Bonum Certa Men Certa

EPO Treats Staff as Disposable, Hence More Reluctant to Defy Unlawful Guidelines and Policies

Fear makes people more supine and passive; insecurity leads to obedience

On fixed-term contracts: New draft Circular 405 provides neither further clarity nor more work stability
New publication



Summary: Team Campinos continues to attack staff of Europe's second-largest institution; amid pandemic they're just totally misusing the crisis for PR purposes (warning: epo.org link) and also to take away rights of their very own staff

The Central Staff Committee (CSC) of the EPO has a new paper (shown above). In it, as one might expect, further erosions of staff's protections are described.



This is bad news for everyone in Europe, not just EPO staff.

"This is bad news for everyone in Europe, not just EPO staff.""Management has now tabled a draft Circular 405 (C405) on the conditions of conversion/extension of fixed-term contracts with the alleged intent to "give staff on fixed-term contracts greater clarity about their future prospect at the Office" (see Communiqué of 17-06-2021)," the CSC explains. "However, to us it is not apparent what in C405 could somehow help colleagues on fixed-term contracts to plan their future or could contribute to enhancing work stability."

For those who have read this site long enough, maybe 3+ years, this ought to be familiar. Benoît Battistelli started this assault on the work security of staff and their families. António Campinos proves that he's no better. It's continuation of the very same agenda, including the attack on staff representatives.

The CSC adds: "Every decision appears to be at the discretion of the Office and the Office does not commit to anything regarding its employees. In addition, some points in draft C405 are unclear (e.g. on notice periods) and are likely to result in legal uncertainty. Read more in this paper."

The letter was published and circulated yesterday, though it is dated 4 days ago. We reproduce it in full, below, as HTML:



Munich, 25.06.2021 sc21083mp

On fixed-term Contracts

New draft Circular 405 provides neither further clarity nor more work stability



Management has now tabled a draft Circular 405 (C405) on the conditions of conversion/extension of fixed-term contracts with the alleged intent to "give staff on fixed-term contracts greater clarity about their future prospect at the Office".

However, to us it is not apparent what in C405 could somehow help colleagues on fixed-term contracts to plan their future or could contribute to enhancing work stability. Every decision appears to be at the discretion of the Office and the Office does not commit to anything regarding its employees. In addition, some points in draft C405 are unclear and are likely to result in legal uncertainty.

The future C405, once finalised, will have a tremendous impact on the life and families of the future generation of EPO staff. We will continue to bring forward our proposal and try to improve draft C405. We recognise the responsibility that lies with the working group members to ensure C405 is clear, comprehensive, and complete, and meets both the needs of the staff and of the Office.

A meeting of the working group on extensions/conversions of fixed-term contracts took place on Monday, June 14

The main topic of this working group meeting was a draft of the new Circular 405 (C405), which defines the procedures for the extension or conversion of fixed-term appointments. We expressed our disappointment with the draft. Indeed, none of our input seemed to have been considered. The meeting was closed after only 1.5hrs, and this was much too short for us to put forward all our concerns regarding the draft.

Arbitrary length of contracts, renewable an arbitrary number of times

The draft C405 confirms the model as initially presented based on 5 years + 5 years + conversion. However, it explicitly also permits the assignment of contracts which are shorter than 5 years. Furthermore, the initial idea of limiting the number of subsequent contracts to two contracts - one of the few aspects that was put forward by the administration which we had




welcomed - is now missing from the draft. This would allow the administration full discretion to re-new arbitrary-length contracts for an arbitrary number of times for a total duration of up to 10 years.

Notice period for conversion/extension of 6 or 12 months

The administration acknowledges that draft C405 needs to be clarified on this point, but the current draft provides for the following:

● A notice period of 6 months in case of extension ● A notice period of 12 months after 5 years of continuous service

We made a counter proposal which would provide a 12-month notice period for extension/conversion for all colleagues who would have served 5 years or more at the end date of the contract and 6 months for shorter periods of continuous service.

Conversion only after 10 years

Draft C405 states that conversion to a permanent contract should "as a matter of principle" only occur after 10 years. Although C405 does not exclude an earlier conversion in exceptional cases, it was made clear by the administration that there would be no mechanism for automatic conversion.

Possibility of internal competition for conversion

Draft C405 introduces the possibility to hold internal competitions for conversion of a contract based on qualifications, continuous years of service and/or tests. Final conversion would be subject to a set quota on conversion of fixed-term appointments to permanent employment. C405 lacks further information on how and when such a competition is organised - all seems to be at the discretion of the administration. We asked for further clarification on this point.

Conditions for extensions and conversion remain abstract

The Service Regulation states two conditions for extension/conversion: need of the service and individual performance. Draft C405 does not mention any commitment to offer alternative posts.

On needs of the service, draft C405 expands with the following:

● Continuation of the post: the post of a contract staff must continue to be relevant for the Office, ● Continued need for the specific set of knowledge, skills and competencies.

On individual performance of the employee, the draft C405 expands with the following:

● The employee's ability, contribution and effectiveness, as well as the attitude to work and dealings with others, ● The employee's development in knowledge, skills and competencies in respect to the expectations as described in the performance goals.




Our preliminary view: Draft Circular 405 provides neither further clarity, nor more work stability

The intention of the administration on draft C405 was to "give staff on fixed-term contracts greater clarity about their future prospect at the Office". However, it is not apparent to us what in C405 could somehow help colleagues on fixed-term contracts to plan their future or could contribute to enhancing work stability. Every decision appears to be at the discretion of the Office and the Office does not commit to anything regarding its employees, e.g. looking for alternative posts in case a job position is abolished. In addition, some points in draft C405 are unclear (e.g., on the notice periods), and are likely to result in legal uncertainty.

The future C405, once finalised, will have a tremendous impact on the life and families of the future generation of EPO staff. We recognise the responsibility that lies with the working group members to ensure the Circular is clear, comprehensive and complete and meets both, the needs of the staff and of the EPO.

C405 will also have an impact on the organisation as a whole. The EPO comes from a long tradition of facing future risks together as a community. In the past, a post at the EPO was a lifetime commitment, where new recruits gave up their careers to follow the mission of the Office. This created a strong feeling of belonging and pride for working at the EPO. This extraordinary "esprit de corps" was what differentiated the EPO from other patent offices, and which is the basis of its strengths that made the EPO the leading patent office in the world.

WIN-WIN counter-proposalWe will continue to bring forward our proposal and try to improve this draft C405 - for the better of our colleagues on fixed-term contracts and the Office.

Reminder: Past publications on fixed-term contracts

To raise awareness and to provide information on the issue of fixed-term contracts in the EPO, we have prepared a series of publications. We also produced a WIN-WIN counter-proposal which has been based on a principals paper.

[Redacted named and other stuff]



It's important to fight for labour rights in general. The EPO is unaccountable and generally cash-rich; there's no excuse for these relentless attacks on workers who not only relocated to another country for the job but also brought their family members with them (some are unable to speak the local language).

Recent Techrights' Posts

Links 25/07/2025: NOAA Cuts Endanger Lives, "Europe's Self Inflicted Cloud Crisis"
Links for the day
YouTube is a Spamfarm, Slopfarm, and Clickfarm (a Lot of Numbers There Are Fake)
Those who don't fake look unpopular and unimportant
 
Links 25/07/2025: Slop Blunders and China Has Code of Conduct for Lawmakers in HK
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/07/2025: Some Books and Babies and Capital
Links for the day
They Try to Lecture Us on Ethics
They even removed "master" from Microsoft GitHub
The Future of the Web is One Rendering Engine or 'Flavours' of Chrome
The future of the Web does not look bright at all
Best Sites Are Not Optimised for Any Browser, They Work Equally Well With All of Them
Red Hat (IBM) is making rubbish sites
We Don't Do JavaScript and Pages Are Small
Thankfully Gemini Protocol has nothing like JavaScript
'Tech' is Not Technology
Some people use terms like 'Old Tech'
IBM's Debt Rose by Almost 10 Billion Dollars in the Past 6 Months Alone
The "hey hi" circus is coming to an end
Yes, Master
Gaslighting by actual racists
Microsoft Bribes and Buys Politicians to Tell Europe What to Do About Free Software (Which It's Attacking)
Microsoft: we speak for the thing that we are attacking! Follow the money...
Making Backups Quickly and Reliably
Backups are imperative, more so in an age of uncertainty, unpredictable weather, and worsening standards (quality of products going down while prices go up)
Techrights Investigation: Estimating the Point in Time LinuxIac Turned Into LLM Slop (Part of the Time)
Bobby Borisov got lazy
10th Month, Ten Weeks From Now, at Ten AM
In Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 24, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, July 24, 2025
A Nadella Memo Distracts From Microsoft's Cheapening Of the Workforce
Right now the "MSM" (mainstream media) is flooded/overwhelmed by garbage pieces that relay lies for Nadella
Vanishing Faces of GNU/Linux
Free software projects do not depend on any one person or company to still exist
Microsoft Says It Lost 400 Million Windows Users, Now It's Waiting for GNU/Linux to Stop Booting on 'Old' PCs
When it comes to Windows, Microsoft is fully aware of the issue and statements it made earlier this summer suggest it lost 400 million Windows users
Slopwatch: LinuxTechLab, linuxsecurity.com, LinuxIac, and More
Also: The Register's Microsoft agenda (new editor)
Gemini Links 25/07/2025: Gemtext Aware Titan Editor and Gemini Protocol Comeback
Links for the day
Links 24/07/2025: Convicted Felon Quits UNESCO, "Vibe Coding Goes Wrong", and Signalgate Gets Worse
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/07/2025: Forgejo Woes and Smolnet Directory Week
Links for the day
Misinformation is Not Intelligence
It's low-grade plagiarism and it fails to show any signs of intelligence
Links 24/07/2025: Storage Tapes Still Kicking, Windows TCO 'on Steroids' (Microsoft-Induced Catastrophes)
Links for the day
Bobby Borisov (LinuxIac) Has Apparently Begun Experimenting With LLM Slop, So We Cannot Trust LinuxIac Anymore
So did LinuxIac become a slopfarm? Maybe not yet, but it's getting there
Informa TechTarget's ITProToday is Becoming a Slopfarm Generated by Microsoft Chatbots
Busted.
'Tech' Gimmicks Are for Advertising, Not for Usability
In the case of Microsoft, they latched onto slop
BetaNews Sacked Brian Fagioli and Deleted His Comments, But He Still Tries to Use the "BetaNews" Brand for Self-Affirmation
Fagioli takes the work of other people
[Meme] Hard to Be a Better Person?
Sooner or later they'll realise that for each pound I spend they need to spend about 1,000 times more
The LLM Con Artists Are Highly Destructive
Who will ever be held accountable for this scam?
Too Bribed by Microsoft to Move to Free Software?
Microsoft lies and Microsoft bribery (in politics)
New US Editor for The Register is a Microsoft Booster
"Avram Piltch has served as US editor for The Register since July 2025."
Microsoft Hiring European Politicians is Another Form of Bribery; There Should be a European Investigation
When Microsoft bribed people in Europe for OOXML (there's no denying this!) a European government delegate said that Microsoft operated like a cult
Reda Demanded That FSF Removes Its Founder, Now Reda Works Directly for Microsoft
A sellout and a traitor, first working for GAFAM, now Microsoft
PCLinuxOS is Raising Money to Support Development After Fire Incident at the Host
PCLinuxOS has not had announcements lately
Speed of the Site Should be Better Now
The "bot attacks" impact the speed of the sister site too
Getting More From AnalogNowhere
Recently we used many images from AnalogNowhere
Microsoft, Microsofters and 'Secure' Boot Shills Already Storming the LWN Report About Expiring Certificate, Shooting the Messenger
LWN has clearly stuck a nerve
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 23, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Disable "Secure" Boot Today (the Only Better Time to Do So Was Yesterday)
Don't trust anything Red Hat tells you about security
Links 23/07/2025: Windows Killed Company After 150+ Years, US Government Mimics Russia's Attacks on the Media
Links for the day
Freedom Generally Wins at the End, History Shows (But It's Constantly Attacked, Too)
At the moment people realise "Linux" (e.g. Android) isn't enough to guarantee any freedoms
Over 3 Months Later Brett Wilson LLP Still Unable to Recruit a Media Lawyer?
"Immediate start", but not found... still unfilled
“Inhumane” and “Disgusting” Mass Layoff Execution, According to Microsoft Staff
The workers are looking for other places to work
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Has a New Slogan for Its 40th Anniversary
The freedoms are what's most important
Microsoft is Trying to "Pull a Nokia" on GNU/Linux as Desktop/Laptop Platform
We all remember that rather well, don't we?
LLM Slopfarms gbhackers.com, "Cyber Press" and CyberSecurityNews Are Drowning Google News (and Shame on Google for Feeding and Facilitating Them)
All are run by the same people
Links 23/07/2025: Droplets GUI Patent Monopoly Challenge, Nokia Leverages Illegal Patent Court Against Rivals
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/07/2025: Community in Geminispace and Challenges With Old Computers
Links for the day
Links 23/07/2025: Slop Patents Tackled, Slop Copyright Misuses Tackled by Politicians
Links for the day
Our Three Lawsuits Against Microsofters Are About to Become a Lot More Relevant to GNU/Linux
The Master will easily understand why Garrett has been attacking me since 2012
Links 23/07/2025: Retreating From Transparency on Jeffrey Epstein, We No Longer Have Press Freedom
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/07/2025: Piano and Food
Links for the day
New and Old
On Ageism in Tech
Slop Is Not Intelligence and It Does Not Enhance Productivity
Like voice dictation, which cannot tell the difference between "sheet" and "shit"
EPO Crimes Are Spreading to the British Court System
Society is now paying the price for failing to tackle crimes at the EPO
It's Time to Dump SharePoint and Here's What to Use Instead
Nextcloud, ownCloud, Bookstack, MediaWiki, and MediaGoblin
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 22, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Brett Wilson LLP Has Gone Silent
Sometimes silence says more than nothing at all
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, Planet Ubuntu, and LinuxTechLab
some slopfarms show no remorse and they don't value their reputation at all
Links 23/07/2025: Book Bans, Storms, and Kangaroo Court for Patents Commits More Unlawful Acts of Overreach
Links for the day