ERA salaries

ERA salaries

This article provides estimated net salaries at ERA, the European Union Agency for Railways, located in Valenciennes, France.

ERA is an EU agency that promotes a harmonised approach to railway safety in Europe. ERA also has a role in advancing the technical and legal standards of rail traffic in the EU and its neighbourhood. The agency also issues, vehicle authorisations and single safety certificates. It was established in 2004 and had its mandate significantly extended in 2019.

Most EU institutions, including ERA, do a notoriously poor job in communicating their salaries. Very often EU agencies and other EU institutions just indicate the gross basic pay without deductions and allowances, and quite many do not adjust it by the Correction Coefficient which can have a significant impact on an employee’s net take-home pay.

This makes it very hard for people without experience in the EU system to understand one’s actual future income, and is a hindrance for quite many people already employed in EU institutions that consider a career change.

This article series will seek to address the lack of information on actual net salaries in EU agencies and other institutions.

As usual for this type of information, bear in mind the caveat that your precise salary can be calculated only by the EU institution’s HR department that knows your particular professional and personal circumstances.

The salaries below are presented according to four typical personal/family situations of future employees:

  • by type of contract (Contract Agent, Administrator, Assistant, Secretary and Clerk) and
  • function group (FGI-FGIV, AD5-AD16, AST1-AST11, AST/SC1-AST/SC6).

The mentioned personal/family situations are:

Situation 01Situation 02Situation 03Situation 04
Single local with no childrenMarried local with two childrenSingle expat with no childrenMarried expat with two children
The term ‘local’ refers to nationals of the country where the EU institution has its headquarters. The term ‘expat’ refers to employees of the said EU institution that have a nationality of another EU member state.
Video about ERA

To get an idea of your actual salary at ERA, you should look at the right cell in one of the four columns in the tables below that best corresponds to your personal/family situation. In calculating these values we have summed up not only the basic salary, but also the applicable allowances and deductions: household allowance, child allowances, expatriation allowance, pension contribution, sickness, accident and unemployment insurance, as well as community tax. All values in the last four columns are also adjusted by the relevant European Commission’s Correction Coefficient, so they present a realistic approximation of take-home pay/full remuneration package calculation.

The information below gives you a realistic estimate of what you can expect to earn at ERA. People interested in working for EU institutions often only look up the basic pay for their type of contract and grade. This is a mistake as the actual net salary can differ up or down quite a bit, compared to the basic salary.

If you want to understand what elements constitute the full salary package in the EU institutions and their weight in the total remuneration calculation, please read the article applicable to your type of contract: Contract Agents, Administrators, Assistants, Secretaries and Clerks.

How to read the tables

Here’s an explanation of how to read the tables below.

Let’s assume that you have applied for an AD6 Administrator’s vacancy in ERA. You are an Italian national (any nationality except French fits here) with a spouse and two children. From the table below you can deduct that your basic salary without any adjustments would be EUR 5669, however, by working for ERA in Valenciennes, your net take-home remuneration package would be around EUR 8251. A French national with a similar family situation would earn EUR 6952.

Contract Agent salaries at ERA

FUNC-TION GROUPBASIC SALARYCOR-RECTION COEF-FICIENT01| Single local with no children02| Married local with 2 children03| Single expat with no children04| Married expat with 2 children
FG I step 12128118.72227352929184220
FG II step 42211118.72302360629924297
FG III step 82831118.72927424636754994
FG IV step 133624118.73673500245665904
Contract agent salaries at ERA

Administrator salaries at ERA

FUNC-TION GROUPBASIC SALARYCOR-RECTION COEF-FICIENT01| Single local with no children02| Married local with 2 children03| Single expat with no children04| Married expat with 2 children
AD 55011118.74974634361457515
AD 65669118.75566695268648251
AD 76414118.76232763676759079
AD 87258118.76963838785699993
AD 98211118.777579203954810994
AD 109291118.78609100811060912081
AD 1110512118.79522110241175813260
AD 1211893118.710488120221299314527
AD 1313457118.711438130101424515817
AD 1415225118.712104137321537817006
AD 1517227118.713234149111691418591
AD 1619491118.714403161371853720272
Administrator salaries at ERA

Assistant salaries at ERA

FUNC-TION GROUPBASIC SALARYCOR-RECTION COEF-FICIENT01| Single local with no children02| Married local with 2 children03| Single expat with no children04| Married expat with 2 children
AST 13058118.73185450939785302
AST 23459118.73536486944065739
AST 33914118.73968531349276272
AST 44429118.74441579754986855
AST 55011118.74974634361457515
AST 65669118.75566695268648251
AST 76414118.76232763676759079
AST 87258118.76963838785699993
AST 98211118.777579203954810994
AST 109291118.78609100811060912081
AST 1110512118.79522110241175813260
Assistant salaries at ERA

Secretaries and Clerks salaries at ERA

FUNC-TION GROUPBASIC SALARYCOR-RECTION COEF-FICIENT01| Single local with no children02| Married local with 2 children03| Single expat with no children04| Married expat with 2 children
AST/SC 12745118.72839416435874912
AST/SC 23106118.73218454340115336
AST/SC 33514118.73529486744315769
AST/SC 43976118.74004534949636308
AST/SC 54499118.74506586355636920
AST/SC 65090118.75067643762397609
Secretaries and Clerks salaries at ERA

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.

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