Direct staff costs concerning grants

1.   Direct staff costs of an operation may be calculated at a flat rate of up to 20 % of the direct costs other than the direct staff costs of that operation, without there being a requirement for the Member State to perform a calculation to determine the applicable rate, provided that the direct costs of the operation do not include public works contracts or supply or service contracts which exceed in value the thresholds set out in Article 4 of Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council
(
49
)
or in Article 15 of Directive 2014/25/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council
(
50
)
.
Where a flat rate is applied in accordance with the first subparagraph for the AMIF, the ISF and the BMVI, that flat rate shall only be applied to the direct costs of the operation not subject to public procurement.
2.   For the purposes of determining direct staff costs, an hourly rate may be calculated in one of the following ways:
(a)
by dividing the latest documented annual gross employment costs by 1 720 hours for persons working full time, or by a corresponding pro-rata of 1 720 hours, for persons working part-time;
(b)
by dividing the latest documented monthly gross employment costs by the average monthly working time of the person concerned in accordance with applicable national rules referred to in the employment or work contract or an appointment decision (both referred to as the employment document).
3.   When applying the hourly rate calculated in accordance with paragraph 2, the total number of hours declared per person for a given year or month shall not exceed the number of hours used for the calculation of that hourly rate.
4.   Where annual gross employment costs are not available, they may be derived from the available documented gross employment costs or from the employment document, duly adjusted for a 12-month period.
5.   Staff costs related to individuals who work on part-time assignment on the operation may be calculated as a fixed percentage of the gross employment costs, in line with a fixed percentage of time worked on the operation per month, with no obligation to establish a separate working time registration system. The employer shall issue a document for employees setting out that fixed percentage.