The European Commission has many sites, some bigger ones, like Brussels, Luxembourg and Ispra, some smaller ones like the smaller JRC sites (Karlsruhe, Geel, Seville) or the satellite site in Grange, Ireland (technically part of Brussels) – home to directorate F (‘Health and food audits and analysis’) of DG SANTE and some colleagues from DGT – not to forget the support staff from the different offices. Continue reading Grange childcare: loss of trust!
additional teleworking costs
LACC canteen closed permanently, what’s next?
The Commission continues to make savings, this time by permanently closing both the childcare facilities in Grange, Ireland and LACC canteen in Luxembourg. We’ve already mentioned the short-notice permanent closure of the Hitec (HTC) building at the end of 2022 and the short-notice change of the newest Commission building (MERP) from open space to hot-desking in open space ‘dynamic, collaborative space (DCS)’ just as staff moved in (March 2023). Continue reading LACC canteen closed permanently, what’s next?
Follow-up survey on teleworking, hybrid working and TWA
*Update 09.08.2023 please declare the TWA days you use! See footnote [*] for how and why.* Original article: We ask you to participate in a follow-up survey about teleworking, hybrid working and teleworking from outside the place of employment (TWA) in order to make a comparison with the answers you provided to our two original surveys: Working time and teleworking (and the results) and Survey on teleworking from abroad. Continue reading Follow-up survey on teleworking, hybrid working and TWA
Time for the Commission to address the cost of living
Generation 2004 requested DG HR open a formal negotiation (social dialogue) right after the summer break on measures to tackle the effects of inflation. The one which has been on the table the longest is the need to compensate in some way the additional costs of teleworking: this is one that we have repeatedly made noise about (most recently 07.11.2022 and 30.11.2022, but at least since 27.04.2020). Thanks to the social dialogue, the provision is there for this to happen (Working Time and Hybrid Working (WTHW), Article 13(4)), but is there any willingness to make it happen? Continue reading Time for the Commission to address the cost of living
The annual medical check-up: the ‘new normal’
*Update 03.03.2023 clarification of the changes announced for mid-February: all tests previously covered by «bons roses»[**] are now to be done via the health screening programme in order to be reimbursed at 100%.*
We start with some context: the annual medical check-up, that obligation that is not generally enforced, is done by only around 1/3 of staff [1]. Why might this be? Well, cost is an issue: while the check-up itself and associated laboratory tests are normally reimbursed at 100%, anything stemming from that check-up (‘diagnostic examinations’ or ‘additional treatments’, for example) will be reimbursed in the normal way (85% up to set ceilings which may or may not correspond to reality, we hear you Luxembourg [2]). Continue reading The annual medical check-up: the ‘new normal’
High time for the Commission to show flexibility!
*Update 14.12.2022 list of buildings closed Dec/Jan* We, the Commission staff, have shown (and continue to show) outstanding flexibility, especially during the recent crises: whether that’s the pandemic and the lockdowns, war in Ukraine, energy resources or skyrocketing inflation. In spite of all this and the exceptional workload these crises created for many DGs, staff made every possible effort to continue to deliver business continuity in the interest of the European people we serve. Continue reading High time for the Commission to show flexibility!
Use it or lose it at the Commission
*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
Follow-up survey on teleworking utility bills
*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
Reimbursement of teleworking expenses: the Court says ‘no’
*Update 13.03.2023 here is the presentation on hotdesking from our 10.03.2023 event.*Here is the update on Court case T-486/21 promised in our article on whether working from home can truly be considered voluntary. We noted there that the Court rejected the application made by one of our colleagues for reimbursement of teleworking-related internet and phone costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic (judgment 07/09/2022). We’ve been raising the issue of additional teleworking costs for over 2 years now and even though all OSPs succeeded in having this issue explicitly mentioned in the Commission Decision of 24/03/2022 on working time and hybrid working (Article 13) we see the Commission is increasingly reluctant to act. Continue reading Reimbursement of teleworking expenses: the Court says ‘no’
All at home! Will the Commission (again) close buildings?
*Update 10.05.2023 closing buildings announced as a great success success, but the figures are incomplete.**Update 14.12.2022 many buildings will be closed between Christmas and New Year. Here is a list. Here is how to find and book a desk.* *Here’s our 30.11.2022 note to HR asking (again!) that the lump sum be paid.* Original article: In August 2022 we asked whether working from home could really be considered voluntary, given the general reduction in office space across the Commission and the closure of many buildings for several weeks over the summer as part of the Buildings Energy Saving Together (BEST) Action. Continue reading All at home! Will the Commission (again) close buildings?
