*Update 05.02.2025 Check out the instructions here on the single social security system [1].*
Original article: In two recent rulings, the European Court of Justice judged about the payments of social security contributions where you are in active employment for the EU institutions (or retired already) and work in a second job in a Member State. In one phrase: you do not need to pay social security contributions on the income of this second job.
Before we dive into the judgements, let us remind you that in order to work a second job [2], you need the prior agreement [3] of the Appointing Authority. We warn you in advance that “forgetting” to ask for such a prior agreement is not taken lightly by HR (IDOC activity report 2021 [4], pp. 10-11).
Colleagues in active employment for the EU, be they officials, Contract Agents or temporary agents, are compulsorily insured in JSIS as their health-insurance scheme. In the case under judgement, the colleague had worked as a teacher for up to 20 hours/year (with the prior agreement of the Appointing Authority). He was asked by the Member State to pay social security contributions on the income from this second activity. The Court of Justice ruled in C‑195/23 [5] that this is not allowed: while the member state can tax the income from the second job, social security contributions of EU officials are exclusively subject to the social security scheme of the EU Institutions.
In a similar judgement for retired colleagues, the Court ruled that also colleagues who have worked until their retirement for the EU (and therefore continue to be insured in JSIS during their retirement) receive a similar treatment. As stated in C‑415/22 [6], a pensioner in such a situation who is pursuing a self-employed activity cannot be obliged to pay social security contributions into the social security scheme of the EU member state.
As always, we appreciate your feedback [7].
toolTips('.classtoolTips23','Contract Agents (CAs) were created by the 2004 staff regulations Reform. There are two types of CA: those with unlimited contracts, 3A [8] (‘indefinite’) and those with time-limited contracts [9], 3B [10]. CAs can belong to 4 different function groups (\'GF\') with different responsibilities and salaries [11].
As the use of contract staff becomes increasingly common, there has been a corresponding increase in the diversity of status and pay of the Commission’s workforce. For example, GFIV contract staff meeting the same minimum recruitment requirements (education and experience) as junior administrators may earn 28 % less. (European Court of Auditors, 2019, Special report no 15/2019 [12]: Implementation of the 2014 staff reform package at the Commission – Big savings but not without consequences for staff, point 61, page 34)
We have a working group dedicated to the dossier, and in December 2012 we addressed the first of many letters (\'notes\') about Contract Agents to Human Resources of all Institutions and agencies [13] (here is the cover e-mail [14]).
As a background you can see the report of the Commission to the Council regarding the recruitment of the contract agents in 2010 [15] (in French, COM(2011)802 final 23.11.2011).
Our articles on Contract Agents [16]
'); toolTips('.classtoolTips45','Investigation and Disciplinary Office of the Commission https://myintracomm.ec.europa.eu/staff/en/staff-conduct/idoc/Pages/index.aspx [17]'); toolTips('.classtoolTips47','Trade union or staff association (OSP) [Organisation syndicale et professionnelle]');