When is an upgrade not an upgrade? So, you didn’t get promoted or reclassified last year, but you’re due an upgrade in step and are looking forward to the (however small) associated salary increase. The only circumstances where there is no increase in pay is in the last step in the grade: the salary there is always the same as step 1 of the next grade. So you reckon you’ll get something, right? Well… at the end of the day it might actually be nothing: zero. Continue reading Zero net salary increase after advance in step!
Staff Categories
Internal competitions – Time for collective action!
*Please see 27.01.2021 update*
In the wake of the announcement by DG HR of yet another very discriminatory internal competition (IC), Generation 2004 organised a conference to debate the matter. According to our analysis, this IC excludes over 16 000 potentially eligible candidates. Although other institutions allow anyone who meets the education and experience criteria to take part, the Commission is definitely doing it differently. Continue reading Internal competitions – Time for collective action!
New competition – same old story!
*Update 08.07.2022: you can also take the same action (apply and appeal the rejection) for the 2022 internal competitions. We are also organising training for August 2022.*
Another Internal Competition has just been announced which is exclusively open to Temporary Agents (TAs), i.e. mainly cabinet staff (‘parachutage’?) as well as our JPP ”Jeunesse dorée”. Oops HR did it again Continue reading New competition – same old story!
Promising and selling unicorns
*This article was published in November 2021 in response to promises made during Brussels, Karlsruhe and Ispra elections. Here are the Karlsruhe 2021 results.*
On allowances to cover the additional costs of teleworking and other promises
It is election time for many sites of the Commission and there are two unmistakable signs for this:
- Your inbox is filling with largely indistinguishable e-mails asking to vote for union X or union Y, because they have done SO MUCH for you in the last year (although for some of them, you cannot remember ever having seen any action or results).
- The e-mails contain a hodgepodge of measures that they are demanding, often defying any sense of reality: unicorns, rainbows, a guaranteed lottery win …
Generation 2004 submitted AST/SC petition to the European Parliament
We need you to please register at the EP website and sign this petition there.
We are happy to inform you that Generation 2004 formally submitted a petition to the European Parliament to stop the unfair treatment of AST/SC staff on 11.11.2021, but please add add your name to show your support! [1]
‘Will you support a petition to the European Parliament (EP) to raise the MEPs’ awareness of the specific challenges faced by our AST/SC colleagues and to urge the EP, during the next revision of the staff regulations, to adopt the necessary legislative changes to abolish the unfair treatment of the AST/SC staff members? Continue reading Generation 2004 submitted AST/SC petition to the European Parliament
Stop having AST/SC staff do AST roles without the corresponding pay and potential!
*Update 23.09.2025: It’s now official: 50 AST/SCs are to have the (mis)fortune of doing an AST post without the corresponding AST promotion speed or career potential. Check the Draft 2026 Commission budget: ’50 posts in the function group AST may be occupied by officials and temporary staff in the AST/SC function group to reflect the gradual phase-in of the AST/SC function group.’ (p. 955, footnote 1). While the Commission as a whole is set to lose 24 posts, the AST function group is to lose 121 (leaving 4398 permanent staff). No other function group is to decrease in size.* Continue reading Stop having AST/SC staff do AST roles without the corresponding pay and potential!
Promotion/reclassification exercises 2021
As you probably know, this year’s promotion (officials) and reclassification (Contract Agents) exercises will end with the publication of the final lists this week here (according to our information it will be on Wednesday, 10 November 2021) [1].
If your name is on the list you will be promoted/reclassified (changes will be visible in your December 2021 payslip) and Generation 2004 would like to warmly congratulate you. Continue reading Promotion/reclassification exercises 2021
Do you think harassment or bad managerial behaviour improved in 2020?
The mediation service has published its 2020 annual report showing that the number of cases reported is much lower compared to previous year(s). One cannot help but wonder: is that because harassment/bad managerial behaviour really improved, is it because colleagues are fed up with the ineffectiveness of the available harassment fighting procedures, or is it simply a partial story: it does not show how many cases never started because the other side refused to engage. (Yes, mediation is voluntary and the mediation service can do nothing when only one side is willing.) Continue reading Do you think harassment or bad managerial behaviour improved in 2020?
Correction of function group for Local Agents in Delegations – We need an action plan!
Stories on the ground
Story 1 LA Function Group IV recruited as section secretary. Later on the job task of the DMO (document managing officer) is added to the job description and this has been the situation for more than 2 years. Management refused to discuss changing the post to Group III. Continue reading Correction of function group for Local Agents in Delegations – We need an action plan!
Internal competitions: EU institutions doing it differently
*Update 19.02.2025: ‘By default, all [internal] competitions will be cross-category.’ (Stay tuned: A new approach for internal competitions) This is excellent news and should now put the Commission on an even footing with the Parliament and other EU institutions. We hope that this inclusion is genuine and that the competitions are not otherwise skewed to reduce participation.* Continue reading Internal competitions: EU institutions doing it differently
