When I came to JRC Karlsruhe a some years ago, it became quickly clear to me that the Karlsruhe site had a majority of male colleagues, by far. Being a woman, I felt at times daunted how few women we indeed were.
In the meantime, things have changed at JRC Karlsruhe: we already have the second female site director and more and more women in head of unit (HoU) and DHoU positions[1].
Generation 2004 wants International Women’s Day (IWD) to be about action, evaluation and noting what still needs to be done. We want more than thanks or praise for women going the extra mile. We cannot pay our bills with applause![1] It’s not enough to simply call women ‘heroes‘ in March each year. Look at every declaration of a push for equality and see whether the actions match the words!
Continue reading International Women’s Day: where are we now?
*Update 09.04.2024 we have received a response to our note below from HR: the own-initiative training budget is very limited but special leave might still be available as a contribution to your OIT. Please use all your options!*
Original article: If you work for the Commission and you would like to keep up with developments in your area of expertise, or to acquire new skills to help you in your work, you are in for an unpleasant surprise. Up until recently, the Commission would contribute to the fees of a successful course, making it easier to take the decision to acquire university or other qualifications later in your career – especially for colleagues at the lower end of the pay scales. Continue reading Own-initiative training: You are, in fact, on your own
At the last meeting of the Local Staff Committee of Brussels, DG HR shared significant data regarding sickness leave and invalidity. They underlined that some of these data require further analysis which they intend to conduct to clarify reasons why, for example, more women than men are reported sick. Continue reading Your health: seeking transparency and action
*Update 21.02.2024: we are available at 001/A40 all day if you want to drop by and talk to us.* Original article: Generation 2004 colleagues from many different Commission sites will be in Seville from Tuesday (20. 02.2024) to Friday (23.02.2024). We will update this page with dates, times and places. Come along and tell us what you think needs to improve, what’s not working or even what you see as going well. What would you like to see change? How about how well JRC topics and tasks are distributed between the JRC sites? Come and tell us about the new JRC building plans and what they mean for you. We can tell you about the recent building moves elsewhere and what questions we need to ask. Continue reading Meet up in Seville! 20-23.02.2024
As we explained in our previous article on this very topic, there is quite a lot of room for improvement in the current annual reshuffling of staff and posts around the world (‘rotation’) in EU Delegations.
To start with, there is no real provision for the rotation of Contractual Agents (CA), who form a substantial part of the staff in Representations[1]. Continue reading Commission Representations rotate anticlockwise? II
*Update 17.04.2024 We continue to pursue a canteen-price-reduction scheme for Brussels, like the long-standing one in Luxembourg. We continue to see very limited progress.*
Original article: The wellbeing of European Commission staff is of paramount importance for Generation 2004. Years after the lifting of pandemic restrictions, Continue reading Your opinion matters – Canteens and Cafeterias – evaluation survey
On 12 June 2023 HR published on the Commission intranet Social media guidelines updated, offering support to staff:Advice on posting about EU matters on personal social media. You might have thought, ‘Excellent, finally I will find out what I can write!’ Well, it might not be as user friendly as it appears to be. Continue reading Social-media guidelines or muzzle?
By popular demand, the pension transfer-out event will take place again in March. The powerpoint is available by email from the Allianz broker. Additional questions from the original presentation (16.01.2024) are added and answered in our transfer-out FAQ. There will be a presentation and then a question and answer session. What does it mean to transfer out of the pension scheme of the European Union institutions (PSEUI)? Who has to do this? What are the options available?
*Update 19.02.2025: ‘By default, all [internal] competitions will be cross-category.’ (Stay tuned: A new approach for internal competitions) This is excellent news and should now put the Commission on an even footing with the Parliament and other EU institutions. We hope that this inclusion is genuine and that the competitions are not otherwise skewed to reduce participation. Participation in these competitions can be done in parallel to the certification: use all your options!* Continue reading Certification resit options: let’s pool our information!
