*Update 21.11.2024 check out the European Court of Auditors, 2024, Special report 24/2024: EU Civil service–A flexible employment framework, insufficiently used to improve workforce management: it concludes that ‘While the recruitment of temporary staff has proven an effective and flexible way to deal with the shortage of successful candidates on EPSO reserve lists, it carries some risks for business continuity and knowledge management, and as such cannot be a viable long-term solution‘ (Paragraph 100)*
Original article: Generation 2004 continues to take an active role in addressing the challenges faced by Contract Agents (CAs) within the Commission, especially regarding the possibility to extent the career using temporary agent (TA) contracts. This article builds on previous interventions and highlights our ongoing efforts to propose positive changes.
We are continuously involved in seeking solutions and advocating for a fairer system (for example in terms of unemployment contributions, job mobility, pensions, faster careers, CCP, reinforced access to internal competitions, fairer treatment in the application of procedures and better information on end of service etc.) that benefits both non-permanent staff and, ultimately, also the institution.
Advocating for regulatory revisions enabling CAs career extension
Generation 2004 has been engaged with the administration to raise critical concerns surrounding the career continuation of contract agents. We took initiative to clarify the 7-year rule (it applies to 3B contract agents, not 3A) in the past and before summer we questioned its recent application ultimately advocating for opportunities to extent the duration of the CA career. Among other issues, we identified the revision of the decision on temporary agents as a crucial opportunity to open more pathways for contract agents to transition into temporary positions. You will find more details on it here. By advocating for this change, we aim to ensure that all contract agents, particularly those in CA3B roles, have greater access to stable, long-term career opportunities within the Commission, reducing employee churn and addressing the demotivating and wasteful cycle of training staff only to lose them as their chain of contracts reaches the limit.
Challenges for contract agents
A persistent issue that demands immediate attention is the lack of career progression for many contract agents, especially CA3Bs. After six years of dedicated service with no promotion and several independent instances of repeating the 9-month-probation period with each new contract, many are forced to leave the Commission without securing a PSEUI pension or even having the chance to participate in internal competitions. This situation continues to be an area of significant concern that we are working to address through ongoing dialogue and suggestions, at different levels, including direct proposals.
The high cost of staff turnover
The current system not only affects the personal lives and careers of contract agents but also places a financial and operational burden on the Commission. When CA3Bs are required to leave, the Commission must restart the selection process for their replacements, investing significant taxpayer resources into recruitment and training. Additionally, since the member of staff who is leaving will never meet their replacement there is no full knowledge transfer, meaning that knowledge is lost and the remaining team is tasked with training the new recruit, in knowing that this colleague will also have to leave after a while. Generation 2004 believes that this turnover is both expensive and inefficient. We strongly advocate for a more sustainable approach, where contract agents are given the opportunity to build long-term careers within the Commission by reinforced access to TA contracts. All contract agents, regardless of their classification, should be provided with clearer career paths. As part of our advocacy, we are pushing for changes that ensure contract agents can transition into temporary (and then permanent positions) creating more stable and predictable career paths, as is done at the European Investment Bank (EIB).
The ongoing revision of the decision on temporary agents
Stay reassured! Generation 2004 is fully committed and wholeheartedly involved in the current discussion on the revision of temporary agents’ decision, the details of which we cannot share at this very stage. We took a proactive role to provide administration with our written comments for discussion, followed by additional comments provided at a later stage also by OSPs. For the most part, all OSPs appear to be united in requesting better conditions for contract agents, in line with the declaration signed on 25.09.2024. The challenges contract agents face are significant and we believe progress can be achieved. Discussions are ongoing and we will keep you posted.
We trust we can create a fairer and more effective working environment.
As always, we would love to hear from you. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with us or leave a comment below.
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