The staff of the Executive agencies of the European Commission (currently CINEA, EACEA, HADEA, Eismea, ERCEA and REA) have seen their working conditions deteriorate over the years.[1] Colleagues in the agencies are facing staff reductions while the budgets that they manage increase regularly. All this in a context of precariousness and limited career and mobility possibilities! Continue reading Generation 2004 supports staff in agencies
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Minimum wage in Luxembourg for contract agents – Parliament shows the way
*Update 04.01.2024, our Contract Agent petition at the European Parliament is still open, please sign it!* *Update 01.09.2023: the social minimum wage for Luxembourg is now 3085.11 EUR gross (or 2570.93 EUR for unskilled workers).*
Original article: In March we wrote about a glimmer of hope for Contract Agents in Luxembourg, who are earning less than the national minimum wage and need a special allowance just to touch this very minimum. The problem is that the Commission includes a number of EU allowances when comparing the salaries to determine the amount of this special allowance (see Commission decision C(2015) 4907 and the administrative notice 07-2017, March 2017): most notably, the expatriation allowance is included in the calculation. Continue reading Minimum wage in Luxembourg for contract agents – Parliament shows the way
Reclassification: 5 working days to appeal!
For all contract agent (CA) colleagues not proposed for reclassification and who feel the reason is not related to performance but to other reasons: change of unit/department, parental/maternity leave, change of line manager, personal conflicts etc. you can file an appeal in Sysper. Check out our instructions and how to draft your text and the template below. Check Ares(2021)2467829 – 12/04/2021 CSC note on CA 3a (page 3) for average reclassification speeds and note that CA 3b staff cannot be reclassified meaning that, frustratingly, no matter how good your appraisal, there are no rewards associated with it.
Continue reading Reclassification: 5 working days to appeal!
End of service: informed decisions please!
*Update 09.01.2025 Please be aware of the end of contract admin and that the payment of the EU unemployment allowance (the extra, supplementary part) is not automatic: it must be requested and the deadline is very short: ‘within eight days after your contract ends, submit a formal application for EU unemployment allowance’ (p.7, Practical Guide, August 2023).* Continue reading End of service: informed decisions please!
Newsletter editorial – 10-05-2023
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!
No EU allowances unless you first try elsewhere
It’s always nice to get financial support (e.g. family allowances), and some of us can get it from either our institution or a national authority. While this is a fortunate situation, it is quite clear that you should not be paid twice for the same request, whether that is for your medical expenses or allowances for your children. The staff regulations are quite clear in this respect, and we all have to declare any allowances received from national sources (check out our IDOC article).
Continue reading No EU allowances unless you first try elsewhere
Have you been IDOC(ed)?
*Update 27.08.2024: Check out the the 2023 IDOC report.*
Original article: You have probably already asked yourself: What is IDOC? What is a difference between an administrative inquiry and disciplinary procedure? What are possible sanctions? Will I be treated fairly?
IDOC stands for Investigation and Disciplinary Office of the Commission [1]. (Nearly) everything that the IDOC does is secret. Continue reading Have you been IDOC(ed)?
Out-of-hours building access (fingerprints and lone working)
*Update 17.09.2024 we have found a lone-worker procedure from 2017 for Luxembourg.*
*Update 14.03.2024 fingerprints are considered sensitive biometric data and even the European Parliament has been held to account by the EDPS on this.*
Original article: While we’re not enthusiastic about colleagues being in the office overnight or at the weekend, sometimes it might be necessary[1]. Nevertheless, we’d like those who do this to be safe. On a practical note, please prepare: is your mobile charged, do you have it on you and is there generally a good enough signal? Continue reading Out-of-hours building access (fingerprints and lone working)
Newsletter editorial – 20-04-2023
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!
Thanks to all who voted! Historic success in EEAS and promising result in Petten
The Generation 2004 team thanks everyone who voted in all elections: we can do nothing without your participation! All OSPs now have over a year to dedicate our time exclusively to defending your rights before the next local staff committee elections in 2024: check out the issues we’re raising. A special thanks goes to everyone who voted for us! We give you a rundown here of the most recent elections: the European External Action Service (EEAS)[1] and Petten Local Staff Committee, which both finished in March 2023. Continue reading Thanks to all who voted! Historic success in EEAS and promising result in Petten
