Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Management Severely Harms the Health of Staff by Bullying Them

DG1: close target monitoring revived: a supporting or an oppressive exercise?
Campinos bought no social peace; he did the exact opposite!



Summary: EPO management that breaks the law wants the staff to blindly cooperate; failing to achieve full cooperation (in crimes), the managers are increasingly bullying the workers, causing some of them to get ill (in the past this led to a lot of suicides)

THE [firing] line managers at the EPO are dialling up the pressure to demonstrate their loyalty to their "f***cking president" (what António Campinos is calling himself) and the Dutch branch of the EPO spoke about it this week. We're back to the Benoît Battistelli era, even more formally. The management tries to find new and still-dubious or still-unlawful ways to 'motivate' (intimidate) staff. See or recall what happened in France Télécom. There was a prison sentence for (mis)management.



"The management tries to find new and still-dubious or still-unlawful ways to 'motivate' (intimidate) staff."The Central Staff Committee (CSC) of the EPO, i.e. elected representatives, issued a publication, which is still circulating among staff (we too got a copy; anyone who receives a copy can leak it to us!) and here's what it says. "This publication provides recommendations on how to react to the pressurising practices," says the CSC.

Munich,09/06/2022 sc22074cp

DG1: close target monitoring revived:



a supporting or an oppressive exercise ?



Dear Colleagues,

We have been contacted by a number of colleagues reporting an increase in the degree of micromanagement they are facing in recent months. These micromanaging measures include, inter alia, a weekly monitoring of their targets, daily calls from their team manager, and excessive scrutiny of search strategies, communications or FO mailboxes. Although the purported intention of the intervention of the managers is to support the staff members, it is often experienced as oppressive and leaves colleagues feeling overwhelmed. Being in such a situation may seriously affect their health, and result in them needing to take sick leave.

The background: “Challenging people” doctrine, excessively long target monitoring

This behaviour is, unfortunately, not a new approach. In 2014, the Office management drafted a document titled “Challenging people”1, in which proposals were presented how to better control staff members not fulfilling the expectations of the Office management. When Mr Campinos arrived in the Office in 2018, he dissociated himself from the challenging people doctrine during a meeting with the CSC, which was appreciated by staff representation. Regretfully, some DG1 line managers continued to impose weekly recording of activities on some allegedly low-performing DG1 staff members over an excessively long period of time. Although we felt, due to this special program named the weekly target monitoring program (WTMP), that the challenging people doctrine continued to prevail within the Office, the practice seemed to subsequently “dry out”, which reassured us again.

Were we too optimistic?

_____________ 1 Presentation titled “DG1 Teaming Up, Challenging People”, authored by A. Bailas, Y. Chabod




A disguised reactivation of poor practices?

Sadly, it has recently come to our knowledge that in some DG1 teams, which apparently foster quantity above quality, micromanagement intensity has again increased, this time, for example, in the form of weekly and individual meetings between the team manager and team members.

This is surprising because these micromanaging activities have resulted in the recent past in the filing of internal appeals and subsequent complaints with ILOAT, which is known to the upper management of the Office. We are also surprised because we thought that the entire Office management would have drawn the right conclusions from the events of the past. Apparently, at least some management members did not.

How to react to the pressurizing practices?

To overcome the oppressive situation as quickly as possible, we recommend the staff member concerned to communicate to their line manager in writing that they are not feeling supported by the measures being used, and that they are harming rather than helping. It may also be useful to request the legal basis for being exposed to the relevant measure. Liaising with trusted colleagues to find any common experiences to prevent feeling isolated with the problem is also recommended.

We also recommend those DG1 staff members concerned to draft minutes of all meetings with the line manager that have been convened to check their progress, which could be used later to demonstrate the overbearing micromanagement. You can also contact your staff representatives who can assist you in the meetings with your line manager.

Finally, should you wish to legally challenge the unlawful measures you are subjected to, you may contact your staff representation who will assist you in drafting a request for review and subsequently an internal appeal to defend yourself.

The Central Staff Committee


Where is the oversight? Where are the national delegates? Are they consenting to a regime of terror, wherein workers are pressured to act in violation of the EPC?

Recent Techrights' Posts

Rust is Eating Linux
That's a recipe for problems
Cindy Cohn (Executive Director of EFF) is a Millionaire, Earned Almost $30,000 Per Month Before Departing While the EFF Lost Money
EFF is "Big Business"
Microsoft XBox is Dying as More Retailers Stop Stocking It and Massive Layoffs Planned Again
Microsoft is circling down the drain
 
Links 06/10/2025: Scientific Awards and Typhoon Matmo
Links for the day
IP Kat Gone Bonkers, Pushing Slop in Patents (Likely Illegal, With Severe Consequences)
AstraZenecaKat: "Last time, this Kat covered some practical steps on how to ensure client confidentiality when using AI tools (IPKat)."
Links 06/10/2025: Grokipedia as Malicious Slop, US 'Martial Law' a "New Normal"
Links for the day
Fake Economics and Clown Computing Circuses
who's gonna pay for these scams?
Nobel Prize in Economics Does Not Exist, It's Propaganda From Sveriges Riksbank
"It is that time of the year when it is important to remind people that there are no Nobel Prizes for professional wrestling, astrology, or economics"
Non-Denying Denial From Microsoft (Again) Regarding the End of XBox Consoles
It's kind of hilarious that even the site chosen by Microsoft to relay its BS, based on past loyalty, isn't quite buying it
Bringing Back Lost Articles From the 1990s: Microsoft Products Leave Door Open to NSA
Nothing has changed since then
When the Slop Bubble Pops People Will Say Richard Stallman Was Right (Again)
What was once known as Computer Science turned into "IT"
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 05, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 05, 2025
Links 06/10/2025: Science, Hardware, and Andrej Babis Making a Comeback
Links for the day
Links 05/10/2025: Slow News Day and Wondering About the Canada Post Walkout
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/10/2025: Telnet Debugging and The Programmer’s Brain
Links for the day
More Than "Just a Rumour": XBox Seems to Have Just Died
At this point, why would any studio out there target or partner with XBox?
How to Tell Your Community, Project or Company is Being Infiltrated by Saboteurs
How to identify nefarious social engineering
The Fortieth Birthday of the FSF Made Us Extremely Happy
It feels like the 'hacker community' is regrouping to discuss things and prepare for the next Big Challenge
Chat Control 2 Them, Not 2 U
Follow the advice of Dr. Patrick Breyer
Mozilla: Throw Away Your "Old" PC and Enable "Digital Rights Management (DRM)"
This is heading in a bad direction
Controlling Our Computing for Another Forty Years
40 years of freedom
Motivational Small Place to Run Large Sites
We deem this scenery motivational and inspiring
Techrights' Text Version (Daily Bulletin) Turns Five This Month
our plain-text bulletins are turning 5 this month
We'll Continue Covering the Moribund OSI and Other Dysfunctional if Not Hostile Institutions
Stefano Maffulli's departure is due to his defection and due to him failing the mission in pursuit of money (his salary)
Links 05/10/2025: Lufthansa Layoffs (4,000) and More Spotify Woes (Aside From Massive Debt)
Links for the day
The Free Software Foundation's Livestream Has Ended, Video/s Might be Online Next
I've asked whether they'll upload video of some of the event; I still wait for an answer
The Register MS Does Not Know the Difference Between Microsoft GitHub and GitLab
At the time of writing (October 5) the article from "Thu 2 Oct 2025" remains uncorrected
Linux and the Freedom Paradox
Linux is losing freedom if some external actors who only use Microsoft tools for development wrest control
"Bullshit Generators" (What RMS Calls LLMs) and Fake Images Already Target the FSF
Why does Google News promote fake articles about the FSF while omitting all the real ones?
Software Patents as a Bubble
Don't invest resources in hype; if you detect a bubble, run away from it
Links 05/10/2025: Political Leftovers, Climate Change, and Security Incidents
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 04, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 04, 2025
Watch the FSF Party Live (via Livestream)
It's in WebM format, which is widely supported by now
Advocacy of Software Freedom Changed, LUGs Became Less Relevant
The way we see it, support groups like LUGs sort of outlived their usefulness when it became easier to install GNU/Linux
For the Second Time in a Few Weeks Microsoft Lunduke Makes False Accusations Against Senior Red Hat Staff to Incite a Despicable 'Troll Army'
Nothing that Microsoft Lunduke claims or says can be trusted
When Microsoft "Integrates" Something With "AI" It Means It's Losing Money and Is Generally Hopeless
how did Bing fare after 36 months of LLM slop being hyped up as "replacement" for search?
Most Certificates Don't Improve Security, They Mostly Increase Downtime (for No Good Reason)
The 'Gemini sites' (capsules) are a growing force
The statCounter Site Has Data Integrity Problems
Maybe we'll get back to statCounter when its data becomes more "stable" again
10 Ways to Combat Software Patents
software patents are loathed also by proprietary software developers
"Just a Little Bit of Meat..."
Free software "absolutism" is not a radical stance, more so if the only "radical" belief the user possesses is that he or she must be in control of his or her software, and by extension his or her computer
Compromised by NVIDIA Proprietary Library
Meanwhile in Boston there are "[r]oundtable talk with FSF volunteers (both in-person and online)"
Red Hat is Ignoring the Free Software Community, It's a "Fortune 1000" Vendor
Red Hat's blog also participates a lot in promoting of Wall Street's latest pump-and-dump "AI" scheme
Free Software Foundation Party Has Begun
We shall be focusing a lot on software patents today
Former Head of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Lina Khan Knows Whatever Microsoft Touches Will Die
Just like Skype (as recently as months ago) [...] When Microsoft grabs things, or when it buys things, it almost never ends well
Slopwatch: Fake Articles About LibreOffice in Austria and Wine 10.16
very short
Links 04/10/2025: "attempted Coup" Noted in Facebook, Russia Kills Journalists via Drones
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/10/2025: Anesthesia and Baudpunk
Links for the day
How Software Patents Were Viewed or Their General Status Changed Over Time
A rough summary
Links 04/10/2025: "Privacy Harm Is Harm", Criticism Outlawed in US
Links for the day
Garmin Uses Linux for Some of the Garmin Products, Now It's Sued by Strava Using Software Patents
Software patents should never have been granted in the first place
Richard Stallman Will Give a Talk in Sweden in 6 Days
Dr. Stallman, despite his battle with cancer is still alive and mentally sharp
FSF Turns 40
We'll be focusing on patent-related topics this weekend
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 03, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 03, 2025
Gemini Links 04/10/2025: Distro Hopping and "Part Time"
Links for the day