How should Teleworking evolve in Delegations after Covid?

EEAS, Elections, Outside the Union, return to the office-new normal, Teleworking Print This Post

Many of you wonder, since there is no legal basis for teleworking in Delegations, what will happen when the pandemic is over?

Will we still have Teleworking in Delegations?

Will we finally follow the rest of the Commission: teleworking has already been in force in Headquarters and other EU sites for more than 10 years!

Please be informed that the social dialogue of the hybrid working mode for Commission staff in Brussels and all other sites is now being discussed. The Delegation draft decision will be prepared separately by the EEAS and made available once the ongoing social dialogue for Brussels and all other sites is concluded.

The ideas discussed (application to Brussels and EU-based entities) are likely to be the basis for the decision for Delegations, and are as follows:

  •  Pre-set hours of work, defining morning and afternoon periods of work.
  • A formal disconnection bandwidth 19:00-08:00 where staff cannot be contacted or expected to work unless it is an emergency or it was pre-agreed. The same right to disconnect applies for weekends, public holidays and during annual leave or other type of leave.
  • Possibility to opt-in for fixed hours of working: 9:30-12:00 and 15:00-16:30 (16:00 on Wednesday and Friday). Not applicable for managers.
  • Teleworking norm is 20% (1 day or pro-rata), additional 40% (2 days) are to be agreed with the line manager on bi-monthly basis and 40% working time in the office. More than 60% Teleworking may be authorised in the case of service need.
  • Teleworking is only performed on a voluntary basis and staff have a right to come to the office every day without prior authorisation.
  • Possible Teleworking from abroad of 10 days per calendar year is to be combined with 5 days of annual leave. One month of teleworking from abroad is possible for documented imperative family reasons.

These are the current state of discussions based of the draft decision. Please note that the future implementation in Delegations may vary as it will be drafted separately. This outline is provided to you for information only.

Your Generation 2004 Delegation team insists that:

  • flexibility to telework for staff in Delegation must be provided;
  • teleworking should, however, not be made mandatory;
  • legal basis for exceptional teleworking outside place of employment should be provided for in the upcoming decisions;
  • teleworking is an important element for better work-life balance

Generation 2004 will further update you of the developments on this subject. If you have any specific comment/opinion, please feel free to share your feedback. We will compile the input and ensure that they are presented in the social dialogue meetings between your elected representatives and HR on how the rules will be applied for Delegations.

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