This article covers just the salary and related benefits of the Intermediate Level European Border and Coast Guards. If you want to get a broader overview, read this article about the European Border and Coast Guard Standing Corps.
The ‘full salary package’ of the Intermediate Level Frontex border guard greatly depends on whether you are a foreigner in Poland and whether you have dependents. Read below on how this is calculated.
* Polish residents without children can expect a monthly paycheck of EUR 2748.
* Foreigners without children can expect a monthly paycheck of EUR 3399.
* Foreigners with children can expect a monthly paycheck of EUR 3961.
Basic salary and benefits
Remember that the ‘basic salary’ forms only approximately 50-60% of the total remuneration package, plus, there are significant other benefits of employment like health insurance and pension rights.
| Type of benefit | Amount in EUR |
|---|---|
| Basic salary (after deductions) | AST 4, step 1 = EUR 2328 AST 4, step 2 = EUR 2416 |
| Household allowances | AST 4, step 1 = EUR 187 AST 4, step 2 = EUR 189 |
| Expatriation allowance | AST 4, step 1 = EUR 464 – 629 AST 4, step 2 = EUR 484 – 649 |
| Foreign residence allowance | AST 4, step 1 = EUR 116 – 157 AST 4, step 2 = EUR 121 – 162 |
| Dependent child allowances for each child | EUR 281 |
| Preschool allowance | EUR 69 |
| Education allowance | EUR 382 |
| Shift allowance | EUR 420 – 946 |
| Standby duty allowance | EUR 2 per hour during weekdayEUR 4 EUR per hour during weekends / public holidays |
A sample calculation
The below table and text is an overview of the full-benefits package of a successful candidate in three scenarios:
1) Polish resident with no children
2) Foreigner in Poland with no children
3) Foreigner in Poland with 2 children
If you are a Polish citizen or have resided in Poland for the past five years, you will not receive the Household, Expatriation and Foreign residence allowances. However, you can count on the rest of the benefits.
| Type of benefit | Polish resident, no children | Non-Polish resident, no children | Non-Polish resident, 2 children |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic salary (after deductions) | EUR 2328 | EUR 2328 | EUR 2328 |
| Household allowances | EUR 0 | EUR 187 | EUR 187 |
| Expatriation allowance | EUR 0 | EUR 464 | EUR 464 |
| Foreign residence allowance | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Dependent child allowances for each child | EUR 0 | EUR 0 | EUR 281 x 2 = EUR 562 |
| Preschool allowance | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Education allowance (up to) | Yes, if you have children | n/a | EUR 382 x 2 = EUR 764 (Paid according to real expenses like entry and regular fees, transportation) NOT COUNTED IN THE TOTAL SUM |
| Shift allowance | EUR 420+ | EUR 420+ | EUR 420+ |
| Standby duty allowance | Depends on duties | Depends on duties | Depends on duties |
| TOTAL: | At least EUR 2748 | At least EUR 3399 | At least EUR 3961 (not counting Education allowance) |
Other benefits
There will also be a number of other benefits:
- Reimbursement of tuition costs. Costs of school or kindergarten on Polish soil for each child (aged of 2.5 years and up) will be reimbursed up to a limit of 35 000 Polish Zloty (approx. EUR 7650) per school year. This will be discontinued when a European School is opened in Warsaw as children of Frontex staff will be able to attend it for free.
- VAT reimbursement on household items purchases within a 12 months period.
- VAT reimbursement on car purchase, once every 3 years.
- Annual leave. Staff is entitled to 24 annual leave days and additional days of leave depending on the grade and age. Additional 2.5 leave days are granted to non-Polish staff to compensate for travel to their home country.
- EU pension rights. Entitlement to an EU pension after at least 10 years of service. Pension rights acquired in a national pension scheme may be transferred into the EU pension system. If you leave Frontex (or any other EU institution) before the 10 years, you can transfer out the accumulated pension capital.
- Health insurance for you and each family dependent family member. JSIS, the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme reimburses 80-85% of costs of most health care services.
- Usually new employees of EU agencies are also entitled to the Daily Subsistence Allowance for either the first four months (34.76 EUR per day) or 10 months (43.11 EUR per day) of employment (period depends on residence status and family situation). However, it is unclear from the vacancy announcement whether the Frontex Border Guards would be entitled to this allowance.
Contract duration and probation period
Contract type. Under the ‘Intermediate Level’, candidates are offered an initial contract of 5 years that can be prolonged once to another 5 years. This means that after 10 years in one post the officer’s contract will run out. If you will want to stay with Frontex, you will have to get another post before the 10-year deadline.
This is contrary to the European Commission practice that temporary agents (grades AD and AST) are granted indefinite contracts after serving two 5-year contracts.
There is a probation period of nine months. It is unclear from the Frontex vacancy announcement when the probation period is started – 1st day of training of 1st day of assuming duties with the agency.
Vacancy announcement
You can download the full Frontex Border Guard 2019 vacancy announcement here. It should be very similar to all the upcoming rounds of selections of the European Border and Coast Guard Officers.
You might also want to read these articles:
– Salary and benefits – European Border and Coast Guard Officer, Basic Level (FG IV)
– Salary and benefits – European Border and Coast Guard Officer, Advanced Level (AD7)
Do you have any questions or suggestions for this article? Please comment below and let’s make this resource better for other readers!
Which level of salary would I get with twenty years of duty experience? Both for AST4 (intermediate) and FGIV (basic)