Article 6

In addition to annual leave, a staff member may, on application, be granted special leave. In particular, in the following cases special leave shall be granted as shown:

• marriage of the staff member: four days,

• change of residence of the staff member: up to two days,

• serious illness of spouse: up to three days,

• death of spouse: four days,

• serious illness of a relative in the ascending line: up to two days,

• death of a relative in the ascending line: two days,

• marriage of a child: two days,

• birth of a child: 10 days, to be taken during the fourteen weeks following birth,

• birth of a disabled or seriously ill child: 20 days, to be taken during the fourteen weeks following the birth,

• death of the wife during maternity leave: a number of days corresponding to the remaining maternity leave; if the deceased wife is not a staff member, the remaining maternity leave is determined by applying the provisions of Article 52, by analogy,

• serious illness of a child: up to two days,

• very serious illness of a child, as certified by a doctor, or hospitalisation of a child aged 12 or under: up to five days,

• death of a child: four days,

• adoption of a child: 20 weeks, rising to 24 weeks in the case of the adoption of a disabled child:

  • Every adopted child shall confer entitlement to only one period of special leave, which may be shared between the adoptive parents if both are staff members. It shall be granted only if the staff member's spouse engages in a gainful activity at least half-time. If the spouse works outside the institutions of the Union and benefits from comparable leave, a corresponding number of days shall be deducted from the staff member's entitlement.

  • The AACC may, in case of necessity, grant additional special leave in cases where the national legislation of the country in which the adoption procedure takes place and which is not the country of employment of the adopting staff member requires a stay of one or both adoptive parents.

  • Special leave of 10 days shall be granted if the staff member does not benefit from the full special leave of 20 or 24 weeks by reason of the first sentence of this indent; this additional special leave shall be granted only once for each adopted child.

The Agency may also grant special leave in the case of further training and instruction, within the limits laid down in the further training and instruction programme drawn up by the Agency pursuant to Article 30.

Special leave may furthermore be granted to staff members on an exceptional basis in case of exceptional work which goes beyond a staff member's normal obligations. Such special leave shall be granted at the latest three months after the AACC has taken a decision on the exceptional character of the work of the staff member.

For the purposes of this Article, the unmarried partner of a staff member shall be treated as the spouse where the first three conditions in Article 1(2)(c) of Annex IV are met.

Where special leave is granted pursuant to this Section, any travelling time shall be fixed by a special decision taking into account particular needs.