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Staff Committee Elections in Luxembourg – please vote!

Elections, Luxembourg, Newsletter - 2022-11-29 Print This Post

*Thank you Luxembourg! The elections are over! You reached the quorum! Thanks! Results published 07.12.2022.*

Voting has started in Luxembourg for the elections to the local staff committee (LSC), this is your local staff representative parliament. Each of the 5 lists on the ballot is either an OSP or a grouping of OSPs. Each list is a bit like political parties or groupings in national elections and parliaments. If you have not voted yet, please check our guide to vote video. Of course, Generation 2004 is participating in these elections – we are list 5. If you know our work AND you consider that this is enough information for you to vote for us, please go ahead. At which point we wish you a nice day and you can stop reading 🙂 Continue reading Staff Committee Elections in Luxembourg – please vote! →

Phone lines: the option exists!

Health, Newsletter - 2022-11-29, Working conditions Print This Post

*Update 03.10.2025 phone numbers are available under  PMO JSIS PHONE LINES and contact point: permanent invalidity*

Original article: Our manifesto wish  came true: we now have a direct phone number for HR to complement those which already exist for the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme (JSIS) and the Office for the Administration and Payment of Individual Entitlements (PMO). Continue reading Phone lines: the option exists! →

Follow-up special DGT meeting

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*Update 14.03.2023 DGT staff meeting Luxembourg 09.03.2023 the acting DG stated that the only element of standby duty which is voluntary (yes, this there is a bit of mental gymnastics in a duty being voluntary) is that the translator has some flexibility in the choice of week. That is, this is official confirmation of what was stated in the 2019 Central Staff Committee note 18/12/2019 (2019)7798989: ‘The scheme is ‘voluntary’ in that it is stated that staff are not obliged to be on standby. In practice staff report that they feel obliged to ‘volunteer’ in order to share the burden with colleagues.’ Note also that compensation is ‘up to middle managers'(Article 55(3) requires a more detailed system than this.**Update 19.12.2022, congratulations on finishing the Permanent Delegation of Translators (DPT) elections and we note with concern the suggested plan to fit Brussels DGT staff to the available space in any new building, as opposed to finding a building to fit the number of staff.* Continue reading Follow-up special DGT meeting →

Incorrect Sysper sick leave warning message: you asked, we acted!

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Everyone knows the first 3 days of sick leave don’t require a certificate, right? If you are off for longer then yes, you need a certificate. Those first days can be used to wait and see whether you get better or even just to try to organise an appointment with your GP in order to have their opinion on your options: sometimes getting an appointment can take some time! So, yes, sick leave without a certificate which subsequently becomes sick leave with a certificate is not unusual (≤ 3 days without + x days with = good). Though note that the medical service can still check in with you as they wish. Continue reading Incorrect Sysper sick leave warning message: you asked, we acted! →

Use it or lose it at the Commission

additional teleworking costs, Cost of living Luxembourg, IT kit for telework, New HR strategy, Newsletter - 2022-11-29, Open Plan Office, Working conditions Print This Post

*Update 30.08.2023: opaque and short-notice permanent closure of (well-used) childcare facilities at Grange site* *Update 13.03.2023 here is the presentation on hotdesking from our 10.03.2023 event.* *Here’s our collaborative note to HR on the topic of the building policy (12.12.2022) and on the topic of the North Light building in Brussels(10.02.2023).* Original article: Use your own allocated desk as much as possible, or you might find yourself soon in hot-desking (or as the Commission calls it, a ‘dynamic’ environment). In fact, this non-optimal use of workstations was the reasoning used as a basis to move colleagues to hot-desking environments of the most extreme type – large open-plan office space with no assigned desks, where furniture, individual storage space and quiet rooms are reduced to the bare minimum. Continue reading Use it or lose it at the Commission →

An update on workplace bullying and harassment

disability and special needs, Events, Newsletter - 2022-11-29, workplace bullying and harassment Print This Post

*Update 20.11.2024 the question of how to distinguish between bullying and conflict has been brought up a couple of times lately so we link to an explanation here.*

Original article: Have you ever been harassed? Or have you ever had the impression you might be harassed? Have you ever witnessed something that didn’t sit right with you and didn’t know what to do? What exactly is harassment or bullying? Note that in the Commission the terms ‘bullying’ and ‘harassment’ are used to mean the same thing: an often-present phenomenon in all personal, educational and professional contexts. Continue reading An update on workplace bullying and harassment →

Nine months on, what’s happening with the 12 actions for Luxembourg?

Cost of living Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Newsletter - 2022-11-29 Print This Post

*Update 13.03.2023 non-Luxembourg nationals, please register to vote in the June municipal elections!*

*Update 19.02.2023, the latest Corporate Management Board minutes make no mention of the 12 actions. We’ve asked about it in the comments.* *Update 16.01.2023 the Caisse Nationale de Santé (CNS) has shared a hospital tariff list. Here are the PMO contact details for follow-up questions.*

In September 2022 it was announced that ‘progress was made‘ on the 12 actions proposed in March 2022 by the Heads of Administration (Chefs d’Administration) of EU institutions and bodies based in Luxembourg (CALux) to address the difficulties of recruiting staff. So, 9 months on, let’s look at the achievements declared. As ever, we check the sources; in this case, the minutes of the 29.09.2022 meeting (point 4) for the details: updates in italics. Continue reading Nine months on, what’s happening with the 12 actions for Luxembourg? →

Promotion/reclassification exercises 2022

Administrators, Assistants, Contract Agents, Local Agents, Newsletter - 2022-11-29, Promotions, reclassification Print This Post

As happens every year, the promotion (officials) and reclassification (Contract Agents) exercises end with the publication of the final lists (officials and Contract Agents). The list for local agents in Delegations and Representations is normally published around 4 working days later. If your name is on the list you will be promoted/reclassified (changes will be visible in your December 2022 payslip (together with the 4.5% salary increase backdated to July 2022)) and Generation 2004 would like to warmly congratulate you. Continue reading Promotion/reclassification exercises 2022 →

Follow-up survey on teleworking utility bills

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*Update 09.01.2023: the original survey had >1200 participants, this follow-up is not yet half way, please help to make this comparison survey representative! We need you!* As promised in October, we ask you to participate in this, our follow-up survey on the utility costs related to working from home in order to make a comparison with the answers you provided to our original survey (January 2021 – January 2022). We want to demonstrate any further change in costs: our first survey related to an expected increase in the consumption of energy but the issue now is related to Continue reading Follow-up survey on teleworking utility bills →

Newsletter editorial – 07-11-2022

Editorial, Newsletter - 2022-11-07 Print This Post

Welcome to this latest edition of the Generation 2004 newsletter. We start with an outline of the unknowns on the very-short-notice permanent closure of the HTC building in Luxembourg. In response to your input, we clarify the process for interim staff to attend training, look at the discriminatory treatment given to AST/SC colleagues at the EEAS and the unnecessary sharing of personal information in Sysper. We offer a workshop webinar on the AD 6 competition, explain how the 4.5% salary adjustment works and remind you to use up the 10 TWA days. We also take a look at two ongoing Court cases which have the potential to set precedents for many of us. The first deals with the long-running Picard case which relates to pension and retirement rights lost by a contract agent colleague on renewing his contract: When is an upgrade not an upgrade? The second case is more recent and relates to the very topical reimbursement of teleworking expenses: the Court says ‘no’.

Enjoy the reading and get in touch if you believe we can help!