STAFF ASSOCIATION - PUBLIC MEETING Q&A - PART II
8) At the moment it seems that the contribution from CERN to the pension fund stays with the pension fund and only the individual contribution is paid out to departing member of personnel who contributed for less than 5 years (mostly affecting fellows). Are you planning to initiate change here?
The entitlement of the transfer value is regulated by Article II 1.111 of the CERN Pension Fund Rules and Regulation2 , and indeed for those who contributed to the pension fund less than five years this is the only option.
The calculation is described in Article II 1.123 and is 14.7% of the reference salary for each of the first ten years of service.
The contributions are described in Article II 1.07 and for those who joined CERN on or after 1st January 2012 they are: member: 12.64%; Organization: 18.96%; total: 31.60%. So, the transfer value is about 2% higher than the individual contribution.
The question of transfer values is one of the main subjects discussed by a Working Group on Pension Fund (PF) Parameters and Factors, where the Staff Association participates actively. The conclusions of this Working Group will be reported probably next year.
[1] Where a member has less than five years of service upon termination of membership for a reason other than death or total disability, a transfer value shall be paid into another pension scheme or to the member himself or, at his request, the amount held by the Fund for a maximum period of one year. The member has one year to inform the Fund of his selection, failing which he shall be deemed to have chosen to have the transfer value paid to him.
[2] PF Rules and Regulations - Amended version 01.01.2021.pdf (cern.ch)
[3] The transfer value is calculated on the basis of the final reference salary by adding the following amounts: a) 14.7% of the reference salary for each of the first ten years of service
9) What is the status of the Staff Association (SA) supporting and adjusting the rights of Associated members of the personnel (MPAs) to (Employed members of the personnel) (MPEs), especially with reference to having access to the CERN pension fund, remunerated maternity/paternity leave and unemployment insurance?
Firstly, we must clarify the differences between MPAs and MPEs. MPAs are not employed by CERN, the social insurance coverage must be provided by their employer. It includes the pension, health insurance, remunerated maternity, paternity, and co-parent leave, schoolfees, etc …
Consequently, the Staff Association can only have some requests for MPEs in these areas.
However, following the SA requests, a “Technical Working Group on Financial Resources of Associated members of personnel employed by an external institute” continues its work on how to consider the negative impact of the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) taxation following Management’s decision in December 2020.
In addition, there is an ongoing request to clarify the definitions of an employment and collaboration contract with reference tothe national laws applicable in the home institutes.
10) If someone becomes sick and it’s expected that the sick leave will exceed 12 months, in that case, can someone take out the UNIQA insurance right as their sick leave starts and then after 12 months get paid their full salary?
The Staff Association insurance against loss of earnings covers members of the Staff Association who can subscribe, on a voluntary basis to an insurance against loss of earnings, which makes up for the salary loss incurred over a period of a sliding 36-month period. You can subscribe here: Insurance against loss of salary | Staff Association (cern.ch)
According to Article R II 4.13 of the Staff Rules and Regulations: in any period of 36 months, full remuneration shall be paid for the first 12 months of sick leave, followed by two-thirds remuneration for 18 months by the CERN, the additional third is then paid by UNIQA.
It is important to know that all newly insured members are subject to a waiting period of one year before being entitled to the benefits of this cover.
11) The graduate program is particularly unattractive for the engineers and the software developers. Shouldn’t the level of remuneration depend on the actual job? Reality is that a young graduate in HR won’t get the same salary as a software engineer in the private sector.
The reduction of the stipends has been minimised by the Staff Association during the concertation process, however other social and financial conditions including the social coverage for all the new graduates are welcomed.
The Staff Association expects a close monitoring of the attractiveness of the programme.
