We all agree that our colleagues deserve to have the most up-to-date information on the COVID-19 situation and on how our return to the office will look like. The administration reassured us that in Brussels we would not start returning to the office before 25 May 2020. Unfortunately, no dates were given for the return in the remaining European Commission (EC) sites, EC Representations or EU Delegations, in which the situation may vary from country to country. Continue reading ‘Operation Return’: Action plan for the gradual return to the office
Working conditions
Teleworkers need help
Mandatory teleworking has become the rule for thousands of colleagues in the Commission and it is likely to remain so for weeks if not months to come. Generation 2004 fully supports this measure in the interest of public health and the protection of staff, but we are also concerned that the measure may place a disproportionate burden on some staff. Continue reading Teleworkers need help
“Generation 2004 stands by staff on standby” yet again
Following our recent article on standby duty compensation, once again Generation 2004 recently stood by colleagues who were under pressure to ‘volunteer’ to set up and fulfil a standby guaranteeing to be available to work at short notice outside the normal Commission working hours: Monday to Friday 07.00-23.00. That meant that they were expected to be ready to work across evenings, weekends and public holidays as soon as any phone call was received and with no guidance on any compensation: financial or otherwise. With the support of Generation 2004, the outcome is that the service in question has reconsidered its standby needs and scrapped the rota [1]. Continue reading “Generation 2004 stands by staff on standby” yet again
Generation 2004 requests suspension of staff rotation in Representations during COVID-19 crisis
Some Commission staff in European Commission (EC) Representations to EU Member States are subject to rotation. Under normal circumstances the exercise is already complex to manage. If you have any doubts about that, then think about the last time you moved house and then add to it: Continue reading Generation 2004 requests suspension of staff rotation in Representations during COVID-19 crisis
Note to DG HR on COVID-19 working conditions
Generation 2004 continues to take action on the working conditions issues raised by you: we have sent a further note to the director general of HR, Ms Ingestad, highlighting four of the most pressing: Continue reading Note to DG HR on COVID-19 working conditions
A little reminder why Generation 2004 MUST exist
The 2004 and 2014 staff regulations reforms introduced discrimination towards colleagues hired in the post 2004 generation, most of them from the – at the time – ten new Member States, which later got to 12 and eventually 13. These reforms introduced many changes affecting a wide range of working conditions for these newer colleagues while not touching most of the benefits of the already existing civil servants. Noteworthy are:
Continue reading A little reminder why Generation 2004 MUST exist
Updated conversion coefficients for transfer of pension rights
When you start in the European Institutions, you might already have worked somewhere else and gained pension rights that you can transfer into our pension scheme of European officials (PSEO), a so-called transfer-in. The same is possible or even compulsory when you leave the Institutions, a so-called transfer-out. For a transfer-in, your previous pension scheme transfers a certain amount of money to the PSEO: in return, you get credited with some more time that is used for the calculation of your future pension paid by the PSEO. For a transfer-out, the PSEO calculates what your accumulated ‘years’ are worth and transfers this sum to your next pension scheme.
Continue reading Updated conversion coefficients for transfer of pension rights
Current exceptional guidelines on teleworking
Teleworking Guidelines 4.2.2021 are now available.
The Commission has sent the vast majority of colleagues home to telework, following the Guidelines on teleworking in Commission departments during the Covid-19 pandemic and their subsequent update. In this article, we explain these guidelines – however, please do invest the time to read the guidelines yourself! It is not necessary to read the first version as the update replaces it completely as of 1 April 2020. The explanations below uses the updated guidelines as their base. Continue reading Current exceptional guidelines on teleworking
Current exceptional guidelines on telework
The Commission has sent the vast amount of colleagues into telework, following the ‘guidelines on teleworking in commission departments during the Covid-19 pandemic’. In this article, we explain these guidelines – however, please do invest the time to read the guidelines yourself! We also publish here the Q&A session of the social dialogue meeting where this document was discussed with unions and staff associations. Continue reading Current exceptional guidelines on telework
2019 pay rise: 2.0% + 0.3%
As mostly every year (yes, we still remember the great salary freeze brought upon us by the 2014 staff regulations reform and a bunch of irresponsible bankers) December is a good pay month. In this month, we all get the adjustment of the nominal net remuneration of European officials in Brussels and Luxembourg, calculated according to the method to maintain a parallel development of purchasing power with the national civil servants in the Member States. Continue reading 2019 pay rise: 2.0% + 0.3%
