Continuing our commitment to transparency and to inform all personnel as closely as possible about ongoing discussions with the Management, here is a summary of the topics discussed during the October 15th and 17th meetings of the Standing Concertation Committee (SCC).

Certain subjects which we consider to be priorities will be covered in more detail in future ECHO issues, as well as at our next public meeting on Tuesday December 3rd.

October 15 meeting: preparation for the Tripartite Employment Conditions Forum (TREF), data protection, diversity, equity and inclusion & results of the 2024 MERIT exercise

Preparing for the next TREF meeting was one of the objectives of the October 15^th SCC meeting, the agenda for the November 14^th meeting of TREF will including topics such as forecasts for the 2025 cost variation index (CVI), the monitoring the implementation of the Graduates programme, an initial introduction to the internal justice system, the March 2023 survey conducted by the Management for Staff, Fellows and Graduates and the initial actions proposed, and the pensions guarantee. All these topics were discussed in depth.

Revision of the Operational Circular concerning the processing of personal data at CERN (OC 11)

This circular, in force since July 1st, 2019, defines the data rights of individuals (data subjects) and CERN's obligations when processing personal data.

After more than 5 years of application, it appears that certain measures do not cover the needs initially identified, are difficult to implement and create a heavy, complex and unnecessary administrative burden, and are stricter than international practices without any real added value. Revision work therefore needs to be undertaken.

Proposed topics for revision were presented to the SCC by the Data Protection Officer and supported by the Staff Association (SA).

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The Staff Association presented its action plan on diversity, equity and inclusion. The action plan, as approved by the Staff Council, proposes developing a more operational approach, with short, medium and long-term objectives, and was positively received by the Administration. Come to the next public meeting for details!

2024 MERIT: under-use of the advancement and equity budgets

The Staff Association was disappointed to note, during report on the 2024 MERIT exercise, that advancement rewards only amounted to 1.54 % of the reference payroll. Not only was this well below the ceiling of 1.6 %, the advancement of 1.55 % of the reference payroll was not used. Management is under-rewarding the efforts and hard work done by the personnel. Moreover, the equity budget_designed as a vehicle for accelerating advancement_ remains underused. Although more of our colleagues benefitted it in 2024 (19 cases compared to 12 in 2023, 10 in 2022 and 11 in 2021), the Management allocated just CHF 7,145 used out of a total budget of CHF 30,449.

During the session, it was clarified that this budget can be used not only by the Management but also by the Human Resources department (through HR Advisors). Furthermore, employed members themselves can request that their situation be reviewed, thus providing increased opportunity and flexibility to request salary equity adjustments. Let us remember that initially, the "equity" budget could be used in four specific cases:

- An exceptional salary increase for a person to be promoted before the overlap point to the next grade, with no percentage limit.

- An exceptional salary increase for a person whose development is considered excellent, and who shows strong potential for further rapid progress.

- An exceptional salary increase for a person who, in the context of a major change of duties, has successfully integrated and demonstrated motivation and commitment that go beyond the expectations of his or her supervisors.

- An exceptional salary increase for a person whose salary situation justifies an adjustment in view of his or her experience and performance, compared with other people with similar functions and similar seniority in these functions.

A fifth case has been added, covering situations of return from a special professional leave, where an exceptional increase may be granted following an end-of-assignment review at another company to determine whether the experience and skills acquired outside CERN are relevant to CERN.

The Staff Association was also disappointed to note that part-time employed members of personnel and those with more than 25 years' service, continue to be poorly represented in the population whose performance has been described as “outstanding”, as are those on IC contracts compared with their colleagues on LD contracts. This situation raises the question of bias in the recognition of performance, an issue that the SA is closely monitoring.

In the same vein, the Staff Association expressed its concern at the continuing decline in the number of grade 9 and 10 staff members who received an outstanding performance qualification since 2017. For example, no employed members in grade 10 have been considered as outstanding in the last two years. The Association has questioned the Management as to whether this situation is the result of a managerial decision but has received no response. The SA reiterates that the MERIT exercise must be carried out without any bias whatsoever, whether it concerns grade, professional category, number of years of service, percentage of working time, etc.

Approval of the 2025 MERIT guidelines

In accordance with Administrative Circular No. 26 (Rev. 12) "Recognition of MERIT" (hereinafter "AC 26"), the Director-General establishes guidelines for the annual MERIT recognition exercise, including: the mandate of the advisory bodies that the Director-General will set up to provide recommendations on certain promotions; applicable budget ceilings; and a detailed schedule.

As usual in October, the Human Resources Department submitted the 2025 MERIT guidelines for approval by the SCC. The Staff Association emphasized our continuing opposition to the calculation of the advancement budget, as previously expressed stance, and believes that the uses value for the reference payroll is not correct, thus limiting advancement opportunities for employed members of personnel. This ongoing disagreement was subject to an arbitration by the Director General, and subsequently appealed before the ILO Administrative Tribunal. 

The Staff Association asked that Department Heads and Group Leaders be informed of our position.

 

October 17th meeting: Mutual Aid Fund and commutation

The Mutual Aid Fund

After extensive discussions, the revised rules of the Mutual Aid Fund have finally been approved. The new members of the Mutual Aid Fund Committee have been appointed, thus taking a crucial step towards guaranteeing the continuity and smooth running of the Fund and enabling us to offer the necessary financial support to the personnel in difficulty.

Although the Staff Association's financial support for the Fund was confirmed at the SCC meeting in June, that of the Administration was not. After several months of discussions, the Administration's financial support was finally confirmed at this meeting, so the Fund now has the means to act.

Commutation of pensions: a hotly debated subject

As a reminder, a Working Group on voluntary early retirement measures, with the participation of the Staff Association, Management, the Pension Fund (PF) and the Human Resources Department (HR), was established in response to the budgetary difficulties of 2022.

This Working Group considered four initiatives: extensions to the Special Leave Scheme (SLS), revisions to early retirement programs, pension commutation and an early retirement programme by mutual agreement. Measures addressing the first two initiatives were successfully implemented and the early retirement programme abandoned at Management's request, despite the objections of the Staff Association. That left the issue of pension commutation —the exchange by employed Staff members, at the time of their retirement, of part of their future pensions for a lump sum payment— still to be discussed.

The Management's proposal would allow for the exchange of up to 25% of a future pension for a lump-sum payment. While this idea may seem attractive to colleagues who can afford to significantly reduce their pensions (i.e. those in the highest grades), it risks jeopardising the balance and solidarity of our pension system. Unfortunately, this seemingly attractive but in reality, bad idea returns periodically as Management teams change; a similar proposal was rejected some twenty years ago, for example.

To understand the problems, remember that, in any defined-benefit system such as CERN's, employed members of personnel and the Organization's contributions are set to guarantee pre-determined benefits and the various risks (longevity of beneficiaries, career variations, inflation, investment performance, etc.) are shared between all participants (the Organization, employed members of personnel and retirees) over the very long term. This sharing makes it possible to define contributions in order to guarantee the stability of benefits. Ultimately, it is the Organization that assumes the financial risk by guaranteeing payment of vested pension benefits until the death of the last beneficiary of the Pension Fund.

Introducing the possibility of a lump-sum payment would inevitably reduce the solidarity that characterises our pension system. If colleagues who can afford it were to withdraw part of their pensions just after a stock market crash, for example, and thus avoid the efforts needed to get the Fund back on its feet, the solidarity that has served us so well up to now would be broken. This could pave the way for a defined-contribution scheme, transferring the financial risk from the Organization to the members and beneficiaries of the Pension Fund.

Given this fundamental difficulty with the proposal, as well as other more immediate concerns, the Staff Council voted overwhelmingly to cease discussions on pension commutation and asked its representatives on the Working Group and the SCC to strongly oppose this measure. This led, after intense discussions within the Joint Working Group, to a recommendation to the SCC by the Working Group to halt further work on the commutation initiative.

Regrettably, ignoring both the opposition of the Staff Association and the position of the Joint Working Group, the Administration made it clear at the SCC meeting that it intended to relaunch work on this initiative in the near future. The Staff Association is deeply offended by this.

Keep following us to stay informed on these issues that concern you!