Intergovernmental organisations periodically review the financial and social conditions they provide to ensure they correspond to their needs. At CERN, the applicable procedure is defined in Annex A1 of the Staff Rules and Regulations: “In accordance with Article S V 1.02 of the Staff Rules and Regulations, the periodic reviews of the financial and social conditions of members of the personnel consist of a five-yearly general review of financial and social conditions (…) and an annual review of basic salaries, stipends, subsistence allowances and family benefits (…). In the framework of the five-yearly review, the Council may also decide to review any of the procedures defined for application at subsequent reviews.”

In respect of staff members, the purpose of the five-yearly review is to ensure that the financial and social conditions offered by the Organization allow it to recruit and retain the staff required for the execution of its mission from all its Member States. For fellows, it is to ensure that the financial and social conditions offered to them remain attractive compared to those in comparable research institutions.

Insofar as associated members of the personnel (MPAs) are concerned, the purpose of the five-yearly review is to ensure that the financial and social conditions offered by the Organization allow it to host MPAs in its research facilities, taking into account the highest cost-of-living level in the local region.

The five-yearly review procedure, which is driven and coordinated by the Human Resources (HR) Department, normally lasts no less than two years from initial data collection to approval by the Council of the Management’s proposals, following which the implementation phase formally begins.

The Management’s proposals are elaborated after consideration of input from various services across the Organization. They are then subject to concertation with the Staff Association at the Standing Concertation Committee (SCC) before being discussed within the TRipartite Employment Forum (TREF) and subsequently submitted for approval by the Finance Committee (Staff Regulations) or the Council (Staff Rules).

The five-yearly review will formally begin on 1 January 2020, following the last meeting of TREF in 2019, which took place on 22 October and brought together Member State delegates, the Management and the Staff Association. At that meeting, an overview of the five-yearly review procedure and a summary of the main decisions taken in the framework of the last review were presented.

We will then look ahead at the needs and priorities of the Organization, based on input from a variety of sources and benchmarks, and define the approach and timescale.  You will find information and regular updates on https://hr-dep.web.cern.ch/content/5yr-2021.

As the main interested parties, we will keep you duly informed and updated through the webpages and dedicated public meetings. Watch this space!