SAVE THE DATE : 16/11/23 - E-CONFERENCE - Burn out… Diagnose, prevent, react...
For joining the e-conference clinck on this link:
The conference wil be held in French - you will be able to interve in English
For more information, please contact us by email: OSP-RD@ec.europa.eu
ONLINE TRAINING in FRENCH FOR EPSO COMPETITIONS | PRE-SELECTION TESTS - CBT - 15 & 16 - 22 & 23 November 2023 - at 4.30 PM
PRE-SELECTION TESTS in French
R&D organises online training sessions in FRENCH in order to help all our colleagues to prepare themselves in the best possible way for all EPSO competitions.
CBT | 15 - 16 - 22 & 23 November 2023 – 4:30-6:30 P.M.
CBT
Computer based Multiple Choice Questions system specific for the pre-selection test
REGISTER :
Our training are FREE for R&D members and those who wish to join our trade union!
To participate in the
sessions, it is mandatory to complete the Google Form below:
TRAININGEPSO OPEN COMPETITIONS - CBT in FRENCH
Deadline for registration: 14/11/2023
at 5:30 pm
Please note that your registration will be confirmed only
if you register via the link above.
Login link will be provided once your registration is confirmed on each training day before noon.
If you have any questions, you can contact us at :
JRC Portfolios – a resource or a problem?
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JRC Portfolios – a resource or a problem?
In 2023, a reorganisation of the JRC’s work programme took place, with the introduction of the portfolios as the new building blocks.
JRC’s management idea behind the portfolios is that they are developed around common science and knowledge activities, going beyond Units and Directorates, providing a more coherent, interdisciplinary policy support to relevant DGs. Portfolios are supposed to step up collaboration, stimulate working together, and further promote cooperation within the JRC on cross-cutting themes.
Portfolios should become JRC’s ‘calling cards’ for outreach and for managing relations with external partners.
Today, the new structure has been in place for over 10 months. The full deployment of portfolios into the JRC’s way of working is a dynamic and still ongoing process but there are some critical aspects that need attention. The degree of integration vary from portfolio to portfolio, but several concerns are widely expressed. The following remarks and concerns are based on feedback received from many colleagues:
- Over 220 staff members are currently engaged in the portfolio leadership teams. Although being an opportunity for collaboration and getting to know better the organisation, many scientific staff members report that portfolios represent a significant additional (administrative) workload and burden, without any additional allocation of new resources to compensate for it. The work in portfolio leadership teams is time demanding. There are several weekly meetings and various additional portfolio-level activities. It must be acknowledged that this work comes on top of colleagues’ normal tasks, which are often team and/or project leading tasks, and frequently it is done at the cost of their scientific activities.
- There is lack of clarity in the distribution of roles and responsibilities between Units and portfolio leadership teams.
- The initiative to create portfolios presumed that there was not enough collaboration between units and directorates within the JRC. This is, however, an unproven assumption. Many cross-unit and cross-directorate professional relations do exist since years at the JRC, including between sites.
- Most of the portfolios have been established by putting together already ongoing projects related to well-established activities. These projects were not designed to be linked together, so the integration under the umbrella of a portfolio and the identification of common activities and portfolio-level deliverables was an unrealistic and impossible task in many cases. This situation, in our view, questions the fundamental idea behind portfolios, which end up to be an extra administrative layer requiring additional, and already scarce, resources.
- The portfolios should become the entry contact point for policy DGs and external stakeholders. Nevertheless, this new approach is not so obvious. JRC Units have long-lasting and well-established collaborations, administrative arrangements and/or common projects with partner DGs. These DGs continue to communicate and work directly with Units, as their only formal administrative counterpart, and do not recognise any benefits of the additional portfolio layer.
- External and internal communication also present difficulties. It is often very confusing what shall be communicated as an achievement and/or deliverable of the Directorate and Unit, and what shall be presented as the outcome of a portfolio. These situations create tensions and misunderstandings between Unit Heads/ Directors/ communication officers in the various Directorates.
We are aware that many of these aspects are acknowledged also by the JRC Senior Management. We sincerely hope that they will be tackled with no prejudice and with the greatest openness to rethink the entire concept, using the results of the ongoing portfolio assessment at DG level to evaluate if and when a portfolio is adding value, and recognising where it only or mostly creates an extra burden.
If you would like to share your observations and concerns, you can always contact our internal working group at JRC-RD-ISPRA@ec.europa.eu . Confidentiality is guaranteed.
Gianfranco Selvagio Laura Ciafrè
President Political Secretary
Quo usque tandem abutere …? EPSO renounces to publish any new competition in order “to re-evaluate automated surveillance » !
“Quo usque tandem abutere, EPSO, patientia nostra?
Quam diu etiam furor iste tuus nos eludet?
Quem ad fīnem sese effrenata iactabit audacia?” *
On Monday 16 October, overwhelmed by criticism of the malfunctions observed, EPSO has been forced to announce that it would be re-evaluating automated surveillance “to improve” the experience of candidates calling “for a temporary time-out”, hitting “the pause button until the end of the year as regards the publication of open competitions”.
Thus, some competitions would no longer be published in 2023, but postponed until further notice, namely the competitions for Administrators-Generalists, for statistics and data, for Macroeconomic Statistics and for financial management, accounting and treasury, and public procurement.
Of course, EPSO is still confirming that “This does not mean that EPSO will give up online testing and its many advantages” (link).
What remains a mystery that EPSO obviously does not bother to explain is why some competitions will go ahead, even though EPSO is admitting that this system is not functioning, while some others are postponed. We do not want to believe that this is because EPSO would not have borne the shame of further competition cancellations and the responsibility for further waste of public money.
EPSO, again, MUST explain justify and be fully accountable for all its decisions
How did EPSO “manage” to get to this point?
Since months, all sections of R&D federal have been submerged by the hundreds of complaints regarding the “remote testing” that EPSO has set up that has turned into a real suffering for candidates.
As always, R&D is working to ensure the greatest possible unity of action between staff representatives
As soon as the first complaints were received, given the sensitivity of the issue and the importance of what was at stake, R&D decided to coordinate with all the Trade Unions as a Common Front ( link ), in collaboration with the Central Staff Committee ( Ares (2022)8710389 )and to support candidates in their complaints to the European Ombudsman.
EPSO, always committed to its strategy of denying everything that can still be denied and of trivializing what has become impossible to deny, it has half-heartedly admitted that its system is not working well, but is drowning out the problem with “scam alerts” ( link )
Either EPSO politely tells candidates to expect delays in processing our requests ( link ) or EPSO responds quickly …without offering any solutions.
Still, in the last few weeks, a number of candidates have complained about both the Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ) and the Case Studies.
To give you a flavour of what the candidates have to come across, hereafter are a few examples of the complaints made by candidates about IT malfunctions during the competitions held in the last weeks:
Exam ended after trying to access the platform through the ProMetric App and contacting the online support for hours, The computer-based Multiple-Choice question (MCQ) Numerical Reasoning:
[Scratchpad was not properly presented to candidates (lack of instructions on how to use it and features such as Zooming or resizing, misleading information when encouraging candidates to familiarise themselves with the test platform, the tool covered the text of the questions and worked with difficulty).
White Screen and Freezing or partial visibility of the screen…During the Exam, this affected candidates’ concentration and the overall quality of their presentation..
… Disconnection for several minutes out of the total time allotted to candidates for the MCQ.]
“Natural Silliness” vs Artificial Intelligence?
It was around this time last year that EPSO introduced us the figure of “proctor”, that is the invigilator working for the external contractor, and who became the worst nightmare for all candidates! The latter had to undergo the shameless controls and requests by the proctors, asking them to show even part of their bodies, they had to suffer the continuous terror that they would be disqualified if things were not to the proctors’ satisfaction, and, what is even worse is that not even candidates with disabilities were given a less harsh time. All this under the continuous approval of EPSO that was considering that these anti-cheating procedures “actually correspond to industry standards – they are routinely applied on remote testing platforms throughout Europe and beyond” (Ares(2023)356282). The hundreds of complaints and the huge number of acceptances to retest were not enough to change EPSO’s mind.
Today though the Proctors seem to belong to the past, substituted by the powerful Artificial Intelligence (AI). But, has the situation really improved?
Probably not, if we judge by the need of EPSO to take a break and reassess the whole system and by some of the testimonials we have received. Currently, if a candidate does not stand in a certain position in front of the computer or if he/she move too much, the ultra-potent AI tool will understand what is happening and display a message of “suspicious behaviour” at the bottom of the screen. Moreover, some candidates were kicked out in the middle of the test, or at some point during the login and were told that they could no longer take the test, but that there was also an online form set up to report this type of situations. Case: https://eu-careers.europa.eu/en/contact-us/question.
This series of unacceptable shortcomings happening during an EPSO competition top up to the already accumulated stress definitely do not provide candidates with the necessary conditions in order to make them perform at their best, which should be the objective of EPSO, that is to select the best candidates in the given field and not necessarily the most resilient to a humiliating invigilation system, or to an unfriendly examinations environment!
Let us also not forget that this umpteenth new disaster, which further destroys the image of our institutions in the eyes of candidates and citizens alike, comes on the heels of another disaster, namely the cancellation of the competition EPSO/AST/154/22, with very heavy financial consequences, following the strong criticism from the Ombudsman to whom several candidates, supported by the Common Front of trade unions, had addressed their complaints.
Are we living a comedy written by Monty Python?
All without ever drawing any conclusions regarding responsibilities and with the blameworthy collusion of the institutions responsible for the successful running of this office. The same institutions always preaching a policy of attractiveness that succeeds perfectly in doing exactly the opposite: frustrated, embarrassed, disappointed, and overall discouraged candidates, forced into situations straight out of a Monty Python comedy!
Yes, in the end and very late, with the EPSO’s decision of 16 October reason starts slowly to prevail …but just a bit…nowhere near enough!
EPSO fully deserves to become …“a case study”
Before EPSO came up with a “new proposal”, just as unsuccessful as all the previous ones and in order to help this office to finally fulfil its responsibilities, in keeping with its constructive approach, R&D suggests that the EU administrations make use of EPSO to carry out a “case study” on the “worst practices” of the whole civil administration.
It will be a matter of verifying the extent to which :
– the basic principle of accountability has been taken into account and,
– EPSO’s attitude of simply rejecting any criticism, whether from candidates or staff representatives, until such point as it becomes truly impossible to continue denying them, with a patronising and contemptuous attitude, is compatible with the principle of a well-managed administration, with the values on which our civil service is based and with the RESPECT that any candidate is entitled to expect.
We’re not going to leave it at that… by obediently waiting for EPSO to come up with a new, flawed solution without completely revising its project, which is now among the worst failures of our public service!
R&D, while confirming its full commitment to united action by all Trade Unions and Staff Committees, calls for:
– New governance be established for EPSO in order to clearly establish the responsibilities of each player ensuring that there is always a pilot on board;
– Staff representatives from all the institutions be fully involved in the in-depth reassessment of the selection process by convening a social dialogue meeting without delay.
Cristiano SEBASTIANI,
President
Related posts:
* When, EPSO, do you mean to cease abusing our patience?
How long is that madness of yours still to mock us?
When is there to be an end of that unbridled audacity of yours, swaggering about as it does now?
CONFERENCE ON TAXATION AND TAX DEDUCTIONS / CONFERENZA SU TASSAZIONI E DETRAZIONI FISCALI - 19/10/2023 - 12:30 - 13:30
on TAXATION and TAX DEDUCTIONS for EMPLOYEES AND PENSIONERS OF THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS
Thursday, 19th October 2023 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
HYBRID WEBINAR:
Club House - Room Ginestre
&
Join the conference via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88987724157
Meeting ID: 889 8772 4157
R&D Ispra & SEPS Italia invite you to attend a hybrid conference that will deal with various fiscal matters.
The accountant, Mr Claudio Belmonte, of the accounting firm STUDIOBELMONTE, will explain and answer your questions relating to Italian taxation for employees and pensioners of the European Institutions.
The conference will cover the following topics:
TAX ON INHERITANCE AND DONATIONS
• Tax aspects related to residence. Inheritance/donation of assets owned in Italy and/or abroad
BONUSES FOR BUILDING RENOVATIONS
• Current regulations for on-going building practices
• Opportunities to dispose of the tax credit
The conference will be conducted in Italian, but questions may also be asked in English.
If you wish more info, you can contact our secretariat by phone: 0332 78 9645 or by e-mail: JRC-RD-ISPRA@ec.europa.eu
The Executive Committee of R&D Ispra
The Coordination Team of SEPS Italia - seps.italia@gmail.com
ONLINE TRAINING FOR THE EPSO OPEN COMPETITION | PRE-SELECTION TESTS - 9 - 10 -16 & 17 October 2023
TRAINING EPSO OPEN COMPETITIONS PRE-SELECTION TESTS - CBT
R&D organises online training sessions in ENGLISH in order to help all our colleagues to prepare themselves in the best possible way for all EU competitions.
R&D offers a series of specialised and targeted courses, best suited to the needs of its members and new members. Different time slots are provided for each of the of the CBT preparatory phases.
SAVE THE DATES!
Monday 9 October 2023
Tuesday 10 October 2023
Monday 16 October 2023
Tuesday 17 October 2023
5:00- 7:00 P.M. – BRUSSELS TIME
CBT
Computer based Multiple Choice Questions system
specific for the pre-selection test
Online Training sessions in ENGLISH
Date Time Training Trainer
09/10/2023 17:00-19:00 General Intro + Verbal Reasoning Frédéric Maillet
10/10/2023 17:00-19:00 Abstract Reasoning Frédéric Maillet
16/10/2023 17:00-19:00 Numerical Reasoning 1 Frédéric Maillet
17/10/2023 17:00-19:00 Numerical Reasoning 2 Frédéric Maillet
REGISTER:
Our training are FREE for R&D members and those who wish to join our trade union!
R&D ISPRA BECOME A MEMBER
To participate in the session, it is mandatory to fill in the below Google Form:
EPSO OPEN COMPETITION | PRE-SELECTION TESTS – CBT
Deadline for registration: 09/10/2023 at 9.00 am
LOGIN LINK WILL BE PROVIDED ONCE YOUR REGISTRATION IS CONFIRMED
ON EACH TRAINING DAY BEFORE NOON
(We will therefore not reply to emails requesting the link before that day)
Please note that your registration will be confirmed only
if you register via the link above
If you have any questions, you can contact us at : JRC-RD-ISPRA@ec.europa.eu
SAVE THE DATE : 03/10 - Cyberbullying: Let’s Talk About It! & REPLAYS
For joining the e-conference click on this
This conference will be held in French - You will be able to intervene in English
Join us to explore the world of cyberbullying and take action to support children and families affected by it.
Cyberbullying is a form of cyber violence characterized by its repetition and duration. It encompasses various actions in the digital space, including humiliation, threats, insults, slander, gossip, rumors (denigration), the use of aggressive or sexually related text (sexting), or the public dissemination of intimate images or information (outing). These actions can have severe consequences for the victims. Whether it takes the form of aggressive instant messaging (flaming) or repeated offensive and violent messages (harassment), cyberbullying often acts as an echo chamber, magnifying the effects of harassment. The immediate multiplication of bystanders further intensifies the impact of violence in an uncontrollable manner.
At this conference, you will learn to recognize and respond to instances of digital space misuse that can lead to harm. We will dis¬cuss prevention strategies, how to deal with cyberbullying, ways to protect our children, and effective actions to address this issue.
Our guest speaker, Bruno Humbeeck, will answer your questions and provide valuable advice on helping children navigate and overcome cyberbullying.
Don't hesitate to join us and ask your questions!
For more information, please contact us by email: OSP-RD@ec.europa.eu
