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EPO Does Not Lack Desks and Seats
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THIS site has already published about 4 videos and half a dozen posts about this topic, but there are some new developments and they help expose the insincerity of EPO management.
Zentraler Personalausschuss Central Staff Committee Le Comité Central du Personnel
Munich,10/02/2023 sc23015cp
Bringing Teams Together:
“Three days per week” for a fixed workplace
In its Communiqué of 2 February 2023, the administration announced new accommodation plans for Munich and The Hague together. In a letter sent to the Central Staff Committee (CSC), Ms Simon (VP4) reaffirmed that “staff members who work at least three days per week at the office or have special needs determined on a case-by-case basis will be allocated a fixed workplace”. We strongly advise staff to make sure their line manager follows this guiding principle. This paper gives more details.
Dear Colleagues,
A major cause of concern In January 2023, EPO staff gathered in General Assemblies in all places of employment (including 850 attendees in Munich and 631 in The Hague). The “Bringing Teams Together” project triggered many questions from the floor and confirmed to be a hot topic for staff.
The staff representation met on 18 January 2023 with the administration in a working group on this topic. We voiced major concerns of staff about the organisation chaos and unrest caused by the project among teams and made concrete proposals (see our report here).
Quotas vs staff wishes Line managers were asked to proceed on the basis of quotas (70% of workplaces per directorate, among which 50% can be allocated fixed) thereby triggering divisive discussions among staff. The implementation is chaotic and arbitrary with a broad range of diverging implementations on top of “managerial arbitrariness”. A purely quota-based distribution of workplaces and allocated fixed workplaces cannot match the wishes of staff.
Three days per week as a guiding principle In a letter of 3 February 2023 (see annex), Ms Simon (VP 4) reaffirmed that“as a guiding principle it makes complete sense that staff members who work at least three days per week at the office or have special needs determined on a case-by-case basis will be allocated a fixed workplace, while staff choosing to come less often will use workplaces for the day.”
Ms Simon had already stated this principle in the December Administrative Council meeting.
However, the new accommodation plans for Munich and The Hague still feature an amount of workplaces which we know is incompatible with this principle. Indeed, in several directorates, the amount of workplaces is not sufficient to have an allocated fixed workplace for everyone who fulfil the above guiding principle.
What can you do? If you come to work at least three days per week at the Office or have special needs, we strongly invite you to write to your line managers and to put your local staff committee in Cc.
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Conclusion The “Bringing Teams Together” project contains many flaws. In our view: âËâallocated fixed workplaces must have a key and storage space and personalisation should be allowed; âËâ the project lacks a proper impact study and is likely to increase disengagement of staff.
The administration still refuses to properly address these points. For the time being, make sure your line management implements the project in line with the guiding principle stated by Ms Simon (VP4) and keep us informed.
The Central Staff Committee
Annex: Letter of Ms Simon (VP4) to the CSC dated 3 February 2023
European Patent Office | 80298 MUNICH | GERMANY Mr Alain Dumont Chairman of the Central Staff Committee
Sent by email only to: centralSTCOM@epo.org
European Patent Office 80298 Munich Germany DG4 Corporate Services
Nellie Simon Vice-President
Tel +49 (0)89 2399 - 4000 nsimon@epo.org
Date: 03.02.2023
Your communications on “Bringing our Teams Together”
Dear Mr Chair,
Reference is made to your open letter dated 18 November 2022 and the CSC various publications, in which you raise concerns regarding “Bringing our Teams Together”. We would like to take the opportunity of this letter to clarify the points you address.
With regard to the Office’s intranet communication of 17 November 2022, please note that the aim was to inform and update staff about the next steps towards bringing our teams together, notably following the feedback obtained from staff in DG 1. The next steps will be implemented on the basis of the guiding principles already communicated to staff and their representatives, i.e. to bring teams together and life back into our buildings and to provide allocated workplaces to staff mostly coming to the office or having specific and individual needs.
Keeping in mind these guiding principles, the next steps also need to be implemented in light of the following two main considerations:
First, and in addition to the feedback gathered from staff and managers, it is recalled that since the full entry into force of the New Ways of Working (NWoW) on 1 September 2022, building occupancy rates show that our buildings have remained empty to a large extent. This observation is particularly relevant as autumn is the time of the year when staff members’ presence in the buildings would traditionally be at its peak.
You state that the low occupancy rates are due to the fact that the buildings and facilities offered are insufficiently attractive to staff. However, ambitious renovations of the Office’s buildings, including new sports facilities, have recently been completed to provide staff with a modern workplace. As regards the canteens, the aim is to provide the best service possible, in view of the reduced number of staff present at the sites. We will continue to monitor closely how the needs of our staff evolve as we settle into the NWoW and suggestions and ideas as to how to improve this service are always welcome.
Second, the Office’s commitment to environmental sustainability and the energy crisis which we are currently facing compels us to use our premises in a sustainable way. When the facts show that our buildings are being used only partially, it is not socially responsible to leave large areas empty.
In this context, and as further explained in our dedicated meetings of 21 November 2022 and 18 January 2023, this means that as a guiding principle it makes complete sense that staff members who work at least three days per week at the office or have special needs determined on a case-by-case basis will be allocated a fixed workplace, while staff choosing to come less often will use workplaces for the day. Additionally, the consolidation of staff in certain areas might also lead to emptying other parts of some sites, notably the Shell building and some of the buildings in the PschorrHöfe.
Please be assured that the implementation steps will be closely monitored and modified as necessary. It is worth emphasising that the preparation of the accommodation plans by the relevant units, which is currently ongoing, is taking place in close co-operation with the departments affected.
Finally, many of the points you address have already been discussed in statutory bodies or at technical meetings. For instance, at the last meeting with the staff representatives of the different sites which took place on 18 January 2023 concrete progress on operational preparation was shared and the staff representatives were able to ask any questions or raise any concerns they had. Such ad hoc technical meetings will continue to be held to allow continuous exchanges on this specific subject. Additionally, this specific subject will be put on the agenda of the relevant Local Staff Committee meetings.
We hope that this clarifies the aforementioned points and look forward to continuing discussions with you.
Yours sincerely, Nellie Simon Vice-President DG 4 Corporate Services