You’ve done your best and it’s been a tough year. You’ve had your appraisal dialogue and prepared as best you could. In spite of it all, the evaluation is ‘Unsatisfactory’. What happens now? Firstly, don’t panic! Read everything you can (see list below) and act quickly: the career development review (CDR) can be refused (appealed) [1] but the deadlines are short and if nothing is done, the CDR is by default accepted. Continue reading ‘Unsatisfactory’ in the CDR? What now?
disability and special needs
More than 12 days of annual leave remaining from 2021?
*You have until 31.01.2022 to request to transfer the days.*
For those of you with surplus days of annual leave: check out the viable reasons for requesting that the days (in addition to the standard 12 days) be added to your 2022 quota: either for requirements of the service or for health reasons. Even if you do not fall into one of the categories listed, please discuss with your line manager rather than just assume the days are lost. Continue reading More than 12 days of annual leave remaining from 2021?
Generation 2004 member wins a case on access to their medical file!
*update 18.02.2022: the Central Staff Committee survey on harassment/bullying preliminary results will be available in late March. The March 2021 HR Diversity and Inclusion survey should be published also in March. *
Generation 2004 has been fighting hard for the effective implementation of the right of staff to have full and timely access to their medical file.
Access to your own medical file and the right to update the information contained there are very important, particularly in circumstances where that information is used to make a decision about you e.g. whether you are fit enough to continue to work or even just to be recruited. A lack of transparency leads to questions about fairness and motives [1]. Of course, occasionally there may be legitimate reasons for insisting that a doctor access parts of the file on your behalf. However, we all still have the right to consult (via a healthcare professional, if necessary) the information in our medical history and to correct it or add a note where necessary. Continue reading Generation 2004 member wins a case on access to their medical file!
Medical reservation = discrimination against persons with disabilities (long read)
The medical reservation rules and their implementation: how well do they fit with the prohibition of discrimination against persons with disabilities and the current HR drive for diversity and inclusion [1]?
The pre-recruitment medical: excluding those with disabilities?
Continue reading Medical reservation = discrimination against persons with disabilities (long read)
IT office equipment … ongoing
Unfortunately, this article needs to start with an apology: we here at Generation 2004 are deeply sorry and contrite for the unintended effects that our photography contest on the ‘Wild West of Teleworking’ seems to have had. But let us explain. Continue reading IT office equipment … ongoing
The ‘new normal’: is this it?
*Update 20.07.2021: Check out the MyIntracomm discussion below Towards more attractive and flexible working conditions: Staff working arrangements: major changes in the pipeline*
The Working time and hybrid working decision sets out the proposed ‘new normal’ with an invitation to discuss this with the trade unions and staff associations (OSPs) in a social dialogue on 30 June. Here are the current Working time and flexitime rules and their corresponding frequently asked questions (FAQs) for comparison. Continue reading The ‘new normal’: is this it?
Follow up on the option to work 95% for family reasons
Following the publication of our article on the option to work 95% for family reasons last October, Generation 2004 is happy to announce that there has been positive progress made on this subject.
From now on a 5% working time reduction will be systematically granted upon request when any of the three conditions apply: Continue reading Follow up on the option to work 95% for family reasons
Medical coverage for disabled staff
EU staff members and their families are covered by a sickness insurance scheme, known as the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme (‘JSIS’). In October 2015, following a review conducted under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (‘UNCRPD’), the UN Committee recommended that the European Union should revise the JSIS so as to comprehensively cover disability-related health needs in a manner compliant with the Convention.
This inquiry focused primarily on the criteria used by the JSIS for the recognition of “serious illnesses” in relation to disabilities. This issue has important implications for persons with disabilities since medical costs are fully reimbursed only if the illness being treated is classified as “serious”. Continue reading Medical coverage for disabled staff
Generation 2004 deals with harassment
*The Central Staff Committee survey (closed 25.10.2021) preliminary results are expected in late March 2022. Not to be confused with the March 2021 HR Diversity and Inclusion survey which contained an optional section on harassment.*
Workplace bullying/harassment/‘mobbing’ is a complex matter. What one person considers as proper behaviour, another may perceive to be harassment. In many cases, the lines are not sharply defined. Harassment can take various forms, such as: degrading comments (often in public), Continue reading Generation 2004 deals with harassment
Generation 2004 & support for colleagues with cancer
Did you know that new research finds that, from now 1 in 2[1] people will be diagnosed with cancer? This new estimate replaces the previous 1 in 3 people figure. In the period 2014 to 2025, the yearly number of new invasive tumour diagnoses (excl. nonmelanoma skin cancer) in Belgium is projected to rise from 67,820 to 79,140, an increase of about 17%[2]. In 2015, 1.3 million people died from cancer in the EU, more than one quarter (25.4 %) of the total number of deaths.[3]
That being said it is also promising that e.g. the UK’s cancer survival has doubled over the last 40 years and around half of patients now survive the disease for more than 10 years. But, as more people benefit from improved healthcare and longer life expectancy, the number of cancer cases is expected to rise.[4] However, there are always the side effects of any treatment that someone is exposed to: operation, chemo, radio, immunotherapy, pills…. Continue reading Generation 2004 & support for colleagues with cancer