Working at Eurofound

The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all EU citizens regardless of gender, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic characteristics, language, religious, political or other convictions or opinions, belonging to a national minority, financial situation, birth, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status or family situation. Eurofound selects candidates on the basis of merit in accordance with criteria that relate to the job and the requirements of the individual who will fill that role.

Selection procedures at Eurofound are open to nationals of the 28 European Union (EU) Member States. There is no national quota system in operation but the Staff Regulations require agencies to strive for a broad balance among nationalities.

Eurofound employs statutory staff as Officials, Temporary Agents and Contract Agents. Temporary Agents and Contract Agents are initially employed on fixed term contracts which may become indefinite on renewal.

• How to apply for a job at Eurofound
• Data protection
• Conditions of employment
• Interim / Temporary Agency staff
• Visiting researchers
• Seconded National Experts (SNEs)
• Spontaneous applications

How to apply for a job at Eurofound

Candidates are eligible to apply for a vacancy, on condition that they have full rights as a citizen, that they have fulfilled any obligations imposed on them by laws concerning military service and that they meet the criteria outlined in the vacancy notice.

Generally the selection process is structured along the following lines: the vacancy is published on Eurofound’s website as well as the EPSO site. Interested candidates - who consider that they meet the criteria must register and complete the application form through Eurofound's online system. In relation to applications and language skills, please see the European language levels - Self-assessment grid.

1. Candidates must submit completed applications through Eurofound’s online recruitment system via the Vacancies page. The system will automatically generate an email acknowledgement.
2. In order to be considered, applications must be received before 23.55 hrs GMT on the closing date indicated in the vacancy notice. Applicants are advised to send in their application well ahead of the deadline. Applications cannot be admitted to the selection procedure after the deadline.
3. Candidates are asked to report any change of contact details, as they will be informed of the decisions taken in their case at the end of each stage.
4. In preparing their applications, candidates may not refer to documents, applications or other forms submitted in connection with previous applications.
5. Candidates should ensure that the email address provided on the application is correct (and that the mailbox is not full), as most correspondence will be by email.
6. All applications received through the online recruitment system by the closing date and who fulfil the eligibility criteria set out in the vacancy notice, will be made available to the Selection Committee.
7. The Selection Committee will examine the applications and draw up a shortlist of candidates who fulfil the selection criteria set out in the vacancy notice. It will base its decision exclusively on the information given on the application form. Candidates who do not fulfil the requisite conditions for admission, or who have not properly completed their application, will be excluded at this stage.
8. Candidates who achieve a minimum of the pass mark of 70% in the shortlisting process will be invited to interview with the Selection Committee. In certain selection procedures, a maximum may be applied to the number of candidates to be invited to interview. Candidates who are invited to interview may be entitled to reimbursement and travelling expenses: see Rules of reimbursement for interviewees. Interviews are conducted through English. For candidates whose mother tongue is English, part of the interview will be carried out in their second language. 
   ​Candidates will also be required to take written tests in:
   - English, or in their second language if their mother-tongue is English (pass mark 50%);
   - a competencies test (to be taken in English) comprising, for example, multiple choice questions and/or a case study, relevant to the role (pass mark 60%);
   - For some selection procedures, candidates may be required to take psychometric tests, perhaps attending an assessment centre. Where this is required, it will be explicit in the vacancy notice.
   - Failure to achieve the qualifying mark in any of the tests will result in exclusion from the selection procedure.
9. Candidates who are invited for interview will be required to produce proof of nationality as well as copies of their diplomas, academic qualifications and employment certificates.
10. A reserve list of the most suitable candidates (achieving the qualifying mark in the interview and tests) is established and appointments are made from this list. Normally, reserve lists remain in force for  up to 2 years from the closing date of the procedure and may be extended.
11. Before successful candidates are appointed they are required to undertake a pre-employment medical examination.

Appeals

A candidate who feels that a mistake has been made during the selection procedure may ask to have his/her application reconsidered by sending, within 20 calendar days from the date on the communication informing him/her of the decision, a request for review, quoting the number of the selection procedure to the Chairperson of the Selection Committee at the following address:

Chairperson of the Selection Committee
Selection procedure reference: EF-XX-00-00 (as appropriate)
Eurofound
​Wyattville Road
Loughlinstown
Dublin D18 KP65
Ireland

The Selection Committee will reconsider the application and notify the candidate of its decision within 30 calendar days of receipt of the letter.

If a candidate considers that he/she has been adversely affected by a particular decision, he/she can lodge a complaint under Article 90(2) of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities, at the following address:

Executive Director
Eurofound
Wyattville Road
Loughlinstown
Dublin D18 KP65
Ireland

The complaint must be lodged within three months. The time limit for initiating this type of procedure (see Staff Regulations) starts to run from the time the candidate is notified of the act adversely affecting him/her.

Like all citizens of the European Union, candidates can make a complaint to:

European Ombudsman
1, avenue du Président Robert Schuman — CS 30403
67001 Strasbourg Cedex
France

• European Ombudsman: How to make a complaint

Note: complaints made to the Ombudsman have no suspensive effect on the period laid down in Articles 90(2) and 91 of the Staff Regulations for lodging complaints or for submitting appeals to the Civil Service Tribunal under Article 270 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Note also that, under Article 2(4) of the general conditions governing the performance of the Ombudsman's duties, any complaint lodged with the Ombudsman must be preceded by the appropriate administrative approaches to Eurofound.

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Data protection

Any personal data provided by the candidate shall be processed pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No. 45/2001 and Decision No. 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39-98).

In accordance with Articles 17 and 18 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, the candidate shall have the right of access to his/her personal data and the right to rectify any identifying data that is inaccurate or incomplete at any time. However, rectification of data relating to the eligibility or selection criteria will not be possible after the closing date for receipt of applications. The data controller is the Head of Human Resources Unit; data will be processed by members of HR Unit and the Selection Committee. The purpose of the processing operations of these data is to allow Eurofound to carry out the selection procedure in order to fill in the post as advertised out in the vacancy notice. The legal basis of this processing is articles 27-34 of the Staff Regulations and articles 12-15 and 82-84 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union (CEOS).

Should the candidate have any queries concerning the processing of his/her personal data, s/he shall address them to Human Resources at recruit@eurofound.europa.eu. For further remarks and/or complaints regarding the processing of his/her personal data, the candidate may contact Eurofound’s Data Protection Officer by sending his/her request to DataProtectionOfficer@eurofound.europa.eu. The candidate may also have recourse at any time and lodge a complaint with the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS). For more information please read Eurofound's Privacy Statement on the processing of personal data related to Recruitment. You may consult Eurofound’s general data protection notice.

• About us: Data protection

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Conditions of employment

Staff of Eurofound are covered by the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Communities and Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities (01.01.2014)

Place of employment

Dublin, Ireland. Residence within reasonable distance of Eurofound’s offices will be required in accordance with the Staff Regulations (Article 20).

Probation

Successful candidates who are recruited for a contract of at least one year undergo an initial period of probation of 9 months.

Remuneration

The initial basic monthly salary is according to the salary table under Article 66 for Officials and Temporary Agents and Article 93 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants, as amended. It will, where appropriate, be increased by the allowances set out in the relevant Staff Regulations or Conditions of Employment.

Remuneration is subject to Community tax and other deductions laid down in the Staff Regulations. It is exempt from any national income taxation and staff are members of the European Commission’s social security and pension schemes.

The grading and remuneration of Temporary Agents and Contract Agents are the same as those in the European Commission. The current salary weighting factor for Ireland is 116.6%.

The following table provides examples of salaries of two starting grades, taking into account some possible scenarios:

Summary of other conditions of employment

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Interim / Temporary Agency staff

Eurofound occasionally engages local temporary agency staff to cover short-term vacancies, e.g. maternity leave. The current service provider is Orange Recruitment. 

Visiting Researchers

Eurofound occasionally hosts Visiting Researchers who can collaborate in and complement research projects. Visiting Researchers are mostly academic researchers with grants from their university or institution. They receive no financial support from Eurofound. Anyone interested in a research visit at Eurofound should send a letter of motivation and cv to: recruit@eurofound.europa.eu .

Seconded National Experts (SNEs)

Eurofound occasionally engages the services of Seconded National Experts, according to the European Commission’s rules.

Spontaneous applications

Eurofound does not accept spontaneous applications and does not keep such applications or curricula vitae (CVs). Only applications for vacancies published on this website and submitted through the online recruitment system can be considered.

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