Welcome to the first post-summer newsletter. We look at digital overload, burnout and back to the office, we thank all of those involved in the Afghanistan evacuation and we present two promotions-related articles, one on the unfair distribution of quotas and one on the promises made to our colleagues in the medical service. We also have articles on the changes which have already taken place related to the post-Brexit annual travel allowance and the financial rights related to breakups.  We propose electoral changes in order to improve transparency and propose further dates for CBT training, ready for new competitions.

That’s all for now, we hope you will enjoy the reading and, as usual, we invite you to let us know what you think or to get in touch if we can help you in any way or there’s something you’d like to see us address.

Welcome to this latest edition of the Generation 2004 Newsletter.  In the last two weeks we’ve been looking at the HR decision on the ‘new normal’ (the introduction of a ‘disconnection bandwidth’ but the abolition of core time), at the IT kit available for teleworking (what kit/sites are still missing?) and at the pilot delegation teleworking project. We update you on our November contract agent petition (it’s now with the European Parliament), on our May DG GROW survey on the reorganisation and we consider the usefulness of a lingua franca at SCIC. We remind you of the offer of CBT training (deadline tomorrow 12.00) and lunchtime coachinge (9 July).  We ask you to sign our petition against the limitations of the AST/SC function group while we evaluate the stated aims of the creation of this function group against what actually happened.

That’s all for now, we hope you will enjoy the reading and, as usual, we invite you to let us know what you think or to get in touch if we can help you in any way or there’s something you’d like to see us address.

Welcome to this latest edition of the Generation 2004 Newsletter. The promotions list should be published tomorrow  (Thursday, 17 June): if your name is not there and you would like to appeal we have a conference on how to do so at 12.00 (17 June). We are here to help! In this edition we share with you the updates on vaccination, digital certificates, the return to the office and the home IT kit. We also consider future teleworking from abroad options.  We have an in-depth look at the career  potential of AST/SC colleagues and offer more CBT training and new lunchtime coaching.  We note recent events at Karlsruhe and Geel general assemblies and observe the enforcing of social dialogue secondment rules.

That’s all for now, we hope you will enjoy the reading and, as usual, we invite you to let us know what you think or to get in touch if we can help you in any way or there’s something you’d like to see us address.

Welcome to this latest edition of the Generation 2004 Newsletter. This edition showcases the ingenuity and dedication on display among the winners (so far) of our ‘Wild West of Teleworking’ Photography Contest and we invite you to continue to send us your photos, bills and input. Local agents, you have until the end of June to decide whether to sign up to the working-conditions-reform package, we look at what’s involved. We have a lunchtime workshop on decoding and communicating with your co-workers. We report back on our discussions with HR and the administration on operation ‘return to the office’,  hot-desking/open spaces and on the provision of canteens in the future. We also ask you about your experiences of doing the annual medical outside the medical service.  This edition outlines the outcome of a case on age discrimination with regards to the survivor’s pension and describes what has changed with corporate credit cards.

All of us at Generation 2004 want to express a big Thank You to all our members who appreciate and support our work. Particularly touching was for us to see recently the following message on our bank account from one of our dear members : ‘Membership fee doubled – donation. Thank you for your great work’. Thanks for your feedback, it makes it all worthwhile!

Welcome to the Generation 2004 Newsletter of 28 April 2021.  In this latest edition we invite you to get involved:  why not show us your kitchen-table or cupboard-under-the-stairs office space in our ‘Wild West of Teleworking’ photography contest or sign up to our lunchtime coaching session on how to efficiently work digitally?

We also take a look at what any future teleworking set-up might mean for a ‘new normal’ and the potential unintended consequences. We provide you with a summary of what needs to change with the electoral rules to make the staff representation better represent the staff, we look at recent events with the Interpreters’ Delegation and we explain our response to ‘sofagate’. This edition of the newsletter then turns to consider the not-yet-seen AST/SC SC6 staff: the Loch Ness monster of staff grades.

That’s all for now, we hope you will enjoy the reading and, as usual, we invite you to let us know what you think or to get in touch if we can help you in any way or there’s something you’d like to see us address.

Welcome to the Generation 2004 Newsletter of 26 March 2021. We invite you to take a couple of minutes to congratulate yourself on all of the things you’ve made work in this past year of 100% teleworking, yes, it’s been a whole year.

In this issue we are first and foremost covering equal and transparent application of the rules and appropriate communication with the affected staff, whether that’s related to the rules that apply in DG SCIC, the (limited) offer to do a Luxembourg role from any site (but not a Brussels role from Luxembourg, we hear you, Chafea), the and the decisions expected in the coming days on whether our UK-only non-permanent colleagues will continue to be employed and under what conditions.

We offer information on free coaching at the Commission, on the possibility to train for the CBT part of EPSO competitions and, as ever, the latest on Covid developments and new teleworking guidelines.

That’s all for now, we hope you will enjoy the reading and, as usual, we invite you to let us know what you think or to get in touch if we can help you in any way.

Welcome to the second newsletter of 2021. We hope this finds you as well as can be expected as we mark one year of enforced teleworking for the vast majority of us.

In this edition we answer some of the questions you’ve asked on certification, promotion decisions and teleworking from abroad before Easter (note that the flexibility days are available in sysper). We also give you the latest updates on the COVID vaccination campaigns and measures together with home-working-reimbursement updates: we query the suspension of annual medicals at the medical service and the reimbursement of related tests at only 80/85%.

Generation 2004 looks out for your inclusion and well-being in our articles on the right to disconnect and on the extension of the hot-desking policy to the new buildings in Brussels.

Take care and enjoy reading!

Welcome to the first Generation 2004 Newsletter of 2021. And to week 47 of telework for most of us.

Since our last instalment we’ve given over 200 colleagues one-to-one assistance with their self-assessment for the annual career development review (CDR) and provided presentations on the CDR, promotions and AST careers/certification: we’ve made the recordings and PowerPoints available on our website.

We look now at the certification process and why it’s becoming more and more difficult to make the leap from AST to AD. We also update you on the outcome of our special-leave-for-parents-of-young-children petition. We provide details of the latest information exchange with DG Trade on their shift to open plan and now our work with the Committee for prevention and protection at work (CPPT) shows in its agreement that staff be consulted before any reorganisation of office space. We provide the latest news from the Central Staff Committee and share the JSIS updates on reimbursement for psychological support and COVID-19 vaccination.

Generation 2004 is hiring a part-time secretary (50%) for its headquarters in Brussels (depending on future availability this might become 100%). If you are a Contract Agent FGII you can join the team.

One last-minute mention: the proposed CHAFEA accompanying committee will happen and there is now a January 2021 edition of CHAFEA’s frequently asked questions (49 pages long!).

Take care and enjoy reading!

Welcome to the last Generation 2004 Newsletter of 2020. And to the end of week 40 of telework for most of us.

Since our last instalment the details of the partial reimbursement of an office chair and screen have become clearer, but there appears to be a second scheme planned, how does this fit with what’s already being done: is it backwards compatible?

The Junior Professionals Programme has been extended to include Contract Agents (CAs), but our look at the eligibility criteria suggests that it’s less inclusive than it seems.

No general return to the office is planned for the foreseeable future, but when it does happen (and it will!) we need to be sure that we don’t return to office space which has been reconfigured in our absence and without our input.

We also provide information on the (even further!) extended deadline for local agents (LAs) to agree new working conditions and point out a couple of pitfalls.

We take a look at the responses you provided to our survey on teleworking from abroad and list some tasks it’s worthwhile getting done this side of the Christmas and New Year break.

So, that’s it for 2020, which, despite not knowing what 2021 will provide, we are only too eager to see it behind us! Take care and enjoy reading!

Welcome to the Generation 2004 Newsletter of 19 November 2020. And to week 36 of telework for most of us.  

A lot has happened  since our last instalment: the promotions and reclassification lists were published on Thursday 12 November, congratulations to those with happy news and for those who are less than happy, check out  for the options still open to you (you have until 11 February to act). On the topic of promotions, we address the selective amnesia on display from our peers on our continued abstention from the final vote of the joint promotions committee to endorse the flawed promotions system. 

We also show how you can apply the recently-published Eurostat yearly salary update to your salary and have a rough idea of how much is due to you. Also on the topic of money, the Commission has announced that it will contribute to the costs of purchasing a screen and/or office chair: check out  on how the just-published reimbursement process.  

The modernisation of HR is still in our sights, this time from the point of view of non-permanent staff  who provide examples of where to start making the institutions a better place to work for all of us. Our Petition in support of Contract Agents is open until Friday 27 November. We also provide information on the extended deadline for local agents to agree new conditions: the implications of this and what has to happen next. DG HR announced that we can telework pre-Christmas for a week from abroad[1], and we’d still like your opinion on this being made more permanent. Our survey on teleworking from outside the place of employment is open until Friday  27 November: participate! let us hear what works for you! 

Finally, we have a look at a recent CJEU Brexit/second nationality case, debunk an office urban legend in the process, while showing that the kind words of June 2016 were just that, kind words. 

[1] This was increased to 2 weeks on 20.11.2020: p.7, Point 5.1b: ‘Staff may be authorised by their line manager to telework from abroad as of 10 December and until the start of the end-of-year period of the Commission (24 December)’.