Human Resources Policy IssuesHuman Resources Division 351 Human Resources Division Human Resources Policy Issues The Human Resources Plan 2003–2010 The CERN management launched a

351Human Resources Division

Human Resources Division

Human Resources Policy Issues

The Human Resources Plan 2003–2010

The CERN management launched a CERN-wide manpower planning exercise for the period 2003–2010 in

which the Human Resources Division was particularly active. The exercise was carried out in the framework

of the medium-term plan and the long-term baseline plan which were presented to the Council in June 2002. It

also took into consideration the recommendations of the External Review Committee (ERC).

The background against which the Human Resources Plan was drawn up included the reduction in staff

numbers (as required by the 1996 financial plan for the construction of the LHC), consideration of industrial

services issues (with a view to increasing efficiency in matching contracts to the programme of work and

reviewing some insourcing/outsourcing issues), the growing priority of the LHC project and the need to

complete it within the cost-to-completion plan, and recommendations of the ERC on a wide range of issues

including managerial and human resources policy. The basic policy and strategic issues covered are outlined

below.

Introduction of an Integrated Personnel and Materials (P+M) Budget

The decision was made to introduce an integrated personnel and materials (P+M) budget as of 2003, with

the staff complements being expressed in Swiss Francs rather than in man-years. This will give the sectors and

divisions greater flexibility to manage resources and optimize their choice of staff by professional category

without having the constraint of a fixed ceiling on staff numbers.

Industrial Staff – Insourcing/Outsourcing

CERN currently has 60 industrial services contracts with about 1980 employees. It was agreed that the

existing outsourcing approaches have provided CERN with good solutions, so the general principles will be

retained. However, there are activities which require an in-depth analysis (so-called business approach) of

what should be the appropriate sourcing approach between insourcing and continued outsourcing. The policy

that industrial services contracts have to be result-oriented will be maintained and the concept of ‘field support

units’ will be introduced in addition to existing outsourcing models. In cases where this is not possible, the

opening of staff positions will be considered, in particular for a new category of staff called ‘Local Staff’.

352 Human Resources Division

Local Staff

A proposal was made to introduce a new category of ‘Local Staff’ (LS) which would offer the possibility

of recruiting up to an estimated 25 full-time equivalents (FTEs) to start with in 2003, reaching 131 FTEs in

2008, in career paths A and B. Although the required transfers from the materials budget (from which

industrial services contracts are paid) to the personnel budget will be neutral in terms of the overall budget, the

use of LS will lead to marked improvements in operational efficiency by, for example, providing more

transparent situations to avoid duplication and mixed responsibility between the contractor and the CERN

supervisor. Initial savings of about 10% would be made on personnel per capita costs because of the limitation

of benefits payable. Work is continuing on the details of LS for a proposal to be made to Council in the Spring

of 2003.

Contract Policy

A review was made of staff contract policy with a proposal to extend limited duration contracts up to a

maximum of 9 years (instead of the current 6 years). The ultimate aim is to reach a ratio of about 2:1 for long-

term contracts to limited duration contracts by 2010.

Staff Redeployment and Internal Mobility

The Organization’s overall goal of optimizing various types of manpower resources entailed increased

flexibility in areas such as staff mobility and redeployment. This led to the setting up of a new structure in the

Accelerator Sector, which constitutes about one-third of the staff, resulting in synergy and increased

efficiency. A Group of over 50 staff was created in the EST Division to look after the installation and

commissioning of the LHC sectors. The Organization also introduced a scheme to encourage internal mobility

at the individual level, which resulted in a further 20 movements of staff urgently required to consolidate the

follow-up and manufacturing of the LHC superconducting magnets.

Staff Composition and Training

The composition of the staff must also be adapted to the needs of the LHC installation and operation

phases. This means that the Organization will need to recruit or retain more technicians and fewer engineers

than were needed for the design phase of the project. Actions have been taken to re-focus the Organization’s

training programmes in the light of these new requirements, including LHC-related aspects, project

management techniques, general management, and training for redeployment.

Project Associates

The Fellows, Associates and Students Programmes remain of crucial importance to the science and

technology communities. The current 3-year duration of Project Associates’ appointments has proven to be

too restrictive, so work is ongoing to propose that the maximum duration of Project Associate contracts be

increased from 3 years to 5 years up until the completion of the LHC. The proposal will be made to Council in

the Spring of 2003.


The First Year of the Merit Advancement and Promotion Scheme (MAPS)

The first year of implementation of MAPS was a success. The involvement of the Human Resources

Division with the supervisors in the divisions was considerable in helping to make the transition from the

former MOAS scheme. The new rules and procedures were closely followed and the main objectives to have a

more dynamic and flexible scheme, together with a more qualitative performance appraisal process, were

attained.

MAPS has marked a new milestone at CERN in the field of advancement and increased recognition of

performance of staff members, replacing many of the ‘semi-automatic’ aspects which had previously been

perceived. The new scheme has enabled managers to make decisions on a sounder basis in order to better

modulate the advancement of their staff, as a function of responsibilities and performance. This was achieved

within the same advancement budget as in previous years by redeploying available resources towards the

higher performers and has offered additional possibilities for younger staff.

This encouraging first year of MAPS shows that the Organization is adapting to changing trends in its

environment and in the labour market, and is moving towards a more flexible and dynamic management of its

human resources.

Salary Adjustment for 2002

In accordance with the decisions taken by the Finance Committee and Council in December 2001, salaries

and pensions were adjusted for 2002 with an increase of 1.3% for the scale of basic salaries and the scale of

basic stipends, and of 0.8% for pensions.

Facts and Figures about Staff Members

Evolution

The number of staff members joining the Organization was 101, whilst 208 left. The end-year strength was

2550, or 2474.4 full-time equivalents.

Staff breakdown by sector at 31.12.2002

Directorate Accelerator Research Technical Administration

DG 8 AC 23 EP 519 EST 203 AS 55

DSU 43 LHC 304 ETT 62 ST 232 FI 40

PS 243 IT 209 TIS 142 HR 77

SL 312 TH 24 SPL 54

51 882 814 577 226


As currently foreseen in the long-term plan of the Organization, staff numbers will reach the level of about

2100 in 2006; this includes an additional allocation of 250 FTEs for 2004–2007 following the manpower

review. The decrease will be achieved by a continued large number of retirements. This also implies that

recruitment opportunities will be more limited than in recent years.

Evolution of staff by professional category since 1990 and forecast for overall

evolution until 2010.

Staff Recruitment and Turnover

One hundred and five vacancies were published during the year, which is 42 fewer than in 2001. The trend

in the decline of applicants, as observed in previous years, could not be reverted. The scarcity of qualified

candidates from some of the Member States, notably in technical fields, continued to make it necessary to hold

several selection boards before a vacancy could be filled, thus delaying recruitment. It also has a negative

effect on the number of recruits from already under-represented nationalities.

The recruitment outreach programme included three visits to Member State countries. The first was to

Trondheim in Norway and included attendance at the Technical University’s hiring fair, the establishment of

links with the Technical High School and the local employment service. The second event was in Budapest at

the Technical University’s annual job fair. Presentations of recruitment programmes were made in four other

Hungarian universities and colleges. Finally, attendance was made at an engineering fair in Coventry, United

Kingdom.

Advertising continued on various internet job boards including some of the world leaders in this field. An

administrative student developed Web pages for the programme and made links to several free job boards in

Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Progress on the e-recruitment project is covered in the section below on the FAS Programmes.

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

� Research Physicists

Applied Scientists & Engineers

Administrators & Office Staff

Manual workers and crafts(wo)men

Technical Staff

Total ceilingsfor Staff (in FTEs)

�


Staff recruitment in 2002

In 2002, 101 new staff, of whom 59 were selected on vacancies published in 2001, took up an appointment

at CERN. Twenty-five (25%) were female which was in line with the percentage of applications from females.

There were 208 staff departures in 2002, the second highest of the past 15 years, and 7% higher than in

2001 (194). Slightly less than two-thirds of these departures (137) concern staff towards the end of their career

who left on early retirement between the ages of 60 and 64 (90) or at the statutory age limit of 65 (47). There

were also 13 resignations, mainly of staff members in their first 5 years of service, as well as 25 staff who left

CERN at the expiry of their limited-duration or fixed-term contract.

Granting of Long-Term Staff Contracts

The overall recruitment policy, by which the majority of staff are recruited at an early stage in their career

on contracts of limited duration up to a total of six years, remained unchanged. Ninety-four out of 101 new

staff in 2002 (93%) were recruited on contracts of limited duration.

The procedure for granting long-term contracts, revised in 1999, continued. The two inter-divisional

boards were involved in 49 selections of staff holding limited duration contracts being recruited on long-term

contracts, and in 12 renewals of fixed-term contracts. At the same time, 47 staff members recruited on long-

term contracts were awarded an indefinite contract.

NationalityApplications

receivedCandidates

invitedCandidates attending

Staffarrivals

AustriaBelgiumBulgariaCzech RepublicDenmarkFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryItalyNetherlandsNorwayPolandPortugalSlovak RepublicSpainSwedenSwitzerlandUnited KingdomNon-Member State

148532282727

10371092044

2836522535220

16537

20525113

5155498

1234639

50105

14133

351027673

5104378

1184038

43104

14113

328

22553

122122

301120

1331132313

172

Total 2589 464 411 102


Facts and Figures about Fellows, Associates and Students (FAS) Programmes

The Fellows, Associates and Students (FAS) programmes provide unique research and training

opportunities in a high-technology environment for young students, postgraduates, and established scientists

from all over the world. The programmes play a fundamental role in technology transfer and provide a

platform for the exchange of ideas within the scientific and technological communities.

Recruitment of Fellows in 2002

A comparison of the number of applications in the FAS programmes with that of 2001, indicates the

following:

– A 6% increase in Fellow applications, after a 20% decrease in 2001.

– A 40% increase (104 more applications) in the Technical Student Programme, but a decrease in the

Doctoral Student applications. The average increase for both programmes is of the order of 24%, a

positive development, especially since it follows an increase of 12% in 2001.

Nationality

Fellows

Applications received

Selected

AustriaBelgiumBulgariaCzech RepublicDenmarkFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryItalyNetherlandsNorwayPolandPortugalSlovak RepublicSpainSwedenSwitzerlandUnited KingdomNon-Member State

942323

51449

1155113

2184

5510112917

510000

101622

1640721

134472

Total 362 96


– Applications for Scientific and Corresponding Associateships have significantly decreased (from 182 in

2001 to 111 in 2002), an effect mainly coming from the non-Member State applicants.

– A 20% increase in the Summer Student applications.

A small decrease in the number of selected CERN Fellows was essentially compensated by an increase in

the number of externally funded Fellows. However, the recent financial reductions have led to a sizeable

reduction in the number of selected Students and Associates (17% and 45% respectively). It is also worth

noting that a part of the 2002 Associates budget has been redirected to Fellow appointments and that a shift of

funds from Fellows and Associates to Students had to take place in order to compensate for the significant

reductions in the materials budget, from which subsistence to students is paid.

Applicants and selected candidates by FAS Programme in 2002

The year 2002 was remarkable for appointments paid by external funds. There were 14 appointments for

the Grid project, and 48 Trainees (compared with 17 in 2001) were also hired. New, Web-based procedures for

Trainee project selection and advertisement, as well as for the allocation of posts to candidates, were proposed

and implemented.

Moreover, the links between CERN, its FAS Service, and the European Commission were strengthened

and, in October 2002, a jointly organized ‘Special Workshop of Marie Curie Fellows on Research and Training

in Physics and Technology’ took place at the laboratory. The Organization is currently applying to become a

Marie Curie Host Institute for ‘Early Stage Training’ (for applicants without a PhD and less than 4 years of

postgraduate experience) within the 6th Framework of EU-funded research. The aim, besides its political

implications, is to increase the number of Marie Curie Fellows at CERN, bring EU-funded Doctoral Students

Programme Applied Selected Remarks

Fellows 362 96

19a

a Selection procedure outside the standard FAS Committees.

Including 2 fellows selected within the CERN–Asia programme. 7 fellows selected by the European Union, 9 by PPARC (United Kingdom), and 3 by INFN.

Technical Students 363 82

Doctoral Students 42 24 Including 7 students funded by Austria

Summer Students 649 145 Including students funded by the following countries: United States 10; Sweden 6; Israel 3; Denmark 2; Ireland 1.

Paid Scientific Associates 94 46 Including 3 non-Member State candidates appointed as fellows.

Corresponding Associates 17 14 Including 2 CASS paid on Israeli funds.

Other 2a

41a2 Israeli Technical Associates funded by Israel.18 engineers funded by Portugal, 12 by Spain, and 11 by the Rhône-Alpes Region.


to the laboratory for the first time, provide additional opportunities to young non-Member State (NMS)

nationals (currently only 4–5 NMS fellows can be selected annually), and enlarge the number of disciplines

that can be funded by the Commission. Participation in other schemes, such as the ‘Transfer of Knowledge’

for fellow-like candidates, as well as ‘Research Training Networks’ is also being considered, while CERN will

be a leading partner in the Grid Integrated Project.

The software automation of the FAS programmes, which started last year, was completed successfully for

the Technical and Doctoral Student Committee and is currently under way for the Associates and Fellows

Committee. Moreover, the major joint project between AS Division and several HR groups on e-recruitment

has led to the acquisition of an Oracle-based tool, which can be successfully combined with the existing HR

databases and will greatly improve, speed up, and facilitate recruitment services and actions. The aim is that

the product becomes operational in September 2003.

In line with CERN’s Equal Opportunity Policy, gender distributions for all FAS programmes are monitored

continuously and the results are shown in the figure below. On average there is no bias at the selection level,

except for a positive bias for Summer Students, as well as for Technical and Doctoral Students in 2002.

Nevertheless, the percentage of women applicants decreases significantly when passing to more senior

categories of personnel (confirming similar observations in 2001).

For details on recruitment of female staff members, please see p. 357.

Gender statistics for FAS Programmes in the period 1998–2002.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

% of women candidates

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

% of selected women

Summer Students Doctoral & Technical Students Fellows Associates


Reports on Activities

Training and Development

Training is particularly important at a time of a major evolution in the Organization, related both to the

redeployment of the research programme along the LHC project and to the transfer of managerial

responsibilities to a new generation.

The Joint Training Board (JTB), which oversees training policy matters at CERN, issued guidelines in

2001 to ensure a constant and dynamic match between the needs of the Organization and the training

organized at CERN.

The activity of the HR-TD group and of the Divisional Training Officers (DTOs), who meet since June

2001 on a monthly basis in the framework of the Training Executive Committee (TEC), focused on the

implementation of these recommendations. A detailed list of all courses and seminars that took place in 2002

appears in the Training Programme annex to the present report.

Technical Training

The Technical Training Programme continued to offer a wide range of courses, tutorials, and seminars

supporting the technical work of the laboratory. Particular emphasis was placed on exploiting the specialist

knowledge and skills of CERN personnel by inviting them to deliver lectures in series which focused on

specific domains of CERN activity, e.g. Electronics in High-Energy Physics.

These lectures were recorded and published on the Web for reviewing purposes and/or for viewing by

people who were unable to attend, and are accessible world-wide. The archiving process used is based on

multi-media R&D performed by technical students sponsored by HR Division and attached to the programme

in recent years who worked in collaboration with the University of Michigan under the umbrella of the Web

Lecture Archive Project.

It is expected that this activity will develop and expand in the future to enable current and future personnel

to benefit from the expertise of their colleagues, especially those who will be retiring.

2002 saw the introduction of a new self-teach Web-based training package designed to complement

standard instructor-led courses, to respond to urgent needs and provide a ‘just in time’ delivery capability.

Assessing the impact and evaluating the effectiveness of this type of learning method is a priority task for

2003.

Requests for the Technical Training Unit to organize and/or provide support for training activities initiated

by divisions, experiments, and projects continued to grow. The unit again hosted the High School Teachers

Programme, providing technical facilities and support, notably this year in collaboration with the Apprentice

Programme through the use of the apprentice workshop, and active participation in the conception and running

of the programme.


Safety Training

Following the recommendations of a newly formed Safety Training Working Group, members of the

Technical Training Unit collaborated with the TIS Safety Training Officer and specialists to organize sessions

in a revised and expanded Safety Training Programme.

In addition, an HR Division technical student attached to the Technical Training Unit developed a

prototype self-teach Web-based Basic Safety Course which incorporates a facility for testing acquired

knowledge. It is planned to produce this course in multiple languages to combat the problem of the many

different nationalities who work at CERN and must follow such a course but who may be unable to do so

effectively in either English or French.

Management and Communication Training

Given the changing needs of the Organization in terms of Management and Communication skills, a

review of the training offered at CERN in this area was carried out. This was based on an identification of the

needs of people in different hierarchical roles, and an evaluation of the seminars currently offered.

The outcome of this review will be finalized and published in early 2003.

In 2002, the existing seminar programme continued, with the addition of a new module on Industrial

Services Contract Management.

Language Training

From April 2002 there was a 40% reduction in the number of students enrolled in general and professional

language courses. In response to this situation, arising from the budget crisis, a new structure for courses was

set up and then put in place in October 2002.

The changes consisted of integrating self-study into courses of lower-intermediate level and above. This

resulted in a decrease in the number of hours of class time and thus a reduction in costs, at the same time

giving students more responsibility for their own learning.

The year 2002 was also devoted to developing an evaluation scheme for the French courses. Tests were

created for levels 2 to 5 and two pilot sessions took place in March and June, 2002.

Apprentice Programme

The apprentice programme continues according to the 1999 review of this programme. Each year, CERN

hires 10 new apprentices in the following trades:

– ‘Assistant(e)s en Information Documentaire’: 2 apprentices

– ‘Electronicien(ne)s’: 4 apprentices

– ‘Employé(e) de Commerce’: 1 apprentice

– ‘Laborantin(e)s en Physique’: 3 apprentices.


Equal Opportunities

As in previous years, the activities of the Equal Opportunities Advisory Panel during 2002 can be grouped

into four main categories: awareness, recruitment and career development, work–life balance, and harassment.

Awareness

Activities in this area included actions directed at the CERN personnel as a whole, contacts with external

organizations, and the development of a new Web site with some pages restricted to the CERN intranet and

others made available to the general public. In addition, ‘focus group’ meetings with specific subsets of

CERN’s professional staff were organized. The main issues emerging from these discussions were centred

essentially around career development and work–life balance, though with varying emphases, and these will

be reported back to the Management accordingly.

Recruitment and Career Development

Recruitment

Recruitment statistics continued to follow the positive trend of previous years, with women accounting for

25.8% of applicants, 25.2% of those invited for interviews, 28.8% of those selected and 24.8% of those

arriving at CERN. The small fall in the latter percentage may be due in part to the normal delays between

selections and arrivals. Women accounted for 19% of the indefinite contracts awarded in 2002, and 17% of the

terminated limited duration contracts, both of which percentages correspond to the recruitment intake of a few

years ago.

Recruitment: percentages of female candidates applying, invited to interview,

selected, and arriving at CERN.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

1994 1996 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

Applicants Invited Selected Arrivals


Career Development

Following the implementation of the new Merit Advancement and Promotion Scheme, the gender

distribution of the various awards in the 2002 annual exercise was carefully monitored. The positive change

noted last year was unfortunately not repeated, women staff once again faring less well than their male

colleagues in the attribution of additional steps and career path changes — the percentages of Career Path

Changes were 4.3% for eligible women compared to 7.3% for their male counterparts, second steps were

granted to 26.4% of eligible women compared to 28.7% of their male counterparts. Additional steps in Career

Paths F and G were also noted to differ significantly between men and women, 10.5% of eligible women and

16.2% of eligible men being awarded additional steps. As in previous years, this pattern was reversed for

exceptional service premiums, these being awarded to 15.3% of eligible women compared to 11.6% of their

male counterparts. Salary band changes, additional steps awarded to staff in the ‘orange’ zones, and entry into

the exceptional advancement zone were distributed in equitable proportions to eligible men and women.

Work–Life Balance

The need for crèche facilities for CERN staff was re-iterated by all the ‘focus groups’ interviewed who

perceived this to be a serious obstacle to effective work–life balance for all young parents in the laboratory.

Unfortunately, attempts to find a workable solution to this problem have failed so far, and this remains the

greatest regret of the Equal Opportunities Advisory Panel to date.

Harassment

A total of 11 complaints of harassment (4 complaints of sexual harassment and 7 complaints of moral

harassment or ‘mobbing’) were treated by the Equal Opportunities Advisory Panel in 2002. Moral harassment,

in particular the difficulties of recognizing this behaviour and ensuring the appropriate follow-up, remains an

issue of growing concern.

The Equal Opportunities Advisory Panel organized a seminar on sexual and moral harassment by an

external consultant. The seminar was followed by a presentation of the CERN procedures for dealing with

these problems. This seminar was attended by a significant audience, both men and women, and followed by a

lively debate, which showed considerable interest in understanding these issues and the appropriate

procedures for dealing with them. Regular training on this topic is recommended.

Social Security

Pension Fund

Besides active participation in the management of the Pension Fund itself, one of the prime tasks of the

Pension Fund Administration and its team is to prepare and implement the decisions of the Fund’s organs, in

particular those that emanate from the Governing Board and the Investment Committee.


In 2002, the Governing Board held eight meetings, whose agendas included recurrent items such as the

approval of the annual report prepared by the Administration, the distribution of financial results from the

preceding financial year, pension adjustments, consideration of the report of the auditors, and matters related

to the operation of the Fund’s Administration. It examined and approved the recommendations of the

Investment Committee, which met eight times. The meetings were mainly aimed at examining the

performance of the fund managers, at optimizing their services, while also assigning one of the new managers

a mandate to manage a portfolio with an absolute return. The Fund decided in 2002 to cancel the mandate of

one of the bond managers for insufficient performance.

Topics relating specifically to the year 2002 include above all the definition of a new asset allocation and

some changes in the Rules and Regulations of the Pension Fund regarding the voting procedures in the

Governing Board and the composition of the Investment Committee, opening it to two new members, bringing

the total members of the Committee to seven.

Following the recommendations made by the actuaries, CERN Council decided in June 2002 to:

– reduce the technical rate from 6% to 5.5% with effect from the next actuarial review;

– continue to compensate the Fund for the reduction in the CERN staff complement by adding

16.1 MCHF to the debt of the Organization;

– set a final capitalization target for the end of the period identical to the one at the beginning of the

period, between 100 and 125%, in order to allow for a safety margin.

Apart from the support provided for these specific topics, the Fund Administration manages a large part of

the Fund’s moveable assets and real estate (it is worth noting that the Fund acquired two new properties in

2002), draws up accounts, settles the payment of entitlements to members and beneficiaries, answers many

questions asked both inside and outside CERN, and ensures that the Fund’s Rules and Regulations are applied.

CERN Health Insurance Scheme (CHIS)

The CHIS Board, a sub-committee of the Standing Concertation Committee, met monthly to review all

aspects of the Scheme, with emphasis on containment of costs and communication to the Members of the

Scheme.

Cost Containment

In 2002, particular focus was put on hospitalization since this area is markedly the largest item of

expenditure, incurring about 40% of all CHIS reimbursements, and because the hospital used for almost half

of CHIS Members’ hospitalizations increased its rates by an average of 15% from 1 July 2002. Measures were

required since the described increase alone would have resulted in an overall 3% increase in the total CHIS

expenditures.

In this respect, the CHIS Board adopted a two-fold approach:


1. The Scheme’s policy regarding tariff agreements was redefined. Consequently, the agreement with the

afore-mentioned hospital was terminated and partnerships with other hospitals were either sought or

strengthened.

2. New rules for the reimbursement of hospital care were proposed, with a view to encouraging the CHIS

Members to opt for treatment in quality establishments preferably charging moderate rates, and to

putting pressure on the health care providers in order to negotiate preferential rates with them.

Council adopted these new rules in December 2002.

Communication to the Members

Particular effort was made in this area in three ways:

– a double edition of the CHIS Bull’ newsletter, was sent to the Members of the Scheme, informing them

on topics such as the 2001 statistics and the Scheme’s policy regarding tariff agreements;

– a Web site dedicated to the CHIS was launched during the summer, the contents of which concentrate

on providing the essential points of the Scheme;

– a public meeting with the Members of the Scheme was held in October in order to inform them of the

proposed changes regarding hospitalization.

Voluntary Programmes

The Organization operates voluntary programmes that offer possibilities for flexibility in working time,

attenuate difficulties in the transmission of know-how to younger staff, and have a significant impact on the

Organization’s personnel budget. There are three such voluntary programmes: one open to all staff (the Saved

Leave Scheme, SLS), and two others open to staff aged 55 and over (the Progressive Retirement Programme,

and a scheme of part-time work as a pre-retirement measure).

The SLS, a modification of the previous Recruitment by Saved Leave scheme (RSL), was introduced in

January 2001. Most of the staff previously on the RSL continued under the new scheme while those newly

attracted to the scheme significantly increased the overall level of participation. The number of SLS ‘slices’,

which had risen from about 1500 to 1680 between January and December 2001, showed a further increase in

2002 reaching 1780 ‘slices’ by the end of the year.

The two programmes open to staff aged 55 and over aim to facilitate progressive retirement and contribute

to rejuvenating the staff age distribution whilst retaining the know-how and expertise of experienced staff on a

part-time basis.

The Progressive Retirement Programme (PRP), implemented in 1997, offers the possibility to work half-

time in a flexible way until retirement, while receiving 70% of salary. The staff member and the Organization

cease to make contributions to the Pension Fund, and the staff member foregoes any further accumulation of

pension rights. By the end of 2002, 213 staff had signed up to the programme. This represents a participation

of 97 staff (or 75 full-time equivalents) over the full year.


The scheme for part-time work (between 60 and 80% working hours), as a pre-retirement measure was

introduced in 1994. Remuneration is reduced pro-rata with the reduction in working time, but staff have the

choice to contribute to the Pension Fund on a pro-rata or on a full-time basis. It catered for 49 individual

situations in 2002.

Relations with Staff

The Human Resources Division organizes public meetings to inform staff about important changes in

employment issues. Further to Divisional information meetings on the new career structure in 2001, a series of

information and training sessions for supervisors were held at the beginning of 2002 in preparation for the first

year of implementation of the Merit Advancement and Promotion Scheme (MAPS).

HR Division also makes substantial use of CERN’s Weekly Bulletin to announce decisions and to

communicate (changes in) administrative procedures. The HR Division Web site has established itself as an

important element in the communication with staff, and in 2002 was used to support the communication on the

new career structure and the internal mobility scheme.

The Management meets regularly with the Staff Association, which represents the personnel on a

collective basis. HR Division participates actively in such meetings — the Standing Concertation Committee

(SCC), the Tripartite Employment Conditions Forum (TREF), and in different working groups within these

committees.

In the SCC, proposals of both parties concerning any matter regarding the employment conditions of the

members of the personnel are discussed and a recommendation to the Director-General is formulated. In 2002,

the Committee met 14 times and discussed, in particular, aspects regarding the implementation of MAPS and

the proposed introduction of Local Staff.

TREF consists of representatives of the Member States, Management, and the Staff Association. Its

mandate is to study remuneration and employment conditions at CERN. It is not a decision-making body, but,

as the name suggests, allows an exchange of views of the three parties. Such an exchange leads to a better

mutual understanding and facilitates the adoption of constructive solutions to problems.

Major issues examined by the Forum, which met five times in 2002, were the three-yearly review of the

CERN Pension Fund, cost containment measures concerning the CERN Health Insurance Scheme, the

proposed introduction of Local Staff, and the Human Resources Plan 2003–2010, which was submitted to the

Council in December 2002.

About the Division

Legal Work

Legal support was provided by HR to various working groups and committees. This included in particular

advice regarding the introduction of the Local Staff members category and related amendments to the Staff


Rules & Regulations as well as participation in the implementation of the new career structure. Several

administrative or operational circulars were drafted or revised and submitted to the Standing Concertation

Committee, in particular relating to the new Home Leave procedure, which required significant modifications

of the rules.

The rate of litigation cases continued to increase in 2002, in particular on complex and important issues for

HR (social protection, non-resident allowance, assimilation in the new career structure). Numerous requests

for advice by individuals concerning their administrative situation, their fiscal status, and their social

protection (health insurance, accidents, and illnesses) also required an additional effort.

Application of Social and Statutory Conditions

With Members of Personnel coming from all over the world and working and living in two different states

(Switzerland and France), HR Division provides administrative and social services linked to their installation

and their life in the local area which are more numerous and complex than in most other organizations. Typical

examples are listed in the table below.

Some administrative tasks performed in 2002

Payments and reimbursements No.

Official travel (including on joining and leaving CERN)Education (school fees, etc.)Installation indemnitiesHome leaveRemovalsReimbursement of invited candidatesOther reimbursements

63212558184

1493183223596

Integration in local area and family status

Legitimation documentsFormalities for new members of personnelInduction Programme sessions Staff Members invited to the Induction sessions Fellows invited to the Induction sessionsAttestations

6170917129995

972

Contractual actions

Contracts (excluding Users)Changes of family statusOther contractual actions

128111185053


Simplification of Procedures

Home Leave

The new system of calculating and making automatic payments for home leave came into force on 1 June

2002 as part of the general simplification of administrative procedures. This new tool, the outcome of

18 months’ intensive and fruitful collaboration between AS and HR Divisions, has cut down the number of

administrative steps involved, simplified the work of the divisional secretariats in particular, and made it

possible for those with home-leave entitlements to submit such leave requests directly over the EDH system

and at all times to check dates when this leave may be taken and the estimated scale of the benefit. The new

procedure has proved a real success, accompanied as it has been by a strong internal publicity effort. It has

been very widely welcomed by those applying for leave and its smooth introduction, just before the summer

period, a time frame when a large number of requests are generated within a short space of time, has

demonstrated its value. By 31 December 2002, 1100 sets of home leave had been processed automatically.

CERN Cards and Installation Services

Great strides were made in simplifying procedures with regard to identity documents and registration of

cars on consular and diplomatic plates in France.

Identity Documents

Application forms for French cards and other documentation concerned with day-to-day identity card

administration have been posted on the Web. This has resulted in considerable improvement to the level of

service provided to members of the personnel. Moreover, e-mails sent out automatically to members of the

personnel some weeks before the expiry of various identity documents have made for better follow-up of files

connected with their replacement.

Vehicle Registration

Application forms for registration on consular or diplomatic plates and requests for exemption from VAT

have been posted on the Web, facilitating and rationalizing the registration procedure.