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!
You asked, we listened! Many of you have contacted us recently to enquire about the possibility to telework from abroad before the Easter break [1], as was the case in summer 2020 and before Christmas (setting a precedent).
At Generation 2004 we continue to closely follow the development of all matters related to the COVID-19 pandemic and to voice your concerns and requests to the administration.
You asked us (
As Commission staff, we are now approaching one full year of compulsory teleworking, with no clear prospects as to when we will be able to go back to the office. Many of you contacted us at Generation 2004 to share your concerns regarding what this ‘new way of working’ means in practice: sitting more hours in front of the computer, being 
A silent revolution, without the involvement of staff and staff representatives.
At this time of year, many of us learn in our career development review (CDR) whether our hopes for promotion are likely to be met. While there are a relatively small number of colleagues who will be also promoted via the appeals process in the autumn, for most of us it is appearing on the DG proposal lists that is key to our promotions. (As a guide, for 2020 it was 