Judgment No. 3713

• Organization: European Patent Organisation (EPO)
• Date: 06.07.2016
• Original: English
• Judges: Rouiller, Barbagallo, Hansen
• Full judgment text - Full judgment text (french)

Decision

The complaint is summarily dismissed.

Summary

The complainants challenge the reference value, used by the EPO to plan and measure productivity, introduced for patent examiners working in their technical field.

Judgment keywords

Keywords

joinder; summary procedure; administrative instruction; final decision; complaint dismissed

Consideration 3

Extract:

[I]t is obvious that the setting of a performance objective is merely a step in the process of evaluating the performance of employees. It is firmly established by the Tribunal’s case law that a measure of this kind can only be challenged in the context of an appeal against the final decision taken at the end of the process in question (see for example Judgment 2366, consideration 16, or Judgment 3198, consideration 13). In the present case, there is nothing to prevent the complainants from challenging, through the applicable internal procedures and ultimately before the Tribunal if need be, a staff report in which their productivity has been measured by reference to the contested value.

Reference(s)

ILOAT Judgment(s): 2366, 3198

Keywords

performance report; performance evaluation