A revised version of Administrative Circular No. 23 (Rev. 6), entitled “Special working hours”, has been approved by the Director-General and is available at the following link.

This version cancels and replaces the previous version of the circular (Rev. 5), dated October 2022.

The amendment updates and aligns the circular with the change to Staff Regulation R III 1.10 on “Compensation and remuneration during duty travel”, which entered into force on 1 July 2023 and allows the Director-General, under strict conditions, to grant compensation or remuneration for special working hours performed during duty travel. It further clarifies that such compensation may be granted only where the activity concerned has been clearly defined and where the nature of the work genuinely requires the performance of special working hours at the duty travel destination. 

The amendment does not introduce case-by-case discretion but allows the Director-General to define, for specific projects, the conditions under which such working hours may be compensated or remunerated.

The revised Circular entered into force on 1 April 2026.