*Update 27.02.2025: the question of whether managers can/should use Teams/Skype or other status as an indication of your presence/availability has been raised repeatedly, particularly given that you might have a different status on each platform. Check out question 14 of the flexible working FAQs for written confirmation that this is not their intended use and that status is not a reliable indicator of presence or non-presence.* Continue reading New teleworking scheme: longer working days and more micromanagement?
Working conditions
Generation 2004’s position on ‘sofagate’ and beyond…
The president of the Commission published a speech (26 April 2021) where she states that she considers the ‘sofagate’ events of 7 April to have been gender discrimination. Until then, and in the absence of details and statements it was important to keep a cool head and to view the whole affair in all its complexity to look at all the factors that might have played a role. Continue reading Generation 2004’s position on ‘sofagate’ and beyond…
Welcome to ‘The Wild West of Teleworking’ Photography Contest
*We would still like to receive your pics and stories*
Still working at the kitchen table after 13 months? Your bills increased exponentially? Cannot afford a decent home office with your salary?
If all of this sound familiar, it is time to participate in our photography contest!
Send us pictures of your home office set-up, your bills before and after compulsory teleworking started Continue reading Welcome to ‘The Wild West of Teleworking’ Photography Contest
A difficult Easter for DG SCIC staff?
DG Interpretation (SCIC) colleagues contacted us recently to have more clarity about working-time arrangements for the Easter holidays.
There are more restrictive leave-management rules in place at DG SCIC in general, for example the need to announce changes to a leave schedule 2 months in advance. Continue reading A difficult Easter for DG SCIC staff?
Latest on COVID: vaccines a little behind initial estimates
*Update 11.10.2022 Covid booster II campaign is starting soon (again medical service in Brussels and national authorities elsewhere) and flu vaccine is already available on some sites* Commissioner Hahn said in his video message (16.3.2021) that ‘we are all impatient to be free again’. At this stage, please allow me to modify his message and stress that ‘we are all impatient to be finally vaccinated’ (at least most of us). After 1 year of teleworking at home we are all fed up with this situation and cannot wait to resume a normal life. While entering the third wave, we are facing yet another lockdown. As most countries begin to tighten the restrictions, the vision of going to visit our loved ones over the Easter period seems to be vanishing. The pressure is high, our workload has increased, some of us at the brink of burnout, digital overload is a hard reality and some of us are worried about our family members in other Member States, which are currently fighting for their lives. Continue reading Latest on COVID: vaccines a little behind initial estimates
Remote-working precedent: a workaround or a can of worms?
In January a call for expression of interest presented the possibility to work in a DG Health and Food Safety (SANTE [1]) unit in Luxembourg from any Commission site ‘for about six months’. As stated in the email, the initial Luxembourg-wide call had been unsuccessful, so this was a ‘plan B’ of sorts in these difficult times, a workaround.
Unfortunately, this quick fix opens a can of worms (there are so many issues here we almost didn’t know where to begin, hence the delay in writing this article. If you spot any additional issues, please feel free to get in touch and we’ll add them to this list!) Continue reading Remote-working precedent: a workaround or a can of worms?
Special DGT meeting
Many of you contacted us over the past weeks and months to highlight a number of important issues specifically related to DG Translation (DGT) [1]. If you want to discuss them more in-depth and share with us your concerns and ideas so that we can act on them, join our special DGT meeting, Thursday 25.03.2021 at 2 pm. Continue reading Special DGT meeting
Teleworking from abroad before the Easter break
You asked, we listened! Many of you have contacted us recently to enquire about the possibility to telework from abroad before the Easter break [1], as was the case in summer 2020 and before Christmas (setting a precedent).
We at Generation 2004 reacted promptly to your requests by asking DG HR to allow this flexibility again. It was our previous requests on your behalf that resulted in the possibility to telework from abroad for 2 weeks in the summer and before the Christmas break: these requests were accepted and led to a well-deserved and very-much-appreciated flexibility for staff, after months of isolation and restrictions due to the measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Continue reading Teleworking from abroad before the Easter break
Latest news on COVID vaccination, teleworking and the right to disconnect
At Generation 2004 we continue to closely follow the development of all matters related to the COVID-19 pandemic and to voice your concerns and requests to the administration.
Here you find the most up-to-date information provided during the last meeting with DG HR devoted to COVID-19 (the 20th on the issue so far!) held 12 February 2021, complemented with that provided in communication update 30. Continue reading Latest news on COVID vaccination, teleworking and the right to disconnect
Digital overload and the right to disconnect: the Commission must act now!
As Commission staff, we are now approaching one full year of compulsory teleworking, with no clear prospects as to when we will be able to go back to the office. Many of you contacted us at Generation 2004 to share your concerns regarding what this ‘new way of working’ means in practice: sitting more hours in front of the computer, being forever reachable, reading emails at midnight Continue reading Digital overload and the right to disconnect: the Commission must act now!
