For International Women's Rights Day (Today) Staff Representatives at the European Patent Office (EPO) Opened Up on Gender Discrimination at the Office

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Mar 08, 2025

Office discrimination against women is widely known; unless you sleep with men in management

EARLIER THIS year a number of important publications came out from the EPO's staff representation, based on the hard data (which had only become available after a lot of pressure/prodding). Those dealt with inequality at the Office, as well as health implications and lack of ambition/hope. Those dealt with gender (not in this sense). It's clear that the Office is nowadays run in violation of the law. Lawlessness in the patent microcosm is the "new normal", apparently.

Two years ago I said that "EPO Weaponise[d] International Women’s Day to Cover Up Its Attacks on Women" and nothing has improved since then. António Campinos shouts the "F" word at women and Benoît Battistelli, who has two daughters and a wife, probably punished women harder than he punished men at SUEPO (he picked on more women than men using his kangaroo courts).

The Central Staff Committee wrote to staff: "This year marks the 50th anniversary of the International Day for Women’s Rights, with the theme “Accelerate Action.” At the EPO, there is still plenty of room to accelerate action."

The publication is short (2 pages long) and we reproduce it below:

Zentraler Personalausschuss
Central Staff Committee
Le Comité Central du Personnel

The Hague, 06-03-2025
sc25018cp

2025 International Women’s Rights Day
The EPO needs to Accelerate Action

In 1975, the United Nations officially recognised March 8 as International Women’s Day. Fifty years later, inclusivity of female staff at the EPO is far from being attained. This year, in line with the International Women’s Day theme, we affirm the need to Accelerate Action at the EPO in terms of inclusivity of female staff.

While the “Women in the Lead” program may have been appealing to a number of our female colleagues, the ratio of female staff (35%) and female managers (28%) are still well behind the goal of the Strategic Plan 2028 of 40% for both measures. The very goal of 40% is noticeably modest, as it falls short of true parity. In an era where many organisations aim for gender equality, this target remains conservative.

Being an inclusive organisation is not just about getting more women in the door.

The Office, despite having committed to assure diversity at work place by signing the Charta der Vielvalt, still lags in meeting the most basic needs of women: recognition of their work and acknowledgment of the specific challenges they face. Many women do not necessarily aspire to leadership roles but still seek career growth and recognition that reflect their hard work. What does the Office offer to them in terms of equal chances?

The administration announced that VP1 recently attended a D&I colloquium, declaring “What also matters is how we cultivate an inclusive culture.” Bold words—but where’s the action? So far, meaningful change in this direction is nowhere to be seen. Worse, the latest Reward Exercises have again shown that women were rewarded less than men. The staff representation relentlessly calls out this scandalous fact, the most recent publications addressing it are our open letter to the President and our publication on Distribution of bonuses: Still favouring certain groups of staff.

In addition to the career recognition, female staff would certainly benefit of measures aiming at adapting the workplace and work policies to address all women’s health-related matters, such as policies supporting breastfeeding mothers and those experiencing the symptoms of menopause. These measures ensure women at the office are supported throughout their career to deliver at the best of their capacities in the best possible conditions, and do not feel compelled to take leave or retire early due to inadequate support.

In the September 2024 meeting of COHSEC (Central Occupational Health Safety and Ergonomics Committee) the staff representation actively advocated for an inclusive health policy that supports women experiencing menopause and other gender-specific health conditions.

---

Our proposal was the following:

Reintroducing 12 days of uncertified sick leave for all staff

These 12 days were originally intended to accommodate the need for women to take one sick leave day per month due to menstruation. This measure promoted inclusiveness and the staff representation would like to see it restored for all staff.

As complementary measures

• Facilitating part-time work requests for colleagues aged 50 and above.

• Providing a dedicated room for colleagues in need of a quiet space to rest.

• Offering e-courses for managers to help them better understand and support menopausal colleagues.

We are currently still awaiting the administration proposals in that matter.

We are not there yet, but your staff representation is committed to relaunch the discussions in the Diversity and Inclusion Working group and keep pushing to Accelerate Action.

Sincerely yours,

The Central Staff Committee

We currently deal with Americans from Microsoft who strangle women. Now they try to strangle this Web site, having found some debt-saddled 'law' firm (notorious in its own circles, too!). It seems they'd rather not practice law and instead do reputation laundering for stranglers of women.

One would imagine this happening in 1925, not 2025.

Always prioritise women's rights and principles associated with that. Do not prioritise money. Women who fought for women's rights didn't do that for money. Some died for it. In some countries, some still do. █