*Update 09.04.2024, here are the results of our contest, thanks to all who participated!*

*Update 08.03.2024 the gendered aspect of this debate has been around for a long time, we see no evidence that it is being addressed, please get in touch if you’ve seen anything to counter this! Overcooling of offices reveals gender inequity in thermal comfort. and Here’s Why Your Office May Be Too Hot or Cold: Gender Bias.*

*Update 14.12.2023 As promised below, here is our note to HR and OIB/OIL asking for the year of data on office temperatures.*

Original article: Winter is coming. The official rhetoric is that the EU is committed to ambitious environmental goals (EU Green Deal commitment to become climate neutral by 2030) and that the Commission will lead by example. Many further justifications have been provided for reductions; e.g. the increase of gas prices or the widespread use of working from home.

Regardless of the motivations, the outcome is always the same: more hot-desking in open spaces (‘dynamic collaborative space’ (DCS)), lower temperatures in winter (legal minimums, measured centrally) and higher temperatures in summer.

Your new building in open space is cold? It’s because it’s an intelligent building and it takes time for the system to adapt.

Your office is cold? A technician came and checked that it’s fine. It must be your own perception.

The thermometer shows 15ºC? That does not reflect the real temperature, as I told you, a technician checked that it’s fine, so it’s fine.

The heating is off at 17:00 but you have to work until 19:00 to finish an important file? Your commitment is remarkable, but maybe you should be more efficient and finish earlier.

You have a health condition and ambient temperature is key for your health and ongoing participation in the workplace? Ah … er … and if you were to choose another spot/work from home?

No need to get upset, there is always a good reply for any question. In any case, most Commission buildings are not particularly energy efficient and many have been sold, so in a couple of years you’ll move to an even better building, just be patient. No point making improvements meantime, when we intend to leave, right?

And please remember that it is strictly forbidden to bring your own heating![1]

What is doing Generation 2004 to this respect?

First of all, we do not believe everything is fine and we have raised the issue of office temperatures in every possible forum. We will add our note for HR/OIB/OIL here once it has been sent. It is unacceptable that colleagues have to come with blankets and gloves to work at the office, to bring in their own private heating appliances and break the rules, or that they are forced to telework and bear the cost of heating at home. We need your help!

But you never said anything!

Most colleagues do not bother to contact the proximity team (Brussels/Luxembourg). Opening a ticket is one more thing to do in an already-busy day and you might not even be sitting in the same place tomorrow. Even if you do open a ticket, the temperature of the building as measured centrally may well be at the legal minimum meaning that no action is required. What else to do?  Shoehorn the topic of temperature into the staff survey?[2]

Unfortunately if we do nothing and tolerate the situation then it becomes difficult to show that there is even an issue: there is no paper trail. Similarly, if it is always the same people who go to the trouble of opening a ticket then it is very easy (especially with something like temperature) to put it down to that individual feeling the cold more/not wearing enough layers or similar.  Do what you need to to stay warm: if you need to sit with your outdoor clothes on, then do so! It will both keep you warm and draw attention to the issue!

If your space in the office is cold, please complain (preferably written) and keep on complaining (a full email thread) until it is fixed, for months if necessary. If nobody complains, there is no problem to fix, it’s just the trade unions and staff associations trying to make trouble for no reason.

To make this campaign more bearable and to show you that you are not alone, we launch a competition, much like our previous Wild West of teleworking. Please send us a telling picture of your workspace, showing the temperature: a picture of your thermostat/thermometer, of your new workwear or of your colleagues in blankets or trying to type while wearing mittens etc. Please mention the building and the date and avoid including anybody who does not want to be in the picture.

We’ll select the two best pictures and reward the colleague(s) with a warm prize (most likely a blanket). We propose to compile all the pictures and present them in an event, inviting the administration to comment on them.

Please note that by sending the picture you transfer your copyright of the picture and that you authorised us to remove any personal data (for instance, by blurring faces)

We are looking forward to your cool pictures!

[1] Unless you’re in Luxembourg, where you can ask for authorisation to do so. Have any of you done this? Please tell us how it went!

[2] There is no clear place to add this information in the survey other than using one of the open-text fields. A couple of questions come close but don’t really fit the bill e.g. ‘I have the appropriate equipment and material I need to do my job well’ doesn’t make you think of office temperatures.

Obsolete updates:

*Update 13.12.2023: here are building closures and alternatives in Brussels, we’ve asked for equivalent information for other places of work e.g. Grange or Luxembourg. Remember you have the right to work from the office 100% if you so wish (and you are prepared for the temperatures there).*

Update 08.01.2024 we’re expecting temperatures of -7ºC in Brussels and  Luxembourg, send us your photos of how you’re coping in the office!