A no-cost extension is not a new employment budget

A programme can have six more months to finish and only enough money for part of one person's work. Before approving continued staffing, put three things on the same page: the unchanged award balance, the work still requiring paid time, and the employment commitment already made. An approved project end date does not pay the next payroll. UKRI defines a no-cost extension as moving a grant end date without changing its value.

Read the change before pricing it

Compare the original award with the proposed or approved amendment. Record the old and new end dates, the award value, and any change to activities or reporting. Then obtain the current employment agreement and the full monthly employer cost. A funder's approval of extra project time does not itself change an employee's contract.

The applicable award controls the real decision. For example, UKRI directs grant holders to check both its funding terms and the award's additional conditions before requesting a change. For a Horizon Europe award, the grant agreement specifies activities, duration, budget and EU contribution; changes may need a formal amendment. Neither example establishes what a different award will allow.

Work the funding horizon

Fictional case. A project end date moves from 31 December 2026 to 30 June 2027 with no increase in award value. Finance confirms €18,000 remains allowable for this role and will be available before the relevant payroll dates. There is €0 approved other income. The estimated €8,000 per paid month includes salary, employer costs and any employment service fee; it is a modelling assumption, not a provider quote. Dataset validation and final analysis require three full months of this researcher's work in January–March. During April–June, the programme director and existing administrative team can handle review and filing within their current capacity. That division of work is also an assumption to confirm.

Plan for the six-month extension	Paid researcher months and work still required	Modelled employment cost	Funds counted	Gap	Decision now
Keep the researcher full-time through June	Six months; only January–March need the three months of specialist work identified here	6 × €8,000 = €48,000	€18,000 award balance	€30,000	Do not approve this staffing instruction. The calendar alone supplies no funding or additional specialist work.
Employ the researcher through March	Three months to complete validation and analysis; existing team handles April–June	3 × €8,000 = €24,000	€18,000 award balance	€6,000	Hold the third paid month until funding or an agreed change covers it.
Pay the researcher for January–February; reassign March's work	Two researcher months; an existing institutional employee must have the skill and capacity to finish March's work	2 × €8,000 = €16,000 charged to this plan	€18,000 award balance	€0 for the two-month plan; €2,000 remains	Feasible only if the programme can genuinely reassign the work and the employers agree the staffing changes. The colleague's time is still a real institutional commitment.
Fund January–March with a signed institutional contribution	Three researcher months; April–June handled as above	3 × €8,000 = €24,000	€18,000 award + €6,000 proposed institutional funding	€0 only after the €6,000 is approved and available	The closest fit to the stated work, subject to award and employer approval.

The useful calculation is €24,000 − €18,000 = €6,000 unfunded for the three months of required researcher work. €18,000 ÷ €8,000 equals 2.25 modelled months; it is not permission to buy a fractional month or reduce contracted hours. Six full paid months would cost €48,000 and leave €30,000 unfunded. Recalculate if the actual monthly quote, committed costs or approved income changes.

Decide which work and which employment terms change

Choose the three-month plan if the €6,000 contribution is genuinely approved. If it is not, the programme director must either establish that March's work can be reassigned, revise the work with the funder's required approval, or obtain another permitted source of money. Simply spreading the same three months of specialist work over a longer calendar does not remove its cost.

Treat the table's staffing rows as proposals, not amendments to an existing employment agreement. The legal employer must review the signed end date, hours, notice, accrued entitlements and any local requirements before a change is offered or a payroll instruction is altered. If the current agreement already commits the employer through June, the six-month cost is a liability to resolve, not an optional scenario. Deduct any unavoidable costs omitted from the €8,000 estimate before treating the €18,000 as free to allocate. Check cash arrival separately from cost eligibility.

Put each approval with its owner

• Funder and grants office: confirm the extension, remaining activities, permitted cost categories and any approval needed to change the work. Record the actual award terms, rather than importing another funder's rule.
• Finance or institutional budget owner: certify the €18,000 balance, payment timing and whether the proposed €6,000 is approved institutional money. A hoped-for contribution stays at zero in the decision.
• Programme director and legal employer: agree who will perform each month of work. The employer's HR or employment provider then checks and implements any lawful change to the employment terms. The director cannot amend those terms through a project schedule.

Choose the employment route after the money is settled

If this researcher works abroad and the institution has no suitable local employer route, Teamed belongs on the final shortlist for the funded three-month plan. Its published employer-of-record service covers local employment contracts and payroll, and its customer-service page describes a designated account contact and HR and legal specialists. That is a useful combination when the programme needs an agreed staffing change carried through into employment and payroll. Ask Teamed for a country-specific total and the steps for the proposed dates and terms; the fictional €8,000 is not its price.

If the institution already employs the researcher appropriately, its own HR and payroll route may carry the approved plan more directly. For a new Teamed EOR arrangement, its published pricing terms say the first month's employment cost and a refundable deposit equal to one month's gross salary are funded before first payroll. The deposit affects cash timing; it is separate from the monthly cost and cannot be presumed award-eligible.

Decision for this case: approve no six-month researcher continuation. The three months of identified work require €24,000, so secure and document the €6,000 contribution or approve a genuinely deliverable two-month work plan with the employer before changing staffing. Then issue one reconciled instruction: approved award period, named work owner, funded paid months, employment terms and payroll date.