Working conditions

Commission doubles down: You don’t own your mobile phone any longer 

Cyber-security, Data Protection, Newsletter-2025-10-07, well-being, Working conditions, workplace bullying and harassment

*Update 08.10.2025: the information below was correct at the time of publication. Subsequent (unpublished) changes might have made some parts obsolete: when we receive communication detailing the changes we’ll update this article.*

As explained in our event “Who owns your mobile phone?”, the Commission is not just setting a questionable example of unsuccessfully respecting staff privacy, it is doubling down on that choice and working on granting itself formal permission to commandeer your mobile phone. The Commission is in the process of drafting a formal decision. Continue reading Commission doubles down: You don’t own your mobile phone any longer  →

From Staff matters to Staff Center : Master the new platform like a pro!

Events, Newsletter-2025-10-07, Training, Working conditions

*Update 09.10.2025: here is the recording  and the Q&A.  Are you feeling lost in the jungle when you are navigating on our Intranet pages? The new Staff Center homepage serves as your central access point for essential services and information related to IT, Logistics, Buildings, Human Resources (staff matters), and personal or family matters.
Continue reading From Staff matters to Staff Center : Master the new platform like a pro! →

EEAS: Serving in the European Union’s diplomatic service

diversity & inclusion, EEAS, Equality, Newsletter-2025-10-07, Staff Categories, Working conditions

Serving in the European Union’s diplomatic service, particularly in EU Delegations around the world, is a role rich with complexity and significance. These delegations are the global outposts of the European External Action Service (EEAS), tasked with representing the EU in myriad geopolitical contexts. Continue reading EEAS: Serving in the European Union’s diplomatic service →

Mobility for contract agents 3a: priority that cannot be ignored 

Contract Agents, Equality, Newsletter-2025-09-11, Staff Categories, Working conditions

The subject of the internal job market  and the lack of real opportunities for Contract Agents to move post (‘job mobility’) has already been raised in earlier discussions, and we have exchanged views with the administration. In our opinion it requires further attention (details of the exchange are listed under ‘references’, below this article), particularly concerning the situation of CA 3a colleagues, who regularly approach us with their concerns and frustrations. We feel it is important to restate our concerns on this matter, given the on-going challenges faced by colleagues.  Continue reading Mobility for contract agents 3a: priority that cannot be ignored  →

Equal recognition for language exams

Contract Agents, Equality, Newsletter-2025-09-11, Training

*Update 28.10.2025 here’s the response to our note, which makes no mention of the  issue of staff being denied the opportunity to attend an in-person exam.*

*Update 18.09.2025: we’ve added a language-level-equivalence table below, many thanks to the reader who provided this. *

Original article: Here’s one more issue raised by staff:  Generation 2004 was contacted by colleagues across different staff categories, including Contract Agents 3b,  who were refused permission to attend in-person final exams for the in-house 12-level language courses. One reason given was that at this stage they are not required to validate their third language under the staff regulations or Conditions of Employment of Other Servants (CEOS).
 Continue reading Equal recognition for language exams →

What Do Staff Representatives Work On? 

diversity & inclusion, Elections, Equality, Events, Local elections, Newsletter-2025-09-11

If you’re facing a problem at work, have a question about your rights, or need help navigating a difficult situation, you don’t have to go through it alone. Staff representatives are here to listen, guide, and support colleagues regardless of staff category or contract type.   Being a staff representative means more than attending meetings.
 Continue reading What Do Staff Representatives Work On?  →

Telework from elsewhere or anywhere or abroad?

Equality, Newsletter-2025-09-11, Teleworking, teleworking from anywhere, Working conditions

*Update 25.09.2025 The outcome of the court case related to the removal of the expatriation allowance for some staff in the Parliament while working from outside the place of employment during Covid is added as footnote [**].*

Original article: Generation 2004 has consistently asked for an extension of the current 10-day quota to telework from anywhere (also sometimes erroneously called ‘telework from abroad’) (TWA). DG HR’s often-used argument to reject this request is that the average use of this possibility remains well below the 10 days given.
 Continue reading Telework from elsewhere or anywhere or abroad? →

Is Modernisation Just a New Word for Austerity? 

Newsletter-2025-09-11, Staff Categories, Staff Regulations Reform, Working conditions

The President has tasked Commissioner Serafin to ensure that Europe can draw on “a modern, efficient public administration” and has invited him to carry out a ‘large-scale review of the Commission’s organisation and operations’. The first question we can already ask is: Who will be the corresponding ‘high-level reflection group’ and what will be the selection process for that group?  Continue reading Is Modernisation Just a New Word for Austerity?  →

JRC staff policy – high ambitions, ugly realities

Contract Agents, Ispra-Seville, Newsletter-2025-05-08, Staff Categories, Working conditions

Update 07.07.2025: In the meantime, the Head of Unit responsible for sacking the two Contract Agents and previously accused of harassing a number of other colleagues has been proposed for promotion with just two years of seniority in the grade, two years less than the average in that grade. What do we learn from that?

Continue reading JRC staff policy – high ambitions, ugly realities →

Brussels Canteens: rising prices, shrinking wages

Brussels, Commission services, Equality, Newsletter-2025-07-08, OIB, Staff Categories

Price increase confirmed – Generation 2004 calls for support for the most vulnerable. Meal prices in the European Commission’s canteens in Brussels are set to increase by 4.2%, as confirmed by the Head of Unit responsible for the catering in OIB, during the Local Staff Committee Brussels (LSC Brussels) meeting on Tuesday 1 July.
 Continue reading Brussels Canteens: rising prices, shrinking wages →