*Update 08.07.2024 [1]. We will not claim that PMO reacted to our note [2] of May and implemented the new system within this one month. But we do believe that we gave a bit of a push. Lately, the European Union’s Paymaster’s Office (PMO) has been under scrutiny due to prolonged delays in processing school fee reimbursements and third-party allowances.
This has placed a significant financial strain on many EU staff members, particularly those in lower pay grades. However, a new development promises to alleviate some of the administrative burdens faced by our colleagues.
The PMO has announced a major enhancement that will simplify the updating of Belgian family allowances for EU staff residing in Belgium. Until now, staff members were required to manually declare these allowances in SYSPER, the internal administrative system, regardless of whether the allowances were received by themselves, their spouse, former spouse, or a third person. This process was cumbersome and time-consuming, often leading to backlogs and delays.
The good news is that from June 2024, the PMO will automatically update the Belgian family allowances in SYSPER following each indexation by the Belgian regions. This change is a direct response to the challenges posed by the different amounts paid by the regions since 2017, which previously were not automatically updated in the system.
What does this mean for EU staff? After every indexation, the PMO will refer to the official amounts used by the Belgian regions and update staff files accordingly. The first phase of this automatic indexation will take place in the second half of June 2024, with the changes reflected in the July pension/salary slips. This will include indexations from September 2023 for Flanders and November 2023 and May 2024 for Brussels and Wallonia.
For those who have already submitted a declaration for these periods, no further action is required. After the automatic update, all staff will receive an official notification from SYSPER. However, there are still instances where manual updates to SYSPER are necessary. These include situations where staff receive family allowances from a Belgian region but have never declared them, discrepancies between the deducted and received amounts, receipt of double dependent child allowance for a child with a disability or who is orphaned [3], changes in personal situations affecting national family allowances, or receipt of family allowances from another country or international organisation.
The PMO is committed to providing assistance to staff members through the PMO helpdesk (+32 2911111 Mondays to Fridays from 9h30 to 12h30) or Staff Matters Portal [4]. This initiative is a step towards addressing the backlog and ensuring that EU staff receive their due allowances without unnecessary delays.[1]
In conclusion, the automatic indexation of Belgian family allowances is a significant improvement for EU staff.
As usual, we’d be happy to hear from you [5]!
[1] Update 03 November 2024: A colleage reached out to us and remarked that third-party allowances are deducted from the EU allowances, not paid. This is correct. However, units in PMO usually deal with more than one topic/allowance. By reducing the workload for third-party allowances, the colleagues in PMO should have more capacity to deal with allowances that are paid, not deducted.