Amid Strikes and Industrial Actions, Young Professionals at the European Patent Office (EPO) Kept on 'Short Leash', According to the Local Staff Committee The Hague
Management wants not a patent office but a sweatshop run by obedient workers who have fear/uncertainty and lack rights
The European Patent Office's "Young Professionals" (YPs) were discussed here a couple of months ago after years of persistent discussions about how they were exploited by EPO managers to marginalise staff, defund the union, reduce job security, and undermine workers' rights.
The other day the Staff Representation (SR) asked for a meeting to discuss what the Office did to YPs, not just what that meant to more senior staff. Quoting the SR:
Staff Representation requests a meeting to address concerns of the YPs
Dear members, dear colleagues,
The Local Staff Committee The Hague has requested a meeting with the Social Dialogue department to discuss several unresolved issues affecting Young Professionals.
In addition to concerns previously raised, we have received further reports regarding the choice of location for YP3 secondments and the amount of notice given to YP1 colleagues about whether they will continue into a second year.
From the SR's letter:
European Patent Office
Patentlaan 2
2288 EE Rijswijk
NETHERLANDSLocal Staff Committee
The Haguedhstcom@epo.org
Date: 09.07.2026
Ref: sc26017hl
European Patent Office | 2288EE RIJSWIJK | NETHERLANDS
Social Dialogue
By email: socialdialogue@epo.orgOPEN LETTER
Issues affecting Young Professionals
Dear colleagues,
The Local Staff Committee in The Hague would like to request a meeting with the Social Dialogue Department to discuss several issues affecting colleagues in the Young Professional (YP) program.
In recent months, we have been contacted by a number of Young Professionals who have raised concerns regarding their situation at the Office, as reflected in our latest publication on the matter.
More recently, we have received further reports concerning two additional issues: the choice of location for the secondment of YP3s (Young Professionals in the 3rd year), and the notice period for informing YP1s of their continuation into a second year. These exchanges indicate that a number of matters significantly affecting the working conditions of Young Professionals remain unresolved. We would therefore welcome the opportunity to meet at your earliest convenience to discuss these points and the points raised in our previous publication and explore possible ways forward.
We look forward to your response, and we hope that such a meeting will contribute to addressing the concerns raised.
Best regards,
Isabelle Brandton behalf of the Local Staff Committee The Hague
What the EPO does here (as described above in fairly amicable terms) is not unique to the EPO; it is akin to what is called here Locums. Everyone stands to lose from this, even Locums themselves. █