Who said teleworking from outside the place of employment (TWA) [1] cannot be reconciled with the interest of the service and our duty to serve the public?
Generation 2004, the most progressive and modern staff association, is always listening to the needs of staff and negotiating the most advanced proposals for a state-of-the-art and human EU civil service with the administration. Continue reading Teleworking from abroad: YES, WE CAN!
During our 13 months of compulsory 100% teleworking for almost all of us, Generation 2004 has submitted to DG HR countless requests to start a dialogue on the conditions under which staff were and are expected to work from home – both in the current force majeure global-pandemic situation and when staff are able to go back to the office. DG HR finally reached out to the trade unions and staff associations (OSPs) for a social dialogue meeting focusing on teleworking (16 April) which we very much hope to be the first of many such meetings. Continue reading New teleworking scheme: longer working days and more micromanagement?
As Commission staff, we are now approaching one full year of compulsory teleworking, with no clear prospects as to when we will be able to go back to the office. Many of you contacted us at Generation 2004 to share your concerns regarding what this ‘new way of working’ means in practice: sitting more hours in front of the computer, being forever reachable, reading emails at midnight Continue reading Digital overload and the right to disconnect: the Commission must act now!
Yes, we can! This is the bottom line of this article. Yes, we can convince the Commission to do the right thing, even if it takes a lot of pressure (and more pressure) and notes (and more notes). After many discussions and meetings, DG HR has agreed in its Coronavirus update #23 to reimburse the costs for a screen and an ergonomic chair with ceilings of €150 and €200, respectively. While the reimbursement process has only just been set out [1] (and for seconded national experts (SNEs) is still being worked on [2]), this is a huge win for our colleagues, and we take the opportunity to thank all of you who have supported us during the last 8 months while we fought this uphill battle. A special thanks goes to the colleagues who used our template to request a reimbursement. While DG HR has refused these Art. 90.1 requests, the sheer number of them proved that there is a real need. This is your victory.
Continue reading Finally – reimbursement of teleworking costs
Generation 2004 strongly believes that a professional and efficient public administration implies competent, motivated and impartial civil servants working in a system dedicated to serving the public interest. However, while it may be relatively easy to of a merit-based civil service in conceptual terms, it is much more difficult to define the ways and means of putting it in practice. If anyone has any doubts about this, then Generation 2004 suggests that any doubtful minds consults. Continue reading Need to design a modern HR policy? Please start with the most evident modifications!
You have shown that teleworking is possible, but do you want more of it and are you being consulted? [1]
Article 20 of the staff regulations stipulates that ‘An official shall reside either in the place where he is employed or at no greater distance therefrom as is compatible with the proper performance of his duties. The official shall notify the Appointing Authority of his address and inform it immediately of any change of address.’
Therefore, the outcome of any future teleworking decisions might affect us all. These choices could impact everything from the multiannual financial framework (MFF) to the European Green Deal, to all 6 pillars of the new HR strategy to the money you take home every month: the 16 % expatriation allowance / 4% foreign residence allowance and potentially the coefficient (if any) that applies to your salary. Continue reading Do you want to be able to telework from outside your place of employment?
Contrary to what we might expect during the COVID-19 health crisis, DG HR is moving forward with its “new HR strategy” regardless. Although for Generation 2004 it is unclear what the concrete improvements of the previous HR reform launched by Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva were: the most visible outcome was the creation of centralised AMCs. According to DG HR, the past staff surveys should provide quite a good understanding of that HR reform: now that is an innovative way to do an assessment of a policy, one could say. Continue reading New HR Strategy – Modernisation or opportunism? The European Green Deal and the multi-annual financial framework (MFF)
In early July, following the announcement of an internal Administrator (AD5) competition tailored only to temporary agents, Generation 2004 addressed a note on Contract Agents’ and Assistants’ access to internal competitions to the Director-General of DG HR, Gertrud Ingestad.
At the same time, we also launched a petition in support of contract agents [1]. Continue reading Contract Agents’ and Assistants’ access to internal competitions: Reply by Director-General Ingestad
