One of our members got in touch to say that interim agents have no access to EU Learn. We immediately contacted the EU Learn team and asked them to explain how newly recruited interim agents can enrol in the Commission training courses needed to perform their job effectively and efficiently if they are denied access to EU Learn. Continue reading Interim staff access to training: you asked, we acted!
Working conditions
Don’t forget to use your 10 days of teleworking from outside the place of employment!
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. We have no information on any extension to the end-of-year deadline (the 2021 days could be used until 15.01.2022) and so conclude that there is unlikely to be any extension: best to use the 2022 quota of days rather than lose them! Continue reading Don’t forget to use your 10 days of teleworking from outside the place of employment!
Annual Salary Adjustment 2022 +4.5%
*Eurostat update to the Correction coefficient can be found on p. 34 of their report and it is now official on MyIntracomm (13.12.2022)*
*Update 08.11.2022 to clarify: this 4.5% is in addition to the general intermediate salary update announced in June 2022. For correction coefficient updates and SNEs please check below [1].* Almost everyone, unfortunately with the exception of our local agent (LA) colleagues, will receive a 4.5% salary increase, with retroactive effect from 1 July 2022, to maintain equality with the developments in the Member States. For more info, check the Eurostat Report on the 2022 annual update of remuneration and pensions of EU officials (28.10.2022). Continue reading Annual Salary Adjustment 2022 +4.5%
First impressions last: Generation 2004 steps in
*Update 14.03.2023 HR confirms that medical part-time does indeed have a lifetime limit in certain circumstances.* *Update 03.01.2023 (belated) thanks to the colleagues who pointed out that medical part-time is sick leave and not a work pattern.[1]* Original article: Generation 2004 succeeds: personal and sensitive information[2] is no longer visible in sysper applications, thanks to Generation 2004 action! Continue reading First impressions last: Generation 2004 steps in
When is an upgrade not an upgrade? An update on the Picard case
*Update 23.06.2023 the Commission is to apply the judgment, but not to officials.* *Update 19.12.2022 C-366/21 P was successful! Well done to everyone involved! Here’s an external evaluation of the case and our own update.*
Original article: Legally speaking, is a contract renewal really a contract renewal? Is a second (or subsequent) contract considered to be a new stand-alone agreement or is it a continuation of an already-existing agreement? Given that Contract Agents (CAs) are now 25% of Commission staff [1] Continue reading When is an upgrade not an upgrade? An update on the Picard case
Reimbursement of teleworking expenses: the Court says ‘no’
*Update 13.03.2023 here is the presentation on hotdesking from our 10.03.2023 event.* Original article: 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’
Commission to respect expected salary adjustment for some, but not for all
*Update 03.11.2022: Eurostat has published the final figures on the increase for Commission staff in its report.* Against the backdrop of increasing prices and rising inflation and during a period that is, for many staff, the summer break, the Council requested the Commission analyse how to further cut expenditure on staff, asking for a response by the end of September 2022. The Council was specifically targeting the salary updates intended to address inflation. Continue reading Commission to respect expected salary adjustment for some, but not for all
Winter is coming – and with it come new guidelines on workwear for the office
*Update 24.11.2023, please open a ticket if you find yourself working in a place that is cold and you suspect that the temperature is below the set minimum for your site: leave a papertrail.**Update 18.11.2022 many buildings will be closed between Christmas and New Year.* *Check out the 16.11.2022 video explaining the heating system* Original article: If you have not already experienced them yourself over the summer, you all have by now at least heard some rumours. ‘Which rumours?’, you ask, there are so many! Continue reading Winter is coming – and with it come new guidelines on workwear for the office
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.* Continue reading All at home! Will the Commission (again) close buildings?
No work-life balance for colleagues in Delegations?
While the flexible working arrangements such as offsetting and recuperating working hours (‘flexitime’) and working from home are implemented for Member States and headquarters (HQ), as of today, colleagues in 144 Delegations around the world still have no legal basis to telework. This issue has been flagged multiple times in different meetings with management and a social dialogue was planned to be concluded in September 2022. As of today, still, nothing. Continue reading No work-life balance for colleagues in Delegations?
