Workers' Stress at the EPO Growing: "A Lot of Colleagues Are Exhausted Yet Do Not Go on Sick Leave"

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Feb 15, 2024

THE EPO's Local Staff Representation The Hague (LSCTH) wrote to EPO staff on “Week van de werkstress” (easy to comprehend for English speakers). The two-page publication gave advice that may also be relevant to workers outside the EPO.

Today we reproduce the whole thing:

Staff Committee The Hague
Comité du personnel de La Haye
Personalausschuss Den Haag

22 November 2023

How do we cope with stress at work?

“Week van de werkstress”

Dear colleagues,

Last week was the week of work-related stress1. It was an opportunity for Your Local Staff Committee to once again reflect on this topic and connect with colleagues on the premises of EPO in The Hague.

We all have a lot on our plate. And considering the Office plan for an annual increase of 2.1% in productivity² for examiners, the ever-increasing workload³, and the lack of recruitment⁴, no improvement can be expected any time soon.

Next year, three rounds of feedback discussions and rewards are foreseen by the change in the rewarding system5. Is this going to increase our motivation or is it a means to further pressure us to produce more?

We invite you to look back on this “week of work-related stress” as an opportunity to take a step back and reflect about what really matters to you! And what you can do about it for yourself and your colleagues.

Here are some questions to help you with this reflection:

- Do you experience stress due to your day-to-day work? Are you in survival mode at work? Do you talk to a healthcare professional if you are experiencing health issues?

This year the theme of the work stress week is “connection”, referring to relations at work:

- Are your colleagues doing fine? Do you check if you are not sure? How can you be supportive and helpful to your colleagues?

Stress often appears to originate from external factors that are beyond our control such as heavy workload, tight deadlines, challenging management style or colleagues. But there are many strategies available to help cope with stress, some of which can be found on the “week van de werkstress” toolkit. Maybe you could engage in open discussions and share these methods with your colleagues.

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¹ https://www.wvdws.nl/

² Financial study, Mercer & Wyman, 06.10.2023, page 99 of the pdf, figure 12

³ Patent index 2022, EPO, 2022

⁴ Draft budget 2024, page 16, EPO, 6.10.2023

⁵ Proposed update to our rewards system, EPO, 27.10.2023

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And be vigilant about how you are doing:

• if your work is affecting your health (trouble sleeping, headaches, exhaustion…), please contact your general practitioner and/or OHS⁶ and consider taking sick leave; and

• if you feel that you are being targeted by your line management, you are not the only one and we invite you to contact your staff representation⁷ as soon as possible.

Here is some relevant supplementary information:

- According to the DG4 – HR sickness statistics dashboard, the average sickness absence days per full time employee equivalent is 12,4 days/year;

- It is preferable to take short duration sick leave early rather than needing to take more days off at a later stage due to burn out or exhaustion;

- If you do not meet your production target due to having been on sick leave, you should not have problems for your performance appraisal as the productivity should also be taken into account – if you do experience negative feedback due to reduced production because of periods of sick leave, contact your staff representation immediately: this should not happen;

- We observe that a lot of colleagues are exhausted yet do not go on sick leave. The administration can therefore easily claim that the data does not show an overall increase in work related stress issues in the EPO;

- Articles 44b⁸ and 59 (3)⁹ of the codex specifies the possibilities of taking family leave and special leave for illness of relatives. You can request this via q/myfips. And some wise words from the World Health Organisation (WHO)¹⁰:

- Decent work is good for mental health.

- Poor working environments – including discrimination and inequality, excessive workloads, low job control and job insecurity – pose a risk to mental health.

Kind regards,
Your Local Staff Representation The Hague

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⁶ https://intranet.epo.org/services/health-and-safety

⁷ https://intranet.epo.org/the-office/staff-representation

⁸ Family leave of up to 180 days can be requested for taking care of medically certified serious illness or disability of an employee's spouse or relatives, see more details below. Family leave involves reduced pay.

⁹ Special leave is particularly relevant for parents and is often requested for cases when their children are off school with illnesses under Art 59 (3)(h).

¹⁰ https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-at-work

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ANNEX:

          Article 44b - Family leave
          
(1) An employee, during their career in the Office, shall be entitled
  to up to 180 working days' family leave, in the case of the
  medically certified serious illness or disability of an employee's
  spouse, relative by blood or marriage in the ascending line,
  relative in the descending line, brother or sister. If the doctor
  consulted refuses to issue a medical certificate, the employee
  shall supply the Office with that doctor's name and address.
(2) The provisions of Article 44a, paragraphs 2, 3, 4 and 5, shall
  apply by analogy, with the exception of paragraph 2, second
  sentence, which shall not be applicable.


         Article 59 (3) - special leave
         
(3) In addition to annual leave, a permanent employee may, on application,
be granted special leave. In the following cases special leave in terms of
working days shall be granted as shown:
  (a) marriage of the employee: four days;
  (b) change of residence of the employee: up to two days;
   (c) serious illness of spouse: up to three days;
  (d) death of spouse: four days;
  (e) serious illness of a relative in the ascending line: up to two
days;
  (f) death of a relative in the ascending line: two days;
  (g) birth of a child: ten days, to be taken during the 14 weeks
following the birth;
  (h) serious illness of a child: up to two days;
  (i) hospitalisation of a child aged 12 or under or very serious
illness of a child, as certified by a doctor (if the doctor consulted
refuses to issue a medical certificate, the employee shall supply the
Office with that doctor's name and address): up to five days;
  (j) marriage of a child: two days;
  (k) death of a child: four days;
  (l) death of the wife during maternity leave: the number of calendar
days corresponding to the remaining maternity leave; if the deceased wife
is not an employee, the remaining maternity leave is determined by applying
the provisions of Article 61, by analogy.


The conditions and rules relating to special leave shall be laid down by
the President of the Office after consulting the relevant joint committee.


In view of particular family circumstances the President of the Office may
grant leave in addition to special leave under the first sub-paragraph of
this paragraph as compensation for the travelling time involved.

Many people experience stress at work; many do not know how to properly cope with it and might take the stress for granted. █