*Update 09.03.2024: The 2025 days are also now known: 17 April Maundy Thursday, 18 April Good Friday and 30 May Day after Ascension Day.*
Original article: For those of you keen to plan the year ahead and organising things to look forward to, note that the 2024 flexibility days are now listed and available to request in sysper. These are the three public holidays every year where you can choose to work and have the days back as annual leave [1]. Perhaps this is not an option for you at the moment, but it’s good to know that this possibility exists. You can choose to work all 3 days or any combination of mornings or afternoons: 28 March (Maundy Thursday), 29 March (Good Friday), 10 May (Friday, day after Ascension Day).
There is no additional credit for this: the exchange is 1 day for 1 day. Note that any days (or half days) worked will not be credited until after the finalisation of the July timesheet. Here is how to use these days.
If you worked these days, have no annual leave left, and want to use the days of annual leave generated before they are credited to your account in sysper you can do so: put a note in the comments section of the corresponding annual leave request e.g. ‘I worked 28.03.2024 which will be credited to my annual leave after July’.
Need more time out of the office? Consider this option. Additional leave days can be ‘bought’ by foregoing part of our salaries. A specific number of days (10.5 or 21 days) can be ‘purchased’ each time up to 42 days in total in the space of a year. From our chosen start date our salary is proportionally reduced during a certain number of months. These days can be used by anyone, not just those who have used up their parental and family leave possibilities. For those considering a couple of months of leave, time credit also has certain advantages over leave on personal grounds (CCP) [Congé de Convenance Personnelle] in that you continue to be covered by the JSIS and it does not affect your seniority to participate in a promotion exercise.
Special leave
The staff regulations provide a number of ways to free up your time to look after your close relatives or just to make your personal dreams happen. Also check out the special leave options available and have a look at those visible in sysper. (Make a draft special leave request in order to see all the options. You can then delete it without submitting it.) Please don’t use up your precious annual leave e.g. for exams or training where there is already a provision for special leave.
Work/life balance is important and Generation 2004 will do its best to keep informing you on your rights.
Happy planning [2] and remember that we’re here for you: get in touch!
[1] See the Commission Decision on Leave, 16.12.2013 C(2013) 9051 and public holidays for 2024 (the list of public holidays for 2025 is not yet available (CA-D 1515/2023)). Note that even though national days for Belgium and Luxembourg fall on Sundays in 2024 we do not miss out. 10 May public holiday is there to compensate. There are the same number of public holidays in 2024 as there were in 2023. There was 1 day less in 2022.
[2] Here’s the 2024 Eurostat calendar (PDF and XLS versions available).
Updates:
Update 22.03.2024: in delegations local holidays are given precedence as far as possible, but the total number of public holidays is the same as the total for staff in the EU. Unfortunately, the flexibility days as listed here are not available.
