Features

Duty Calls: Navigating the Challenges of Standby Duty at EEAS

'voluntold', EEAS, Features, Institutions, Newsletter - 2024-10-28, Standby duty, Working conditions Print This Post

Standby duty sounds straightforward enough — a formal, organised service, available to respond to well-defined emergencies within a specific timeframe. But for many staff, including those in the External Action Service (EEAS), the reality is far from simple. Theoretically, within the EEAS at least, those colleagues on standby duty have access to designated Duty Phones—reliable devices meant to keep them connected during emergencies.

Continue reading Duty Calls: Navigating the Challenges of Standby Duty at EEAS →

What happened to “Have your say”?

Commission services, Data Protection, Features, Newsletter - 2024-07-16, Staff forum Print This Post

Many of you have contacted us, asking about “Have your say”, which suddenly disappeared from the Commission’s internet, after it underwent a superficial “lift”. Either you liked to follow on various discussions, share your opinions, or even, for a stronger impact, launching a topic that was important to you. However, all of that is now gone.  

Continue reading What happened to “Have your say”? →

Meet up in Seville! 20-23.02.2024

Features, Ispra-Seville Print This Post

*Update 21.02.2024: we are available at 001/A40 all day if you want to drop by and talk to us.* Original article: Generation 2004 colleagues from many different Commission sites will be in Seville from Tuesday (20. 02.2024) to Friday (23.02.2024). We will update this page with dates, times and places. Come along and tell us what you think needs to improve, what’s not working or even what you see as going well. What would you like to see change? How about how well JRC topics and tasks are distributed between the JRC sites? Come and tell us about the new JRC building plans and what they mean for you. We can tell you about the recent building moves elsewhere and what questions we need to ask. Continue reading Meet up in Seville! 20-23.02.2024 →

Guilty until proven innocent… and punished forever no matter the outcome!

Features, Newsletter - 2023-02-22, Professional mobility, Promotions, reclassification Print This Post

*Update 27.08.2024: Check out the the 2023 IDOC report.*

Original article: The Investigation and Disciplinary Office of the Commission (IDOC) is the European Commission service responsible for “ensuring compliance by (former) officials and other agents with their obligations as laid down in the staff regulations by conducting administrative inquiries and disciplinary proceedings in a fair, transparent and timely manner.”

IDOC procedures can be quite lengthy and often last several years. This is especially so in the situation where you are prosecuted in a civil court for a situation unrelated to your work but where, in parallel and linked to that civil case, you may be placed under an IDOC investigation. Until your civil court case is finished, the internal IDOC procedure will be pending (no matter how long that takes). Continue reading Guilty until proven innocent… and punished forever no matter the outcome! →

It happened to me! A ‘sometimes’ serious illness

Complementary coverage, Features, Health, Newsletter - 2023-02-22, PMO, Working conditions Print This Post

In 2017 I was diagnosed with serious illness. This kind of information crushes you as if a heavy stone was put on your back. What helps in this misfortune is the fact that European institutions’ staff shouldn’t have to worry about the financial aspect of the treatment, being insured via the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme (JSIS), staff are entitled to 100% reimbursed of medical fees where they have a recognised serious illness. Continue reading It happened to me! A ‘sometimes’ serious illness →

It happened to me! Schrödinger’s reimbursement

Complementary coverage, Features, Health, Luxembourg, Newsletter - 2022-09-15, PMO, Working conditions Print This Post

We asked you to send us your stories and here is the first one. A Colleague was diagnosed with a precancerous lesion. Although probably benign, it was growing quickly, showing micro calcifications, opacities, ragged edges, and highly heterogeneous appearance. The doctors concluded that it must be removed as soon as possible as it could easily become a malignant tumour (if that was not already the case) especially considering the colleague’s age group. Continue reading It happened to me! Schrödinger’s reimbursement →

It happened to me!

Features, Newsletter - 2022-07-08, Working conditions Print This Post

Life can be surprising, and life in the Commission can be surprising too. If you have encountered an eyebrow-raising situation, please share it with us!

We are proposing to start a new column dedicated to your experiences: we’d like you to tell us how it’s possible to get caught up between different rules (or different ways of applying the same rule) or to find yourself scratching your head thinking ‘come on, is this normal?’ Continue reading It happened to me! →

Reform of the promotion system

Features, Newsletter #28 - Apr 2018, Promotions, z Newsletter article Print This Post

Elsewhere we explain how the promotion exercise works in theory, with three levels of ‘merit comparison’ along the exercise (at directorate-general level, by the Joint Promotion Committees and their preparatory groups, and finally by the appointing authority (AIPN)) on the basis of comprehensive and unambiguous appraisals. Continue reading Reform of the promotion system →

MFF 2021-2027: Heading V of the EU budget

Features, Newsletter #27 - Feb 2018, z Newsletter article Print This Post

In the framework of the next multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2021-2027 Commissioner Oettinger invited the staff representations in January to provide suggestions concerning heading V of the budget which covers the administrative costs of all EU institutions (salaries, pensions, buildings, IT and security). We very much appreciated Commissioner Oettingers willingness to consult the staff at an early stage of the MFF drafting procedure. Generation 2004 has responded to this call and will defend staff recruited after 2004 (including new recruits) and low income staff. Continue reading MFF 2021-2027: Heading V of the EU budget →