This article covers the topic of salary for Secretaries and Clerks in Function Group AST/SC 5 in the European Commission. The information about AST/SC5 salary also directly applies to staff of the European Parliament, European Council, EU agencies and all other EU institutions.

Basic salary

The amount of basic salary depends on which grade (1-6) and step in each grade (1-5) the staff member finds himself/herself in. The monthly ‘basic salary’ for Secretaries and Clerks in Function Group AST/SC 5 in the European Commission ranges from EUR 4499 for step I to EUR 5090 for step 5.

Complete remuneration package

Knowing the monthly ‘basic salary’ does not tell you much about your final take-home pay and the full remuneration package. There are two reasons for this.

Firstly, the basic salary can make up anything between ~85% and 130% or more of your total remuneration package depending on whether you are entitled to the various allowances. This is especially so if you are an expat or/and have children.

Secondly, the country you are employed in has a significant impact on your total salary due to the European Commission ‘Correction Coefficient‘. Brussels is used as reference, so if you work for EU institutions in Belgium, you get 100% of your salary and allowances. However, if you work for an EU agency in Scandinavia, your salary and allowances will upped by 18-31% to compensate for higher living costs. Conversely, if you will work for the EU in Bulgaria, you will get only 55% of what your Brussels colleague gets due to what Eurostat considers are lower living costs. More on the impact of the Correction Coefficient below.

Secretaries and Clerks’ remuneration by family and residence status

Below is a sample calculation of an AST/SC5 take-home pay with allowances for four common scenarios for a person employed as ‘Secretary and Clerk’ in Brussels, Belgium.

SECRETARIES AND CLERKS AST/SC5
Basic Pay	4499	4499	4499	4499
Household allowance	0	285	0	285
Dependent child allowance	0	858	0	858
Expatriation allowance	0	0	891	891
Pension contribution	-447	-447	-447	-447
Sickness insurance contribution	-75	-75	-75	-75
Accident insurance contribution	-4	-4	-4	-4
Tax	-129	-129	-129	-129
Special levy	-48	-48	-48	-48
TOTAL REMUNERATION	3796	4939	4687	5830

N.B. Please treat the above values only as indicative, because only your EU institution can do a precise calculation based on your individual circumstances and the full set of EU rules.

On top of the above, children would either be guaranteed a place in the European School, or a single Education Allowance per child. The expat family would also get an annual travel grant for each family member, the amount of which depends on distance between Brussels and your home city (as an example, an Italian family from Rome would get around 1000 EUR per family member).

European Commission 2022 salary scale for Secretaries and Clerks AST/SC

Impact of Correction Coefficient on AST/SC5 basic pay

The below table shows you the actual Secretaries and Clerks AST/SC 5 basic pay according to the location of your institution. This site has a dedicated article about the Correction Coefficient if you want to find out more.

Take into account that your allowances will also be adjusted by the Correction Coefficient. If you will work not in Brussels, but in another EU location, you should multiply the grand total values in the “scenarios table” above with the appropriate Correction Coefficient value to get an approximate figure of your take-home pay.

Allowances and other benefits for EU institutions staff

Several allowances and other benefits can quite significantly boost an EU official’s income. This largely depends on whether the person is an expat and has a spouse and/or children. When considering a job at an EU institution, people too often do not take these benefits into account. Important – these benefits are available to Administrators in grades AD 5-16, Assistants in grades AST 1-11, Secretaries and Clerks in grades AST/SC 1-6, and Contract Agents in grades FG I-IV.

• Travel costs on taking up duties
• Daily subsistence allowance (during probation period)
• Installation allowance and coverage of removal costs (one-time payments)
• Expatriation allowance or Foreign Residence allowance
• Household allowance
• Dependent child allowance
• European School enrollment for children or Education allowance if there is no local EU school
• Healthcare costs reimbursement to a level of 80-85% through the EU’s Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme (JSIS) for the employee and any direct family members and dependents. 100% reimbursement of costs in case of a serious illness
• Accident insurance
• Annual travel compensation
• Birth grant
• Parental leave
• Unemployment allowance
• Removal expenses when leaving your home country and again when leaving your EU institution
• EU pension, survivors and orphan’s pensions, invalidity allowance
• Lump sum payments in case of permanent invalidity or death
• Lump sum funeral expenses, up to EUR 2350

RELATED ARTICLES ON SECRETARIES AND CLERKS’ SALARIES:
* Salary of Secretaries and Clerks AST/SC 1
* Salary of Secretaries and Clerks AST/SC 2
* Salary of Secretaries and Clerks AST/SC 3
* Salary of Secretaries and Clerks AST/SC 4
* Salary of Secretaries and Clerks AST/SC 6

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This article is based on the European Commission Staff Regulations and other publicly available information such as EU institutions’ vacancy announcements.

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