Health

Medical reservation = discrimination against persons with disabilities (long read)

*Update 23.10.2024 please check the disability section in our list of resources, if there’s anything you’d like to add there, get in touch.**Update 29.11.2023, we sent a note to Ms Ingestad on this topic but forgot to upload it here. Here it is now.*

Original article: 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)

Sickness during annual leave: act fast and recover the days!

*Update 03.01.2023 additional information added (footnote 4) on sick leave away from the place of employment.**Update 18.12.2022: Having struggled to find the correct email addresses to send a sickness certificate or declare an accident, we have found using PMO Mobile 2.0 on a smart phone to be a bit more user friendly.* If you are sick during your annual leave it is possible to have those days credited to your sysper quota but the rules are different from those for being at work and the deadlines are tighter [1]

You require a certificate from the first day and must inform the medical service and send the certificate within 48 hours.

Continue reading Sickness during annual leave: act fast and recover the days!

Annual medical check-up: back to (socially distanced) normal

*update 12.10.2021: Still no annual medical service visits in Brussels, in spite of the information available on the staff matters website. We understand the process is currently still to go via your own doctor.*

*update 27.09.2021 the JSIS welcome Offices have reopened.*

*update 20.09.2021 Brussels: we have contacted the medical service about the e-agenda being deactivated, we will update this when we have more information, thanks to all of you who got in touch!* Continue reading Annual medical check-up: back to (socially distanced) normal

Survey on workload, digital overload and burnout

*Update 01.09.2021: move to Phase 3 of the return to the office strategy announced for Monday 20 September for all Commission sites.*

Many of you, facing various issues, have contacted Generation 2004 throughout the pandemic. The vast majority of the difficulties raised relate to having difficulties to disconnect (also called Zoom fatigue) or having to be reachable all the time. Colleagues are also working additional hours, working late into the evening and during the weekends: e.g. because the workload has substantially increased in some directorates-general (those working on high-priority files, such as EU Green Deal, Recovery Resilience Facility (RRF), Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)), or because of shortages of staff (those who leave not being replaced), or even just because it is difficult to decline that meeting or to reject that call from a colleague or superior. Additionally, external media outlets have reported that some directorates-general (DGs) face extreme workload related to priority files, which puts colleagues at risk of burnout. The situation might even more aggravate when we will move to the “New normal”. Continue reading Survey on workload, digital overload and burnout

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?

COVID-19: The latest on the digital certificate, vaccination and more

According to the data provided by DG HR in the latest information meeting on 11 June 2021 and on intranet updates: the EU Digital Covid Certificate will become available with legal effects in all EU Member States as of 1 July 2021, although some might start issuing it earlier: for example, Luxembourg  started issuing it on 14 June, Belgium on 16 June [1] and Italy from the end of June. Some travel rules will also change as of 1 July 2021 (but no exemption from  PCR tests). There’s an online information session from the medical services together with DG SANTE on Tuesday 22 June lunchtime via EULearn. Continue reading COVID-19: The latest on the digital certificate, vaccination and more

Teleworking from abroad: YES, WE CAN!

*Update 25.09.2025 1: TWA can now be combined with parental leave. 2: Details of the outcome of the court case (T-39/21) related to the removal of the expatriation allowance for some staff in the Parliament while working from outside the place of employment during Covid is added as footnote [**].*

Original article: Who said teleworking from outside the place of employment (TWA) [1] cannot be reconciled with the interest of the service and our duty to serve the public? Continue reading Teleworking from abroad: YES, WE CAN!

Get ready: the return to the office is starting in June

At last, on Wednesday evening (19.05.2021) HR announced a date for the start of operation ‘return to the office’: from Wednesday 9 June onwards the Commission anticipates moving from phase 0 to phase 1. In practice, this means that while teleworking will remain the norm, staff will be encouraged to go to the office, still on a voluntary basis. The maximum presence in the buildings – to be complied with at all time – will be raised to 20%. The canteen in the Berlaymont building will be reopened. Continue reading Get ready: the return to the office is starting in June

Reimbursement of the annual medical check-up during COVID

*One colleague was successful with a related Article 90 complaint*

Under Article 59(6) of the staff regulations, staff are obliged to undergo a medical check-up every year either via the institution’s medical officer or by a medical practitioner chosen by them. Continue reading Reimbursement of the annual medical check-up during COVID