobholder has two countersigning officers who jointly assume this role. In cases of disagreement between the first and the second countersigning officer, the final decision shall rest with the second countersigning officer.
   
   The External Service Steering Committee shall, upon proposal by the Director-General for External Relations on the basis of the individual qualitative appraisals, identify for all jobholders those whose performance during the reporting period corresponds to performance level IA and IB. It equally approves the provisional formal intentions regarding the allocation of promotion points.
   
   
   1.1 Timetable for the general exercise

   Actors	Action		Deadline	Timetable
   DG HR	Launches exercise by means of an administrative notice			17 December 2010
   Reporting officer or human resources manager	Creates reports in Sysper2			from 17 December 2010
   Director-General + management	Discussion of performances within the DG, in each grade, over the reference period			no later than 17 January 2011
   Director-General	Publishes common appraisal standards and any standards specific to the DG for the following year			no later than end of  January 2011
   	Announces the criteria for awarding promotion points
   Jobholder	Self-assessment		8 working days	no later than 17 January 2011
   Jobholder + reporting officer	Dialogue: assessment of the jobholder’s performance over the reference period; setting of objectives for the year; updating of training needs			no later than 7 February 2011
   Reporting officer	Drafts report on quality of performance (no indication of performance level); reviews and validates objectives		Dialogue + 10 working days	no later than 21 February 2011
   Countersigning officer	Checks that common standards have been applied; compares merits; confirms or amends comments; sends the qualitative report to the jobholder, with no indication of the performance level			no later than 28 February 2011
   Jobholder	Sends any comments to the countersigning officer, or returns the report to the countersigning officer without comments		5 working days	no later than 7 March 2011
   Countersigning officer	Following comments from the jobholder, confirms, makes additions to or corrects the report Proposes performance levels via a list in Sysper2			no later than 21 March 2011
   Directors + Deputy Directors‑General	Propose formal intentions for the award of promotion points			no later than 23 March 2011
   Coordination -Director-General + countersigning officers	Grade‑by‑grade identification of performance levels IA (8%) and IB (22%)			no later than 23 March 2011
   Director-General + Directors	Provisional formal intentions for the award of promotion points in the promotion files, via a list in Sysper2			no later than 23 March 2011
   Directors‑General	Submission of proposals for levels and points in Sysper2			28 March 2011
   DG HR	Sends statistics to the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committees			no later than 04 April 2011
   AD Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee	Checks that the exercise has been properly conducted in respect of AD officials; may make recommendations to the Director-General and to DG HR;			12 April 2011
   AST Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee	Checks that the exercise has been properly conducted in respect of AST officials; may make recommendations to the Director-General and to DG HR;			12 April 2011
   Director-General + countersigning officers	If required, further coordination on the basis of the recommendations from the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committees			13 – 26 April 2011
   Director-General	Confirms or modifies performance levels IA and IB Confirms or modifies lists of promotion points in the promotion files, via a list in Sysper2			no later than  2 May 2011
   DG HR	Checks compliance of percentages and points with the points available by grade and by performance level; gives approval for the finalisation of reports by countersigning officers, and of lists of points by Directors‑General			no later than 5 May 2011
   Countersigning officer	Validates reports and performance levels, and sends the report to the jobholder			no later than 10 May 2011
   Director-General	Validates lists of points in promotion files, and sends the promotion file to the jobholder			no later than 10 May 2011
   Jobholder	Accepts the report, with or without comments = report closed	Rejects the report and lodges an appeal with the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee	15 working days	no later than 31 May 2011
   	Accepts the promotion points awarded	Rejects the number of points and lodges an appeal with the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee

   
   THE APPEAL PHASE

   What are the steps in the appeal stage?
   
   Appeal to the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee
   
   The jobholder may contest the appraisal report, the performance level, or the promotion points awarded to him. In this case, he must lodge an appeal with the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee which analyses the appeal and delivers an opinion. The appeal is closed by the final decision of the Appointing Authority (Appraisal and/or Promotion).
   
   An appeal against the report is automatically an appeal against the qualitative comments of the report, against the performance level, and against the promotion points.
   An appeal against the points is an appeal against the number of promotion points within a given performance level only.
   
   Before lodging an appeal, a job holder may ask for a dialogue with his countersigning officer. This dialogue must be requested in Sysper2 within 12 working days after the report has been communicated to the job holder. The dialogue has an informative purpose only, and does not impact the allocated performance level and promotion points.
   
   Whether or not the jobholder asks for this dialogue, the jobholder must accept or refuse the report within 15 working days after this report was communicated to him.
   
   If the job holder decides to lodge an appeal, he must state the reasons to do so.
   
   The appeal is then sent to the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee, which will examine the appeal and send a recommendation to the appeal assessor (in case of appeal against the report) or to the Appointing Authority (in case of appeal against the points)
   
   
   The work of the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committees
   
   There are two Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committees, one for the AD function group and one for the AST function group, each covering both officials and temporary staff.
   
   The Joint Committees consider all appeals individually. In the case of an appeal against an appraisal report, it is not the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee’s job to take the place of the actors in the appraisal process: the Committee instead checks whether the procedure has been complied with, and whether the report was drawn up in accordance with the appraisal standards laid down for the DG concerned.
   
   In the case of an appeal against promotion points, the Committee checks for compliance with the criteria for the award of promotion points.
   
   The Committee adopts an opinion, dealing with all points contested in the appeal, which must come to a practical conclusion, giving reasons, and make recommendations to the appeal assessor or the Appointing Authority or both; if the opinion is not adopted unanimously, it must also state any minority views expressed. In the event of a tie, the president of the Committee may cast a vote.
   
   If the appeal is brought in respect of the appraisal report only, the Committee’s opinion is inserted in the report. If the appeal concerns the promotion points, the Committee’s opinion is inserted in the promotion file.
   
   The work of the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committees is prepared by joint working groups, which emit draft recommendations.
   
   Staff will be informed in good time of the membership of the Joint working groups and of the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committees.
   
   
   Decision of the appeal assessor on an appeal against the report
   
   Once he has received the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee’s opinion, the appeal assessor has five working days to confirm or amend the report. If his decision does not follow the opinion of the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee he must give reasons.
   
   Where the jobholder and reporting officer or countersigning officer have the same grade, the appeal assessor must take particular care in examining the appeal if the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee did not deliver an opinion or where the opinion gave rise to a vote.
   
   The report is then closed and the jobholder is informed. If the jobholder does not agree he has three months in which to submit a complaint to the Appointing Authority under Article 90, paragraph 2, of the Staff Regulations

   The appeals against the points (issued from appeals against the report) cannot be analysed before the appeal assessor has taken a decision on the report
   
   
   Decision of the Appointing Authority on an appeal against promotion points
   
   After receiving the opinion of the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee, the Appointing Authority (promotion) (i.e. the Director-General of DG HR) awards the final number of promotion points to officials who:

• appealed against their promotion points
   
• appealed against their report and for whom the appeal assessor modified the performance level
   
• appealed against the report, for whom the appeal assessor confirmed the performance level, and in the same time did not have the maximum number of points within their performance level.

If the jobholder does not agree with the number of promotion points, he has three months in which to submit a complaint to the Appointing Authority under Article 90, paragraph 2, of the Staff Regulations.

The opinions of the Joint working groups and the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committees are brought to the notice of the jobholders via Sysper2 the day their appeal is closed.



Timetable for the appeal stage

The following timetable is purely indicative and does not constitute any guarantee that the indicated deadlines will actually be met.

Actor	Appeal against report	Appeal against promotion points	Deadline	Timetable 2011
Jobholder	Submits appeal against report	Submits appeal against promotion points	15 working days after reception of the report	No later than 31 May
Jobholder	Optional request dialogue with countersigning officer		12 working days after reception of the report	No later than 26 May
Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee	Adoption of the opinion addressed by the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee to the appeal assessor (appeals against the report)			No later than 13 July
Appeal assessor	Decision of the appeal assessor on the report = finalisation of the report			No later than 20 July
Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee	Adoption of the opinion addressed by the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee to the Appointing Authority (appeals against the promotion points)			No later than 12 October
Appointing Authority		Decision of the Appointing Authority on the promotion points		No later than 21 October
DG HR		Publication of administrative notice with list of staff promoted		No later than 30 November

_________
Footnotes

⁽¹⁾ Periods of sick leave, maternity leave, family or parental leave or military service are regarded as periods of active employment.
⁽²⁾ See Article 2 of Annex I to the general provisions for implementing Article 43 of the Staff Regulations.
⁽³⁾ Article 3(4) of the general provisions for implementing Article 43 of the Staff Regulations