Bonum Certa Men Certa

Working Conditions at EPO Deteriorate and Staff Inquires About Pension Rights

Moving the pension to one's own country makes perfect sense; at least one can chase local politicians when things go awry

UK Pensioners Referendum; Work a lifetime for the EPO; Only to be lied to (about its financial state)



Summary: Work is becoming a lot worse (not even compliant with the law!) and promises are constantly being broken, so staff is starting to chase management for answers and assurances pertaining to finances

MANY EPO workers rely on their future pension, which is diminishing before their eyes (defying promises made when they joined or left the Office). The pension fraud of Sirius 'Open Source' is a subject we'll tackle in months to come (many victims, and they owe people a lot of money for other reasons), but today we focus on the EPO. As we noted before, many experienced examiners retired early and continue to retire early. They cannot take it anymore. As testament or fresh evidence to support it, consider this new publication or message circulated by the EPO's Local Staff Committee of Munich and Brussels (not the union but formally elected staff representatives):

Has BTT improved your life in the Office?



Dear colleagues,

The so-called Bringing Teams Together (BTT) project is already showing its negative effects on many staff. Flexibility with regards to working mainly at home and/or abroad, as desired by a significant number of colleagues, should have allowed a reasonable reduction in office space without interfering in our daily work. However, the haste with which BTT has been implemented, and the excessive reduction in office space (through the closure in Munich of Pschorr Bauteile V-VII and floors 6 to 8 of Bauteile I-IV) which has been pushed through by the administration, are already causing significant problems to many colleagues, in particular those who have not been allocated a permanent office despite working in the Office premises three (or even four!) days per week. Many of these colleagues now feel like second-class employees who feel that their connection to their team, close colleagues and the Office in general will be negatively impacted.

In order to produce a more complete picture of what is happening, we kindly ask you to spend a couple of minutes of your time to answer (at least some of) the following questions – [redacted]:

How much time have you lost because you had to empty your permanent office (and set up a new one, if relevant)?

On a weekly basis, how much time do you lose with booking, finding and setting up an office for the day?

Which problems do you encounter when using an office for the day?

Has BTT improved or degraded your team dynamics?

Are you happy that BTT is being implemented?

Do you have any other problems to report? Or any other comments?

Thank you for your help!


The Central Staff Committee (CSC) of the EPO circulated the following this week:

Inward transfer of pension rights from the United Kingdom



Dear colleagues,

According to Article 12 Pension Regulations, an employee who enters the service of the Office may arrange for payment to the Office, in accordance with the Implementing Rules hereto, of any amounts corresponding to the retirement pension rights accrued under his previous pension schemes, provided that those schemes allow such transfers to be made.

In this letter, we seek the administration’s assistance in clarifying the status of the possibility of transferring pension rights from the United Kingdom, by asking them some questions.

In our view, it is in the best interest of the EPO and of staff to allow as many inward transfers of pensions as possible. Indeed, we can be proud of the work of, and the trust given by staff to its pension and fund management teams.

If your request for inward transfer from the UK has been rejected / was not possible, please get in touch with us at [redacted]



Here is the corresponding document (letter):

Reference: sc23062cl Date: 25/05/2023

Mr Jan Boulanger Director HR Essential Services

By email OPEN LETTER

Inward transfer of pension rights from the United Kingdom



Dear Mr Boulanger,

According to Article 12 Pension Regs, an employee who enters the service of the Office may arrange for payment to the Office, in accordance with the Implementing Rules hereto, of any amounts corresponding to the retirement pension rights accrued under his previous pension schemes, provided that those schemes allow such transfers to be made.

We would like to seek your assistance in clarifying the status of the possibility of transferring pension rights from the UK. Indeed, for a certain period, HR seemed to have informed new colleagues that a transfer of pension rights from the UK was not possible, and requests for transfer from the UK national pension system, HMRC, were not accepted. However, according to the EPO Intranet (dated 9 September 2022), transfers from the UK are now possible:

EPO's UK pension

In the following our questions on this topic:

1. It seems that the EPO's new pension scheme appeared for some time on the list of Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (ROPS) of HMRC. Apparently, the EPO’s new pension scheme does not appear in the current list available online today. At least until 2015, the pension fund of the EPO was a ROPS. Apparently, the EPO’s new pension scheme has been classified again as a ROPS, allegedly in or around 2019, and still holds this status. Can you confirm this information?

2. What was the reason why transfers of pension rights from the UK were not possible for some time? Do the reasons concern the severance grant and the fact that funds transferred from the UK to the EPO can theoretically be paid out to EPO staff in the first 10 years of service and aged below 55? (This would collide, in our understanding, with some UK regulations.)

3. What types of pension rights (e.g., 1st or 2nd pillar) can be transferred today from the UK?

4. For what periods since 2012 has a transfer of pension rights from the UK not been possible, and for what reasons?

5. Because of the re-classification mentioned above, transfers of pension rights from the UK have been theoretically possible since around 2019. Has this been announced on the EPO Intranet? Can colleagues request a retroactive transfer of pension rights from the UK in case their time limit for application (Rule 12.1/1 (vi) (a)) fell in the period when a transfer was not possible? (Rule 12.1/1 (vi) (b))

6. Since 2019, have there been any transfers of pension rights from the UK?

7. Will it be possible for future newcomers to transfer pension rights from the UK?

8. Is there any written agreement on pension transfers between the EPO and HMRC? If yes – has it been made public?

We assume that we can all agree that it is in the best interest of the EPO and of staff to allow as many inward transfers of pensions as possible. Indeed, we can be proud of the work of, and the trust given by staff to its pension and fund management teams.

We remain available for any clarification on the questions. Thank you very much for your assistance.

Yours sincerely,

Alain Dumont Chairman of the Central Staff Committee


Remember that HMRC is there to protect the King (His Majesty, HM), not the general population or the national interest. I wrote about it earlier this month based on direct experience (as a victim of tax fraud).

"The whole scenario was never pretty and it has taken an ugly turn given the degree/extent of facilitation elsewhere in the British system."As one who had several ordeals with pension fraud (and my colleagues also, including my wife) we're going to cover pension issues for months to come; the corruption goes all the way up to the top. Politicians are now looking into our cases. It's not just money at stake (civil aspect) but also jailing of management (crimes were committed). The system is awfully slow, but the slowness too won't deter us and that too is an aspect worth exposing. Why has it taken 6 months already despite us going (almost) as fast as feasible? Anyway, we have a detailed list of steps to come. If some culprits end up hanging themselves before they're jailed, they only have themselves to blame. The whole scenario was never pretty and it has taken an ugly turn given the degree/extent of facilitation elsewhere in the British system. I lost all confidence in it (at every legal level). As I said repeatedly months ago, the British pension schemes are somewhat of a scam and I strongly urge people to verify, not trust anything. That's based on months of investigations I did, including lengthy phone inquiries with high-level managers at large pension funds. I repeat: trust nothing (even on paper) and constantly verify the facts. It's possible that scams had gone on for decades before you even found out about it, with constant evasions used to reinforce a false sense of security/assurance.

"They're playing with people's money -- money that they do not have themselves. It's all speculative."This is no laughing matter; amid war in Europe (yes, Ukraine is part of Europe) and collapsing financial systems (yes, it's worse than the media admits) one must not assume that the pension is "still there" -- regardless of any likely-empty assurances given by those who gamble with this money ("investing" in companies with fictional valuation -- a Ponzi scheme of sorts). EPO workers must never forget what EPOTIF is about and, given the growing connection/s to the ECB and EU (e.g. the UPC and EUIPO), questions must be asked. Answers are needed too; non-answers are smoke if not fire. If thousands of EPO workers (past and present) take out hundreds of millions in UK pensions (perhaps over a billion) it can break entire companies. They're playing with people's money -- money that they do not have themselves. It's all speculative.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Making Site Archives More Easily Accessible (Approaching 50,000 Blog Posts)
Efforts to censor us have always backfired badly
Weaponisation of For-Profit Dockets - Part I: Hiding Behind Lawyers (or Guns for Hire) After Abusing Many People and Even Strangling Women While Microsoft Paid Salaries
This whole thing is very typical of the Microsoft and Bill Gates mindset
From EPO to "MAGA Regime": A Shift Away From Reality to Fake News and False Metrics
Disbelief in itself isn't a bad thing; but the problem is that people are taught to believe rich people in suits more than they believe others
Skype is Officially Dead Today and This is Why People Should Use Free Software Instead (Goodbye, Microsoft)
It's also a good reminder of why people should move to GNU/Linux
'Simple Articles' in MyGemini Just One of Many New 'Sites' in Geminispace
Geminispace has grown fast lately; it's turning 6 next month
 
Windows and Microsoft Causing Serious Data Breaches, Media Rushes to Blame That on "Linux" Somehow
While selling us some rusty old propaganda about how moving to Microsoft GitHub (Rust) will improve security
Weaponisation of For-Profit Dockets - Part II: Hiding Behind Lawyers and Barristers Who Lack Standards so as to Engage in Classic Corporate Extortion
They're trying to scare people and they misuse their licence to operate
Links 06/05/2025: LLMs/Chatbots Attract More Scrutiny (Getting Worse Over Time), PwC Has Many Layoffs
Links for the day
Thanks for listening. How can this Morse feed be further improved?
Right now any and all feedback on the audio would be helpful
statCounter: Bing's Market Share Lower Right Now Than It Was When LLM Hype Began (With "Bing Chat")
If anybody gains at Google's expense in search, it is BRICS' alternatives such as Yandex
Gemini Links 06/05/2025: Failure and Proxmox Cluster
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, May 05, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, May 05, 2025
Links 05/05/2025: TikTok Still a Romanian Woe/Foe, Signal Perils Showing
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/05/2025: Debian and GNOME and a "Welcome to Simple Articles"
Links for the day
Links 05/05/2025: US Economy Shrinks, US Presidency Spreading Deepfakes
Links for the day
Links 05/05/2025: Breaches, Environment, and Conflicts
Links for the day
SUSE the Company Now Uses LLM Slop to 'Write' Its Blog, What Does That Tell Us About SUSE?
There are many giveaways
Richard Stallman is in Alicante Today to Give a Talk, Czech Republic in Two Days (Wednesday)
Of course he can deliver the talk in Spanish
Gemini Links 05/05/2025: XL Bullies and Luddites
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, May 04, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, May 04, 2025
Links 04/05/2025: Science, Conflicts, and Monopolies
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Above 7% in Bulgaria, Rising Just Like in Most of Europe
Up to 7%, not counting Chromebooks
Data Shows Largest EU Economies Shifting to GNU/Linux
all-time highs
statCounter Says Only One in 6 Web-Connected Clients in Hungary Are Using Windows, iOS Almost Bigger Than Windows Now
Hungary is a cautionary tale in the world of European (or Russian) politics
Many Reports About Microsoft's Financial Report/Performance Are False, Fake News, Churnalism/Parroting, and LLM Slop (Machine-Generated Lies)
Even if you see a thousand sites saying that Microsoft is performing well ask yourself why the company is rushing to fire tens of thousands of workers and cancelling datacentres
Links 04/05/2025: FCC Turning Into MAGA’s Censoring Machine, SEC Pressured to Delist Chinese Companies
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/05/2025: Historical Artifacts and Date Calculations in POSIX Shell
Links for the day
In the First 3 Months of 2025 GAFAM Debt Rose by More Than $14.4 Billion
That's based on their official statements
10-Step Strategy to Get BRETT WILSON LLP ("Gun for Hire"), Microsoft's Serial Strangler, and the Serial Defamer to Compensate Techrights and Tux Machines for Years of SLAPPs and Abusive Litigation
There's no room or capacity for forgiveness here; enablers and protectors of crime need to be scuttled and pay up in full
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, May 03, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, May 03, 2025