At last, on Wednesday evening (19.05.2021) HR announced a date for the start of operation ‘return to the office’: from Wednesday 9 June onwards the Commission anticipates moving from phase 0 to phase 1. In practice, this means that while teleworking will remain the norm, staff will be encouraged to go to the office, still on a voluntary basis. The maximum presence in the buildings – to be complied with at all time – will be raised to 20%. The canteen in the Berlaymont building will be reopened. Continue reading Get ready: the return to the office is starting in June
Hot-desking: do not mistake the finger for the Moon!
*update 22.02.2022: we’re hearing that colleagues are changing DG in order to avoid open space/hot-desking. Is this you? Get in touch, we’d like to hear from you!*
In the COVID information meeting of 30 April 2021, the Director of Office for Infrastructure and Logistics in Brussels (OIB), Mr Marc Becquet, accused trade unions and staff associations (OSPs) of spreading fear and discontent among staff by sending too many messages and tracts on hot-desking and workplace arrangements. Continue reading Hot-desking: do not mistake the finger for the Moon!
The future: no more lunch in Commission buildings
If you were fantasising about returning to the office one day and resuming the usual lunch with colleagues [1], think again!
The new L107 (the ONE, Brussels), apparently the role model for all Commission buildings in the very near future – will not have a canteen, even though it will house more than 1500 staff – indeed, such a large number of people would fully justify the presence of a canteen. So, it seems that with the ‘new normal’, everybody who wants to eat in this showpiece Commission building will be treated to the following choice: either try to run faster than the others to get a spot at the – very small! – cafeteria in the building or lose a lot of precious time to go to possibly overcrowded canteens in other buildings. Continue reading The future: no more lunch in Commission buildings
Reimbursement of the annual medical check-up during COVID
*One colleague was successful with a related Article 90 complaint*
Under Article 59(6) of the staff regulations, staff are obliged to undergo a medical check-up every year either via the institution’s medical officer or by a medical practitioner chosen by them. Continue reading Reimbursement of the annual medical check-up during COVID
How to decode and successfully communicate with your co-workers?
DiSC is a behaviour-assessment tool based on the theory of psychologist William Moulton Marston. It focuses on four different behavioural traits, which could be summarised as decisiveness, interaction, stability and conciseness. Each of these traits refers to a pillar of someone’s personality. The more you have of a particular trait, the more you are likely to appear a certain way. Continue reading How to decode and successfully communicate with your co-workers?
Local agent employment-conditions reform
Here are updates and the review process of the salary-revision decision. Subsequent to the conclusion of the social dialogue for the local agent (LA) employment conditions, which should replace the Framework Rules, all LA colleagues will have until 30 June 2021 to decide whether to sign the package of conditions. If you have any questions or need any assistance, you can contact Generation 2004. Continue reading Local agent employment-conditions reform
Survivor’s pension: discrimination
The purpose of this short piece is not to repeat what is already available on Staff Matters under Survivor’s pension (or our General pension FAQs) but to make you aware of the outcome of a recently decided case (T-374/20 – KM v Commission: available in German and French) that might be of interest to you or your loved ones. Continue reading Survivor’s pension: discrimination
Corporate credit cards: what changed?
The recently changed conditions for having and using corporate credit cards confused many of us. We asked the Office for the Administration and Payment of Individual Entitlements (PMO) for clarification and additional information and below is a summary of what has changed and why. Continue reading Corporate credit cards: what changed?
New teleworking scheme: longer working days and more micromanagement?
*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?
The same electoral rules for all!
Uniform and fully democratic electoral rules throughout the Commission, synchronised electronic elections at all sites and, last but not least, a separate local staff committee (LSC) for Seville: these are the key elements of a proposal for staff-representation reform developed by Generation 2004. We have been raising these issues in one form or another since at least 2013 and have actively led on related efforts to address these three points on several occasions. Continue reading The same electoral rules for all!
