EPO Imitates Microsoft: "Three Days or More Per Week" Inside the Office to Get a Desk to Work on; "the Office Breaches Its Promise Towards Staff and Acts in Breach of Its Duty of Care"

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Sep 15, 2025

2024: Clytie Siddall & Debian Duty of Care

The EPO's Local Staff Committee Munich recently told staff: "On 9 July 2025, the Office announced a two-year renovation of the Isar Building during which all allocated offices will be abolished. Mr Campinos took the decision arbitrarily without any consultation of the Local Staff Committee Munich nor of the LOSHEC. With this decision, the Office breaches its promise towards staff and acts in breach of its duty of care. If you presently have an allocated workplace in the Isar building, there is no guarantee that you will get it back after the renovation is finished."

We reproduced a publication about this at the time. Many people saw that coming, but the "BTT" hype may have blinded some.

There's an effort underway to do something about it over the next few weeks (3-4 weeks) and a publication explaining this effort said:

Örtlicher Personalausschuss München Innenstadt, Haar und Brüssel
Local Staff Committee Munich City, Haar and Brussels
Le Comité local du Personnel de Munich Ville, Haar et Bruelles

Munich, 09-09-2025
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Abolition of allocated workplaces in the Isar
How to file a management review

Background
Since the entry into force of the project “Bringing Teams Together” in 2023, the Office adopted a workplace concept consisting of “allocated workplaces” and bookable “workplaces-for-the-day”.

In 2024, the staff representation met with management in four Technical Meetings within the framework of the review of “New Ways of Working”. In the meetings, the President’s Office in coordination with PD 44 (General Administration) confirmed the practice that:

“staff members who say to their Director that they intend to come to the Office three days or more per week would be granted an ‘allocated workplace’”¹

The practice was communicated to the Council on 10 June 2024 in CA/16/24 (page 42/100):

“individual offices allocated to staff who work on-site at least 3 days / week”

The Isar renovation – a convenient opportunity to abolish allocated workplaces?
Unfortunately, on 9 July 2025, the Office announced a two-year renovation of the Isar Building during which all allocated offices will be abolished. Mr Campinos took the decision arbitrarily without any consultation of the Local Staff Committee Munich nor of the LOSHEC. With this decision, the Office breaches its promise towards staff and acts in breach of its duty of care.

In its publication of 10 July, the LSC Munich protested against the lack of consultation with staff representation and requested, by open letter of 23 July, an urgent meeting on the topic. A meeting took place on 31 July on the topic of “ISAR building renovation – allocation of workspaces”.

Management again refused to make a clear statement that after the renovation is finished, affected staff would get their allocated workplace back. In addition, management refused to make any commitment that the loss of allocated offices would not be rolled out to the other building. Finally, management rejected our proposed alternatives to relocated Isar building staff to the upper floors of the PH1-4 (5 in part, 6, 7 and 8). This move from the Office is happening at a time when some managers, e.g. in Dir. 1103 have unilaterally decided to abolish allocated offices in their directorate.

If you presently have an allocated workplace in the Isar building, there is no guarantee that you will get it back after the renovation is finished.

If you are affected, what can you do?

[...]

Not only has Campinos and his appointer made the EPO a miserable place to work in (or for). Today, the EPO constantly breaks the law. It's nothing but an instrument of corporations and their law firms. The EPO serves no actual function in Europe. █