The Commission has sent the vast amount of colleagues into telework, following the ‘guidelines on teleworking in commission departments during the Covid-19 pandemic [1]’. 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 [2] with unions and staff associations.
Who is affected?
The new guidelines apply in principle to everybody in the Commission with some exceptions (eg. they do not apply to Commission staff in EU delegations – they are under the responsibility of the European External Action Service (EEAS)).
Who has to come to work even during the crisis?
Colleagues doing critical/essential tasks still have to come to the workplace. However, there are specific guidelines to be followed, see below.
I perform non-critical tasks, but cannot execute these activities remotely
Special leave will be granted to you – you should not come to the office.
How long will this last?
The compulsory telework started on Monday, 16 March 2020 and was initially planned until Sunday, 29 March. However, at least in Belgium an extension has already been announced until April 6th but this will be probably further extended. In any case the Commission will monitor the situation and act as necessary.
I was on structural telework before – do I have to change anything there?
During the compulsory telework period, all structural telework agreements are suspended. There is no need to change anything. Further, you do not need to apply for telework for the compulsory period.
Can I telework from my home country?
Short answer: No! The authorities are trying to minimize travel to contain the infections as far as possible. The Commission will not undermine these efforts by sending colleagues all over Europe! The only exception is if your home country is a neighbouring country of your place of work and you can still come to the office in a reasonable time – which means that you probably live there already.
Exceptional cases such as a health system that can no longer cope with the outbreak will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Colleagues with critical tasks
Even if you are performing critical tasks, you may still have to telework for at least 14 days if
- You have been in a quarantined area
- You have had close contact with a confirmed Covid-19 patient
- You have a sick family member at home with all Covid-19 symptoms (even if it is not a confirmed case). In this case, telework and/or medical leave applies as long as necessary, based on medical advice.
- You have an increased risk of adverse outcome of a possible Covid-19 infection. Examples: pregnancy, age over 63, some chronic diseases – please consult the guidelines for a more detailed list)
I perform a critical task – do I really have to come every day?
Please consult your line manager who should inform you about the work organisation. The Commission proposes that these colleagues work in shifts: one team works one week in the office, the next week from home. The other team has a counter-cycle, so that only one shift is ever in the office. The teams must be organized such that a backup exists in team B if someone from team A falls ill.
A word from Generation 2004
These are exceptional times for all of us. If you have problems with telework, please consider asking a more experienced colleague for help and reading the provided documentation before contacting the helpdesk. The helpdesk is overwhelmed already and this will only improve if we all make a combined effort.
We thank the colleagues who are working hard to resolve the problems we are all facing caused by the response to the virus pandemic and who ensure a functioning work environment.
Please check our articles on teleworking [3] and the 20.11.2020 guidelines [4].