Why a job description is so important for a CA career?

…My Head of Unit always told me that my job description is not very important for my CA’s career, because it should only form the basis of my job specification. As a result, my job description presents a broad, general, and written statement of a specific job, based on the findings of a job analysis. It only includes generic duties, purpose, responsibilities, scope, and general working conditions of a job along with the job’s title, but never my effective, often additional, performed tasks…

Generation 2004 offers contract agents two arguments that highlight the importance of a good job description: Continue reading Why a job description is so important for a CA career?

Legal framework for Local Agents – finally fairly treated?

Treating all staff members fairly in the European Institutions is not just a moral obligation but also a necessity to ensure maximum work performance. When one of the staff categories is treated unfairly, it results in decreasing its morale. Low morale results in decreased work performance. Which can, in turn, lead to high staff turnover.

With this in mind, Generation 2004 takes part in the comprehensive social dialogue to upgrade the legal framework for Local Agents in EU Delegations. The expected result of this social dialogue has provided significant input for reflection on the part of all social partners and has contributed to achieve a mutual understanding. This should result in better work performance and working relationships in EU Delegations. Continue reading Legal framework for Local Agents – finally fairly treated?

Fact Checking

As most of you probably also are, Generation 2004 is fed up of reading staff representation tracts that are at least misleading and sometimes blatantly false. For this reason we have decided to create this column. Its name, Fact Checking, will be a place where we will try to regularly debunk these claims.You may also participate and help us. How? Well, it’s simple, if you see any message or statement from any union or staff association – Generation 2004 included – and that you find falls short in the realm of truthfulness, then just point it out to us and we will analyse it, get the straight dope on it and report back to all. Finally and obviously, unless otherwise explicitly requested we will keep our source anonymous. Continue reading Fact Checking

Secretly Fighting Against Precariousness

The R&D section at the EP has publicized its strong agreement with anti-precariousness positions taken up by Parliamentarians in a resolution . Parts of the R&D text are somewhat fuzzy due to being translated too literally from French into Franglais, so some readers may get the impression that R&D has played a major part in persuading the EP. If that is so, they have been very secretive until now.

NPS and SID jointly developed Petition 0178/2017 against Automatically Firing Contract Agents and with much appreciated support from G2004 got the endorsement of the EP’s Petitions Committee which passed the petition on to Legal Affairs Committee. In all that time, we never heard even a whisper from the R&D, so discrete that we did not know they were there. Maybe you, dear reader can help us out. Here is a video clip of the key meeting.

Send us an email if you can identify R&D members in the room.

East Anglia Survey- Deadline is 22 June!

You have probably seen several invitations to fill in a survey organised by the University of East Anglia on the EU institutions and its staff. The survey is about our organisation and 

about our working methods. It is part of an important study that provides an insight into how our organisation functions and is managed today.

Your contribution by filling in the survey would be important in order to give rich and diverse information to the researchers from all corners of the Commission. Continue reading East Anglia Survey- Deadline is 22 June!

Professional Mobility survey: the results are out!

In our previous Newsletter, we asked you to participate in a survey on professional mobility. Here is our analysis of the contributions we have received.

Let us start with the gist of it. In general, job mobility seems to be a positive thing (chart 1) while at the same time it seems to be difficult to achieve (chart 5): around 3 quarters think that the impact of a move is  neutral to very positive while the same share of respondents find it neutral to very difficult to move. Continue reading Professional Mobility survey: the results are out!

Reform of the social dialogue – Will staff representation disappear from smaller sites as the Local Staff Committee of Luxembourg tells you?

Declaration of “the” Local Staff Committee of Luxembourg

“The” Local Staff Committee of Luxembourg, in its communication of 22 May 2018 “Declaration on the importance of local representation of the Staff Committee in Luxembourg” explains that the interests of the Luxembourg staff are at risk, because of a reform of the staff representation. This is at least very strongly exaggerated! Continue reading Reform of the social dialogue – Will staff representation disappear from smaller sites as the Local Staff Committee of Luxembourg tells you?

Are you registered to vote in Belgium? Don’t miss the deadline – your voice counts!

Until 31 July, non-Belgians can sign up to vote in the local municipal elections which will take place in October. All EU citizens have the right to vote, while non-EU citizens can vote after living 5 years in Belgium.

Non-Belgians represent one third of the electorate (or 300.000 people) in Brussels, including nearly 1/2 of the electorate in the communes of Etterbeek, Ixelles or Saint Gilles. Voting is your chance to have a say on the decisions taken by the communes which have broad powers, such as population services, cleanliness, urban planning, roads and public spaces such as parks and playgrounds, and cultural and sports centers. Continue reading Are you registered to vote in Belgium? Don’t miss the deadline – your voice counts!

Generation 2004 – Promotion appeals 2018

Every year, the promotion procedure for officials goes through several stages to culminate with the allocation of promotions. During the first stage, your DG’s hierarchy puts together draft promotion lists according to the DG quota distribution and discusses those lists with the staff representation. This first stage is now over and DG promotion lists are out! Please, consult Sysper and check if you were proposed for promotion.

If you were proposed for promotion, congratulations!!! If not, and if you believe you deserved to be promoted, then you should consider appealing as you may still get another (slim) opportunity to grasp the desired promotion. 5% of the overall promotion quotas will be attributed after all appeals have been reviewed by the Joint Promotion Committees in October.

Please remember, there is a 5 days deadline to file an appeal and Generation 2004 is here to assist you.

Continue reading Generation 2004 – Promotion appeals 2018

New Ways to collaborate in the work place

Generation 2004 organises a conference on New ways to collaborate in the work place.

If you are wondering,

  • How the future of work would look like?
  • What changes emerging technologies could bring to our daily life’s?
  • What would be some ways to address increasing complexity in our daily life’s?
  • If it is possible to make more liberated, self-organized working environment in European institutions?

Then the presentation may contribute to answering those questions.

It will help to look bit ”outside the box” and be aware on future of work tendencies.

Curiosity is good enough reason to eat your salad or sandwich while watching and listening…

12th June 2018 at 12:30

Location: Grand Salle CCP J-79

Entrances: Rue de la Loi 80 Ground flr or Rue Joseph II 79 2nd flr

Everyone is invited – no need for registration

Conference materials: