New staff contract policy

Following discussion at TREF and on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, Council approved a new staff contract policy, which became effective on 1 January 2006. Its application is covered by a new Administrative Circular No. 2 (Rev. 3) 'Recruitment, appointment and possible developments regarding the contractual position of staff members'. The revised circular replaces the previous Circulars No. 9 (Rev. 3) 'Staff contracts' and No. 2 (Rev. 2) 'Guidelines and procedures concerning recruitment and probation period for staff members'. The main features of the new contract policy are as follows:

  1. The new policy provides chances for long-term employment for all staff recruits staying for four years without distinguishing between those assigned to long-term or short-term activities when joining CERN. In addition, it presents a number of simplifications for the award of ICs.

  2. There are henceforth only 2 types of contract: Limited Duration (LD) contracts for all recruitment and Indefinite Contracts (IC) for long-term employment. Fixed-Term contracts have been eliminated.

  3. The duration of LD contracts at recruitment is normally 4 years unless particular circumstances call for shorter periods (e.g. the availability of funds, length of project contribution). They may be extended for up to 6 years in certain circumstances and very exceptionally to 9 years for LHC-related activities or for similar projects.

  4. All staff members on a four-year LD contract are considered for an IC during the 4th year of service. The main assessment criteria for IC review are the same as under the former contract policy. Decisions are prepared via a contract review involving a departmental panel including the Human Resources Coordinator and two experts from other departments. HR shall organize the sharing of information between departments to ensure that only fully convincing candidates are recommended positively. The departmental proposals are collected and summarised by HR Department for submission to the Director-General for decision, after consultation of the Executive Board.

  5. Where contracts of staff members are terminated, assistance in securing or facilitating the transition to alternative employment may be considered under certain circumstances.
    Transition arrangements are foreseen for staff members currently holding limited duration contracts or fixed-term contracts.

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The new Administrative Circular No. 2 may be consulted on the HR website under

The website will also soon be expanded to provide answers to frequently asked questions.

In addition, the Human Resources Coordinators are available for further, more individual questions.

Human Resources Department

by HR Department