The pension benefits system for local staff in Delegations (Provident Fund for Local Agents (‘PFLA‘)) has lost over 5% of its value. This means that the amount of money local agents (LA) receive at the end of their career (through employer and employee contributions) is falling. Continue reading Flash report on the Local Agents’ Provident Fund
Working conditions
Annual salary update 2023
*Update 13.12.2023, those who took time credit leave while also making full pension contributions will have seen a (small) drop in salary in December.* Update 17.11.2023 many of you got in touch to mention the end of the solidarity levy. Unfortunately, this is extremely unlikely to happen, but we do always appreciate your input, please continue to send us your ideas and sources thanks!*
Original article: The news is out, Eurostat has published its report on the 2023 annual update and the residual salary update amounts to +1.0%, after the intermediate update from June. This is far better than what we had hoped for, so this good news. Continue reading Annual salary update 2023
Commission Representations rotate anticlockwise? I
*Update 01.02.2024, thanks to all of you who participated in our survey, we will publish the results soon!* Original article: One of the advantages of working for a European institution is the possibility it offers to make a career doing different jobs in different countries … at least in theory. The colleagues working in a Commission Representation in a Member State need a rather unique combination of policy, operational and linguistic skills that can make such posts hard to fill. Continue reading Commission Representations rotate anticlockwise? I
Feeling desperate in hotdesking? Just bring a dog!
*Update 11.04.2024 the HR evaluation of this event was made available 21.02.2024 (> 4 months after the event) it was shared with the health and safety committee Brussels (CPPT) before publication and we await their opinion. The project was generally well received (though polarising), did indeed incur costs and is now described as a pilot project[1].* Continue reading Feeling desperate in hotdesking? Just bring a dog!
Please use your 10 days of teleworking from outside the place of employment!
*Update 26.08.2025 here’s the new link with instructions on how to encode those TWA days, note that even Blue Book trainees can have 5 days.*
Original article: If you still haven’t used up all your days of teleworking from anywhere (TWA)[*] do not forget to file the request in Sysper as soon as possible. Here’s how to do it. We know of no plans to extend the validity of the 2023 days beyond the end-of-year deadline (the 2021 days could be used until 15.01.2022). Please at least request your full 2023 quota of days, even if you’re not 100% sure that you’ll use them: HR is looking at how many days are left over. Continue reading Please use your 10 days of teleworking from outside the place of employment!
Your career matters to us – Answer the Survey & help us help you!
Are you an assistant (AST), secretary/clerk (AST/SC)[1], Contract Agent (CA) or Temporary agent (TA)?
As the representative body for all staff, it is our mission to ensure that you have the information you need to make informed choices and to ensure that your expertise, roles, and opportunities for growth are recognised and valued in a fair and equitable manner.
Continue reading Your career matters to us – Answer the Survey & help us help you!
5 more days for parents, with a catch …
*Update 26.09.2024: we’re still unable to find any mention of these 5 additional days on staff matters, they don’t appear to be available via sysyper either. We’ve asked staff contact for info and we’ll share it with you here.*
Original article: In November 2022 Generation 2004 asked the Commission to match the updated paternity-leave provision from Belgium: 20 days of paternity leave[1], instead of the current 10. Continue reading 5 more days for parents, with a catch …
One more pension pitfall, or how the Commission fails to keep up
*Update 20.11.2024 We add this cross reference in relation to questions received. Even though the PSEUI does not recognise pension contributions ‘gifted’ by national schemes, it deals with non-work-related pension contributions made to its own system differently: see question 4 General pension FAQs*
Original article: It’s been some time now (in many cases decades) since it became possible to have pension contributions made on your behalf in many Member States while you are not working. These ‘gifted’ contributions might cover periods of long-term sickness, of unemployment, military service[1] or of caring responsibilities, depending on the national authority. Continue reading One more pension pitfall, or how the Commission fails to keep up
Grange childcare follow up
*Update 06.12.2023: here are building closures and alternatives in Brussels, but we don’t (yet) see equivalent information for other places of work e.g. Grange or Luxembourg. Remember you have the right to work from the office 100% if you so wish (and you are prepared for the temperatures there).* Continue reading Grange childcare follow up
Lunchtime conference – 20-09-2023
Generation 2004 held a lunchtime conference on the 20th of September.
You can find the PowerPoint presentation here.
We gave a short update on the below matters.
