Employment conditions and benefits for staff recruited on category STF-SP

Duration of contracts

The duration of contract will depend on the length of the programme (Article 5 of the Staff Regulations).

Probationary period

Probation period of three months (Article 7 of the Staff Regulations).

Remuneration

The remuneration is a fixed amount agreed by the sponsor (Article 14.2 of the Staff Regulations).

Income tax

The remuneration received from ECMWF is exempt from national income tax.

Social security

Staff members are exempt from paying national insurance contributions in the UK. However, it is possible under certain conditions to pay into the scheme on a voluntary basis by paying Class 3 national insurance contributions.

Supplementary health insurance scheme

All staff members are required to contribute to ECMWF’s supplementary health insurance scheme for personal medical insurance. The insurance offered by this scheme is supplementary to the coverage available under any national health scheme. Staff members are required to contribute 1/3 of 4.32% of their basic salary, plus related allowances, to this scheme. The percentage rate is reviewed from time to time.

Annual leave

Staff members are entitled to paid annual leave at a rate of 2.5 working days for each month of service completed, i.e. 30 working days per year, plus official holidays (Article 33 of the Staff Regulations).

Maternity leave

The maternity leave entitlement is 20 weeks on full pay, provided the staff member has worked at ECMWF for at least six months (Article 36 of the Staff Regulations).

Sick leave

Staff members are entitled to paid sick leave for a maximum period of nine months on full pay, but periods of paid sick leave shall not extend beyond the end of the contract period (Article 35.5 of the Staff Regulations).

Working hours

The normal working week is from Monday to Friday inclusive and shall total 40 hours (Article 29 of the Staff Regulations).