Welcome to the twelfth, but not last, edition of the Generation 2004 newsletter for 2023. Many of you asked last year for us to provide our end-of-year checklist and appraisal planning a bit sooner this time round in order to allow you to act on the suggestions there. So, here you have it, please make the best use you can of it! Winter is here and with it our competition for the coolest ‘chilling in the office’ photo. We present a summary of the recent town hall meeting on working time and hybrid working and of what has changed in terms of the annual medical check-up. Continuing with change, how about e-voting on those sites still voting on paper and more transparency and dialogue at Eismea and in the Representations? On the topic of career progression we have a look at the internal competitions in general, at the extremely specific criteria of the latest three in particular and we then invite you to consider our training offer.

That’s it now for now! Enjoy the reading and get in touch if you believe we can help!

Welcome to the eleventh edition of the Generation 2004 newsletter. We’re currently contributing to the drafting of the new mission guide. There is some (measured) good news in that staff salaries will indeed be updated in December (backdated to July). We give you an update on EPSO pause on testing and invite you to our event. On the subject of EPSO, we also look at the monolingual English competitions together with the new restriction clause applied only to Luxembourg. We are also following the situation for  Local Agents: their pension (‘provident’) fund has lost value, reducing payouts for colleagues who are already very low on the pay scale.

That’s it now for now! Enjoy the reading and get in touch if you believe we can help!

Welcome to this tenth edition of the Generation 2004 newsletter. We give you an update on the closure of the childcare facilities at Grange and on whether the proposed increase in paternity leave provision (with a catch) is really what we asked for. This links to the recent development of Member States ‘gifting’ of pension contributions to individuals during periods of economic inactivity (e.g. caring responsibilities) and we share with you why the institutions are a little behind the times on this topic. HR appears to have agreed to open internal competitions to those who have the qualifications and experience, without limiting them to function group, we are hopeful that this might be genuinely inclusive. We have a new survey to ask about your perception of your career prospects at the Commission, we have a look at the certification exercise and we ask you to please request your full quota of 10 TWA days: show that they are useful!

That’s it now for now! Enjoy the reading and get in touch if you believe we can help!

Welcome to the ninth edition of the Generation 2004 newsletter of 2023. Please participate in our Follow-up survey on teleworking, hybrid working and teleworking from anywhere (TWA): we would like to make a comparison with the answers you provided to our two original surveys. At the moment we’re busy with the Preparatory groups for the Joint Promotion Committees (JPCs) 11-13 September: this is the last stage of the promotions/reclassifications process before the publication of the final lists in mid-late November. We have still managed to make the time to address your concerns on the solidarity levy and to present an overview of the situation in Luxembourg, given the  most recent update to the minimum wage (01.09.2023). We have also finally(!) gathered all the questions you have raised relating to our interim colleagues together in a frequently asked questions (FAQs). Generation 2004 is also concerned at the treatment of our local agent colleagues in Sudan, the short-notice permanent closure of childcare facilities at Grange and the permanent closure of the LACC canteen. We offer training with Ya Semos Europeos for the forthcoming MCQ and CBT tests for the AD6 and AD7 competitions.

So, that’s it for this this edition, thanks to all of you for your support, ideas and feedback: please keep it coming!

Take care and enjoy reading!

Welcome to the summer edition of the Generation 2004 newsletter of 2023. Have a look at our updated summer checklist, see the status of the new harassment package and our ongoing work on the EPSO debacle. Check out our frequently asked questions (FAQ) on the Picard judgement affecting retirement and pensions: know your rights! We also make seven observations on the ongoing evaluation of working time and hybrid working: why is it so limited in scope? We propose an update to our previous surveys (please participate!) in order to collect data to facilitate meaningful comparison with the official evaluation. We ask the Commission (again) to address the increasing cost of living using the tools already at its disposal and renew out call for teleworking from anywhere (TWA) to be extended: we’ve shown we can work just as well, so why not?

So, that’s it for this this eighth edition, thanks to all of you for your support, ideas and feedback: please keep it coming!

Take care and enjoy reading!

Welcome to the seventh edition of the Generation 2004 newsletter of 2023. We start with the time-sensitive first: Contract Agent colleagues have 5 working days to request to be included on the reclassification list (this makes the deadline end of Monday 03.07.2023 for most). Staff in agencies demonstrated 06.06.2023 in Brussels and we were there to show our support. We shine a light on the lack of transparency in decision-making e.g. how a transfer in might have no impact on your pension or how to gather the information you need when you want to leave. We are pleased to see that Parliament has had a change of heart on salaries lower than the Luxembourg minimum wage: will the Commission one day follow suit? We  consider the proposed changes in the European Schools and look for volunteers. We explain the recent salary update and provide a summary of the ongoing EPSO rollercoaster ride and invite you to share your experience in our survey.

So, that’s it for this this edition, thanks to all of you for your support, ideas and feedback: please keep it coming!

Take care and enjoy reading!

Welcome to the sixth edition of the Generation 2004 newsletter of 2023. Following up on our February article, how much do you know about how the Investigation and Disciplinary Office of the Commission (IDOC) works in practice? In this edition we also share our concerns on guardless fingerprint access to Commission buildings out of hours. We query the reasoning behind colleagues being asked to request national allowances when there are equivalent institution allowances available and highlight some additional services offered by some welcome Offices.

So, that’s it for this this edition, thanks to all of you for your support, ideas and feedback: please keep it coming!

Take care and enjoy reading!

Welcome to the fifth Generation 2004 Newsletter of 2023. Please join us on Monday, 24 April for our lunchtime event on the Picard case: this relates to the age of retirement and the pension accrual rate for those who have changed/renewed contracts. Generation 2004 is disappointed and taken aback at the EPSO decision 31.03.2023 to cancel competition AST/154/22: EPSO was among the many to topics we raised in the 16.03.2023 meeting with the Cabinet. We present the results of the latest elections (EEAS and Petten) and note that we are now again able to focus fully on you! There are no elections now until mid-2024! In this edition we express again our frustration with the ongoing situation for local agent colleagues in Delegation Türkiye and our shock to discover that within the Commission there are indeed lifetime limits on medical part-time in some circumstances. We present the 3 (partial) evaluations done so far on the working time and hybrid working (WTHW) decision is satisfaction with WTHW really increasing across the board? We take this opportunity to remind you that the Friday after Ascension Day (19 May) is still available to request as a flexibility day, if you want to: the choice is yours.

So, that’s it for this this edition, thanks to all of you for your support, ideas and feedback: please keep it coming!

Take care and enjoy reading!

Welcome to the fourth Generation 2004 Newsletter of 2023. The revision of the first draft of the new anti-harassment package is finished: we eagerly await the updated draft to see how much of our collective input has been included. We highlight the recent administrative notice regarding pension calculations for those seconded at their own request: make sure you know how this affects you. Generation 2004 comments on the (repeated) Council request to reduce spending on staff. Have a look at the flexibility days now available in sysper: you can choose work these 3 days in exchange for annual leave. The final list of the 50 colleagues selected to follow the AST certification training will be published soon: we list your options. Some 800 more colleagues will move to dynamic, collaborative space (DCS) at the new POST-Mercier building but at least it’s not hot-desking, right? We look at the minimum wage changes for Luxembourg, why is the expatriation allowance used to exclude colleagues from the uplift? Generation 2004 encourages to you exercise your rights inside and outside the Commission: those in Luxembourg, please register to vote in the municipal elections. On the topic of Luxembourg, we lament the lack of action on the 12 actions announced 1 year ago to address the difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff.

So, that’s it for this this edition, thanks to all of you for your support, ideas and feedback: please keep it coming!

Take care and enjoy reading!