R&D training course for internal and open competitions

12/02/2014 ,

R&D is happy to organise a training course for those who are participating either in the Internal Competitions and in the EPSO Open Competitions.

The course will be given in English by our trainer Anne Draime in the Amphitheatre (bdg.36). The schedule is as follows*:

DAY
TIME SCHEDULE
FUNCTION GROUP
SUBJECTS
Monday 24/02
9 -  13
Internal competitions
-        Oral interview AST + AD
-        Oral presentation AD
Monday 24/02
14 - 18
AST1
AST3
AD
-        Application form and competencies analysis
-        Situational Judgement
Tuesday 25/02
9 -13
AST1
AST3
AD
-        Structured interview
-        Group exercise
Tuesday 25/02
14 - 18
AST1
-        Secretarial field test + word document
-        Accuracy Test + Prioritising Test
Wednesday 25/02
9 - 13
AD
AST3
-        Case study
-        In-Tray

If you are interested in participating please fill in the form at this page.

R&D members can join the course for free and have priority for registration.

Non-members are welcome to participate on payment of a €60 fee.

February payslip: a small salary increase

,
Some of you asked us more information about the salary adjustments you found in your February payslip.

Here we are:
· Our pension contribution rate has decreased from 10,6 % to 10,3 %, retroactively applied from July 2013.
As a reminder, our contribution rate already decreased from 11,6 % to 10,6 % with the January payslip - see the Regularisation salary slip of December 2013.
The 2011 contribution rate has still not been applied, the Court case is pending. Its value will depend on multiple factors that include the actual salary and pension contribution rates in force at the time of the Court sentence.
· Our Varese correction coefficient increased from 92,3 % (2010 value) to 92,8 %, and it is applied retroactively from July 2013.
As a reminder, the 2012 and 2011 correction coefficients have not been applied so far, since they are linked to the 2012 and 2011 salary adjustments that are to be negotiated between the Commission, the Council and the Parliament.

05/02/2014
Choose a topic, have your say!

 Have you ever wished to make your voice heard on a specific topic? 
Would you like to be the first to know about new issues concerning your working life? 
Are you ready to get an active role in our decision making process, by simply participating in targeted discussions from your office?

We hope your answers were positive. At R&D, we take your input very seriously and wish to be sure we really represent your ideas, and it should not take too much of your time to get involved with our activities.
So, how can you channel your contributions?  By participating to our thematic working groups and by being added to the dedicated mailing lists!
Currently the following thematic working groups have been activated:
1. Careers (certification, internal competitions, reclassements, mobility, promotions, contractual agents, open competitions)
2. Individual rights (salaries, pensions, correction coefficient, allowances, teleworking & flexitime, social security)
3. Working environment (safety & security at work, offices/open space, new buildings, parking, asbestos)
4. Social policy (Canteen, Crèches/Garderies, Clubhouse)
5. JSIS(Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme)
6. European School
7. Environment

The reference persons for each thematic group together with the executive members will ensure that your valued input will be used constructively in the definition of actions and positions of R&D that will be presented to the administration.
Choose to take part in one or more of these 7 areas, and become an active R&D member!! With a minimal engagement, we can achieve better results. Let’s put our ideas together, and help us to make your thoughts to become our position, and better defend your interests!

CDR: Appeals and Art. 90 complaint

04/02/2014 ,

Appeal against non proposition for promotion by your DG:

On 24th June 2014 DGs will publish the propositions for promotion in SysPer2. From that day on, you have 5 working days to introduce an appeal if you think you were unjustly not proposed for promotion by your DG this year, although you fulfill all the criteria according to Article 45 of the Staff Regulations with regard to
- seniority in the grade
- merits as reflected in your evaluation report
- responsibilities
- languages used in the service
Although every situation is different, R&D has listed some of the most typical situations that might give you reason to file an appeal with the Promotion Committee. You can download the templates in Word format ( document ) and use them to prepare your text.

How to use the following templates for appeal?
  • Keep it short and to the point (1 page maximum).
  • Please bear in mind that the Promotion Committees have access to your evaluation and promotion file,
  • you therefore do not need to repeat details that become clear from them.

——————————-

Complaint Art.90 §2 against non proposition for promotion:

(to be used only after the publication of promotion lists in november 2014)

The deadline for appealing against non promotion is 3 months after the publication of the promotion lists. You will find below a model for appeal, to adapt according the grade to which you belong ( document ). For more information, do not hesitate to contact our R&D specialists.
- See more at: http://www.renouveau-democratie.eu/help-desk-cdr/appeals/#sthash.PVP3LhEM.dpuf

INTERNAL COMPETITIONS AD/AST: R&D invites you on Tuesday 4 February

31/01/2014 , ,
R&D and its legal team are available on Tuesday 4 February from 12.30 to provide information and assistance to those colleagues who took part in the internal competitions but didn't pass the pre-selection phase. Therefore R&D invites colleagues concerned to participate in a videoconference with our experts and lawyers in Brussels to review the whole procedure and guide them through the steps of their possible ap­peals.
R&D is preparing Art. 90 claim models to be made available to unsuccessful applicants in these competitions, but our assistance doesn't stop there! Since each case deserves special attention, we will provide you with personalised advice and an individual follow-up case by case.
Join us in the LSC meeting room (bdg.63) at 12.30 on Tuesday 4/2!

Self-assessment: R&D at your disposal

27/01/2014
The appraisal and promotion exercise 2014 has been launched recently. If you would like to review your self-assessment before signing it or you have any other question concerning the procedure, feel free to contact us. Our colleagues will be at your disposal to answer all your questions.

To get in contact with R&D Ispra, please write a message to our secretariat to make an appointment.

Canteen price increase: the full story

22/01/2014
Staff and staff representatives have sent many messages about the price increase at the canteen, and as R&D we think it's now time to clarify certain aspects. The topic is complex and many of you are understandably irritated by the entity of the increase. Our position cannot be easily explained in a few lines, so we apologise if this message is longer than we would like.


 ******

So, what happened?
During the meeting of the Canteen Committee that took place on 7 November 2013, staff representatives expressed their doubts concerning the proposed price increase and, considering the importance of this issue, decided that, according to a new interpretation of the rules, it was up to COPAS to take such a decision in the occasion of the meeting already scheduled for the following 25 November.


 OIB Proposals
OIB had presented to the Canteen Committee the following alternative scenarios:
i) stopping the service (considered as an "impossible" option),
ii) reducing the service by reducing staff (would lead to reduction of the level and quality of service offered),
iii) outsourcing as already is the case in Brussels and Luxembourg (which would bring only modest savings for the EC),
iv) increasing the prices (taking inflation 2010-2014 into account and to provide more staff, offering higher savings for the EC and making any outsourcing strategy unappealing)


 R&D position
Considering the intransigence of certain staff representatives, we had in the weeks beforehand initiated discussions with OIB presenting some suggestions that, if taken into consideration, would have possibly allowed for an overall smaller increase, spread over time. Concretely, we proposed to:
a) Distribute costs evenly by increasing prices not only of the canteen, but also for other sectors, including Piccola Mensa, director's dining room and coffee services for meetings and workshops;
b) Consider the phasing in of the proposed increase over a period of time;
c) Ensure that the canteen price policy and food offerings favour the consumption of healthy meals;
d) Verify the impact of the new 40 hour working week for staff employed by OIB which could potentially lead to productivity gains.


 What happened at the COPAS meeting
COPAS normally takes decisions by consensus (agreement of all administration and LSC nominated members). Indeed, on the occasion of the approval of the canteen price increase, the COPAS President (Ispra Site Director) clearly stated that without consensus he wouldn't have gone forward. Taking into consideration all the elements above, even the LSC President, who is also the COPAS Vice-president, expressed herself in agreement with the full price increase as presented by OIB. She explicitly rejected to postpone the discussion about the price increase because she considered not to have any elements to say that OIB's proposal was not correct. If OIB reassured her that they had taken into consideration all the possibilities, that the Commission doesn't offer any other possibilities, that despite all this we are not far from the situation of all our colleagues in other sites, honestly she didn't have any element to block such a decision. None of the staff representatives present at the COPAS meeting rejected the administration's proposal.


 The outcome

Unfortunately the contradictions of the LSC President, who firstly insisted on a position of no price increase, and then agreed on the full price increase at the COPAS meeting, led directly to the administration and OIB being given a free hand to implement their complete proposal.
Even worse, the fact that the LSC President soon after changed her mind and attempted to withdraw her approval, has led to the disastrous situation of a LOSS OF CREDIBILITY OF STAFF REPRESENTATION IN GENERAL. Furthermore this leads to a weakening of our negotiating power, especially in formal meetings when you are obliged to clearly explain and defend your position!
At this point we want to stress that R&D is not pleased with the resultant price increases, but at the same time was and is not a priori against reasonable and well justified adjustments, and we do believe that a more favourable result could easily have been achieved! In our opinion, refusing to recognise the reality - without considering the need to protect our social services as a whole - obviously didn't help.
This doesn't mean we have to agree on everything from the start, but it's also very true that a reasonable, common sense, well-argued and firm approach always pays best. A proper dialogue with the administration is more fruitful than a policy of burying your head in the sand.
This is what staff representatives are called for: full involvement in the issues allowing the possibility of negotiating from an informed and strong position. On the other hand, changing your mind according to whom is shouting louder, with an always-NO approach and without any strategy at all, is the worst gift that a staff representative can offer to staff.


 Wish to know more?
We warmly invite all colleagues wishing to receive more detailed information to contact our secretariat. We'll be happy to share with you in-depth analyses and data that are in our possession and we will also be happy to receive any sensible suggestions that you may have.
Finally, we promise to evaluate the impact of the new prices on the ongoing financial situation of the OIB and put necessary pressure on the Administration to make further adjustments if it turns out that the reality does not correspond with their forecasting.
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