Dear colleague,
As you have recently found out, the DG HR has announced the end of the previous staff appraisal and promotion exercise.
Concerning AD 13, R&D cannot accept that administration does not respect the Staff regulation and we consider that “Pacta sunt servanda”. Actually AD13 to AD14 promotions threshold was unilaterally fixed by DG HR, at the beginning of the exercise at 30 points, without consultation neither of the relevant Monitoring Committee or the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee AD, and relevant promotions awarded as from January 2010 concerned only 9.4% of AD13 staff members.
This is contrary to staff regulations which for promotions to AD14 grade provides for a floating threshold so as to assure, instead of 9.4%, a 20% promotion rate to grade AD14 for the year 2010 (see Transitional measures in page 131, Annex XIII, art 9 of staff regulations) as well as relevant General Implementing Dispositions for art 45 (see page 14, annex 2, art 2 paragraphs (2) and (3)).
These statutory dispositions were decided in 2004 in order to guarantee, apart from grade advancement, also salary progression for staff members who for years remained in the ex “fin de carrière” grade A4 (now AD12) and got promoted to AD13 from A4, step 7 or 8.
In effect, unless they are respected, staff of this category (AD13 who got their last promotion from grade A4 (AD12), step 7-8) will stagnate financially until they get to AD14, step 2. This disrespect of Staff Regulations distorts current and future salary and downgrades future pension rights for staff with considerable seniority in the service of the European Institutions, whose constantly high performance and experience constitute an invaluable asset for the Commission.
The decision not to respect staff regulations and to award promotions to AD14 grade only to 9.4% of AD13 staff instead of the 20% provided by staff regulations, appears more than doubtful legally and it risks to have even more serious effects for you, since apparently not only this was at least the second year in a row that have been applied but DG HR has again decided to opt for the same erroneous an unilateral approach in 2011 by fixing the AD14 promotion threshold again at 30 points without neither discussing the matter in the Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee nor consulting timely the Monitoring Committee (see http://myintracomm.ec.europa.eu/infoadm/en/2010/Pages/ia10076.aspx).
It goes without saying that, since the present evaluation and promotion system is also based on peer comparison for the award of both performance level and/or promotion points, retarded promotions have a negative influence also on more recent staff of the AD 13 grade population: from a theoretical point of view, because thus they are to be compared to much more experienced staff [staff promtoted to AD 13 grade as ex A4-step 7 or 8] who, according to Staff Regulation should have been already promoted AD14 during the previous 2 years, as well as from a practical point of view, because it distorts point distribution unfairly.
All in all, R&D considers that despite your merit and experience, your career, pay- and pension rights will be adversely affected by a set of wrong decisions unilaterally taken by the Administration to disregard your rights that are clearly stipulated both in Staff Regulations and relevant implementing provisions.
In order to ask for your timely AD14 promotion retroactively as from 1 January 2010, you have the possibility to lodge an appeal on the basis of art 90.2 of the staff regulations [see page] asking for the application of the Annexe 13, art 9 of the staff regulations in your case.
Respective information for art 90.2 appeals is to be found at the web link http://myintracomm.ec.europa.eu/hr_admin/en/appeals/complaints/Pages/index.aspx
The appeal is to be filed no later than 3 months after the decision was communicated to all staff (26 February 2011). It must be submitted to the competent HR unit by email/fax/post or handed in personally as follows
One single copy of the complaint should be sent to the “Appeals and Case Monitoring” Unit (HR.D.2), by any one of the following ways:
- by e-mail, preferably in .PDF format, to the operational mailbox HR MAIL D2 (mailto:hr-mail-d2@ec.europa.eu) or
- by fax (no. 32-2-295.00.39) or
- by post, to the office address SC11 4/57 or
- handed in at the office address SC11 4/57 (from 09.00 to 12.00 and from 14.00 to 17.00)].
If you would like to file such an appeal in order to obtain a retroactive promotion, eventually improve your salary and pension perspectives and/or help restore statutory conformity, you can complete the following:
ART 90 APPEAL DOCUMENT in EN
ART 90 APPEAL DOCUMENT in FR
Its first page is a cover one and the rest is the main appeal text for which we give a template with the most typical arguments:
Please note that ALL staff representatives appointed by the Central Staff Committee have raised the issue of your promotion during relevant plenary of Joint Appraisal and Promotion Committee for AD staff and added comments supporting your case in the minutes. We recommend you cite this unanimous staff representatives’ position at the end of your Art 90 complaint, as a supportive element.
If you think that our arguments could be further completed in your case, don’t hesitate to get in touch with R&D [mailto:REP PERS OSP R&D] and ask for more information and/or assistance.
Our staff appraisal/promotion/appeals team is ready to help.
R&D
Syndicat du Personnel des Institutions européennes
Contact: rep pers osp R&D
www.renouveau-democratie.eu