We encourage you to rest and to recharge your batteries during the end-of-year days: this is not an opportunity to get work done! Please, as far as you can, switch off your devices, mute notifications and disconnect: take the time for you. Why not already schedule your out-of-the-office message in Outlook today? It’s one thing you can score off your end-of-year ‘to do’ list. We present a list of suggestions here in no particular order. Please feel free to get in touch to add to this list if you’d like to share what works for you!
Working conditions
2023 appraisal and promotion/reclassification exercises conference
*Update 27.01.2023, we assisted 274 colleagues with their evaluation text. The link to register is no longer functional*
We found one more reason not to use the new option of transferring the report from the previous year: ad hoc input from panels and committees might need to be updated and the transfer does not allow for any modifications.
Also, here is the guidance that used to be available within sysper for the first 3 sections of the appraisal (please use Firefox or Edge). * Continue reading 2023 appraisal and promotion/reclassification exercises conference
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!
Phone lines: the option exists!
*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
*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!
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
*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
*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
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
Building closures in winter – ding, ding, ding, we have a winner
*Update 13.03.2023 here are the results of our June 2022 working time and hybrid working survey!**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.* *Update 9.11.2022 a colleague got in touch to say that Berlaymont (BERL) is also to move to open space and hot-desking but the timeline is not yet fixed.*
Many rumours are currently spreading around the potential closure of Commission buildings during winter. It seems that we now have a clear winner: the Commission has decided not just to close the Hitec (HTC) building in Luxembourg temporarily, but to abandon it completely. The building, home to DG SANTE’s directorate B, is to be handed back to the owner by the end of the year, yes this current year. Continue reading Building closures in winter – ding, ding, ding, we have a winner
