Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1244/2014Show full title

CHAPTER 5 U.K. PROCEDURES FOR DEPLOYMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF EU AID VOLUNTEERS

Article 18 U.K. In-country induction

1. Hosting organisations shall ensure that all EU Aid Volunteers receive a thorough and appropriate in-country induction upon their arrival in the country of deployment, covering as a minimum the following:

(a) Organisation and management structure and processes; teams involved in the project (including project management officer, operational and technical team, crisis management officer, support teams such as human resources and finance); project site(s); and organisational mission and objectives in relation to the EU Aid Volunteers initiative;

(b) Comprehensive information on the hosting organisation's mission, remit and projects; communities involved; operational context; and expectations on outputs and results from the EU Aid Volunteer's task assignment and the needs assessment that underpins it;

(c) Relevant local legal framework applicable to the EU Aid Volunteer;

(d) Mandatory context-specific security briefing and health and safety briefing as provided for in Articles 28 and 30;

(e) Supervision and performance management system and procedure and support mechanisms in place, including mentoring and other support as provided for in Articles 19, 20 and 21;

(f) Cultural briefing on the country, region and locality of deployment, including guidance on appropriate behaviour;

(g) In-country debriefing process as provided for in Article 23.

2. The hosting organisation shall ensure that all information provided during the in-country induction process is read and understood by the EU Aid Volunteer and remains easily accessible throughout their participation in the EU Aid Volunteers initiative.

Article 19 U.K. Supervision and performance management

1. Sending and hosting organisations shall jointly develop a performance management system, based on performance objectives, expected outputs and results, to measure the progress and quality of the EU Aid Volunteer's work according to the task assignment.

2. The performance management procedure shall specify the sending and hosting organisations' respective roles and responsibilities for the supervision of the EU Aid Volunteer.

3. During the induction, the sending and hosting organisations shall set, together with the EU Aid Volunteer, their performance objectives and provide them with the opportunity to comment on the flexible elements in the task assignment.

4. The hosting organisation shall designate a line manager who shall be responsible for supervising the EU Aid Volunteer, with whom the line manager shall have a reasonable and practical frequency of supervision meetings.

5. Where appropriate, depending on the length of the placement, the sending organisation and the line manager from the hosting organisation, together with the EU Aid Volunteer, shall carry out a joint mid-term performance review to formally evaluate the process of integration, progress on objectives, and to re-adjust the objectives and task assignment and the learning and development plan.

6. Where the conclusion of the mid-term review is that the EU Aid Volunteer displays poor proficiency in any of the transversal or specific competences, the hosting organisation in agreement with the sending organisation may take the decision to end the deployment prematurely. They must be able to explain and justify, if necessary, any such assessment and decision.

7. The sending organisation and the line manager from the hosting organisation, together with the EU Aid Volunteer, shall carry out a final performance review to evaluate at the end of the placement the achievements of the EU Aid Volunteer against the objectives for their task assignment and the learning and development plan.

8. The results from the performance review shall be integrated into the EU Aid Volunteer's learning and development plan.

9. The sending organisation shall retain the performance review records in accordance with the data protection standards as provided for in the Commission Delegated Regulation to be adopted on the basis of Article 9(2) of Regulation (EU) No 375/2014 and send confirmation to the database whether the placement has been successfully completed and, if not, the reason thereof.

Article 20 U.K. Ongoing support from sending organisations

1. Prior to deployment, the sending organisation shall designate a contact person who shall be available for the duration of the deployment and who shall have regular contacts with the EU Aid Volunteer to:

(a) support the settlement and transition of the EU Aid Volunteer;

(b) provide necessary additional support to the EU Aid Volunteer and the hosting organisation;

(c) take part in the mid-term and final reviews and in other meetings, if necessary; and

(d) provide mediation support in case of disagreement between the hosting organisation and the EU Aid Volunteer.

2. If the designated contact person is no longer able to fulfil this role during the deployment, a replacement shall be provided as promptly as possible to ensure continuity of support.

Article 21 U.K. Mentoring

1. The hosting organisation shall designate one or more mentors for the EU Aid Volunteer to provide support in areas such as:

(a) development of professional skills and improvement of performance and knowledge;

(b) cultural integration and acclimatisation;

(c) coaching related to the task assignment; and

(d) dealing with psychosocial issues.

2. The designated mentor(s) shall have access to, and base their support on, the EU Aid Volunteer's learning and development plan and task assignment. The mentor(s) shall meet regularly with the EU Aid Volunteer to reflect on their progress and help solve any placement-related and personal issues.

3. The mentoring shall take account of local realities and shall, where possible, be appropriate for local volunteers as well.

4. The sending organisation shall facilitate the provision of the mentoring by working in partnership with the hosting organisation to provide analytical, training and other capacity building support, and by identifying in their own structures and networks suitably and complementarily skilled designated individuals in case of low local skills availability.

5. Where appropriate, remote mentoring may be considered, in particular by using the network for the EU Aid Volunteers initiative.

Article 22 U.K. Working conditions

1. All EU Aid Volunteers shall have adequate working conditions to enable them to perform well during their placements and to ensure their well-being, motivation, health and safety. They shall be in accordance with relevant provisions of Directive 89/391/EC(1) and Directive 2003/88/EC(2).

2. Sending and hosting organisations shall work jointly to define adequate working conditions based on the local and national operating contexts.

3. The hosting organisation shall provide the necessary information and propose the working conditions the suitability and appropriateness of which shall be assessed by the sending organisation to ensure consistency with their duty of care and the sending organisation's general policies and practices.

4. Sending and hosting organisations shall jointly ensure that security and health and safety risks are prevented, managed and mitigated and that the proposed working conditions follow the agreed security and health and safety procedures referred to in Articles 28, 29 and 30, and comply with the requirements for working hours, leave, minimum daily and weekly rest periods and working space referred to in point 3 of Annex I.

Article 23 U.K. End of placement and post-deployment support

1. Sending and hosting organisations shall jointly decide on the content and process of the debriefing that shall be envisaged for all EU Aid Volunteers, including those returning prematurely.

2. The hosting organisation shall provide the EU Aid Volunteer with personal or group debriefing, including the final performance review referred to in Article 19(7), and, where appropriate, a project handover to the team and counterparts that will continue the activities carried out by the EU Aid Volunteer with a view to ensuring sustainability and continuity.

3. The sending organisation shall provide the returned EU Aid Volunteer with timely personal or group debriefing and operational or project debriefings based on feedback from the hosting organisation and finalisation of the learning and development plan.

4. The sending organisation shall facilitate a post-deployment medical check upon return of the EU Aid Volunteer and offer psychosocial debriefing session(s) and counselling support that the EU Aid Volunteer can attend on a voluntary basis.

5. The sending and hosting organisations shall guide the EU Aid Volunteer to opportunities to stay engaged in issues related to humanitarian aid and active European citizenship, including promotion of and engagement with the network for the EU Aid Volunteers initiative.

6. The sending organisation shall invite returned EU Aid Volunteers to provide constructive feedback on the EU Aid Volunteers initiative, including by explaining how their inputs can inform future placements.

(1)

Directive 89/391/EC on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work (OJ L 183, 29.6.1989, p. 1).

(2)

Directive 2003/88/EC of 4 November 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time (OJ L 299, 18.11.2003, p. 9).