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Teleworking and industrial relations in Europe
This comparative study examines the
industrial relations implications of teleworking across the EU
Member States, plus Norway. It looks at the regulation of
teleworking by law and collective agreement and the extent to
which teleworking is affecting industrial relations, or might
do so in the future.
Teleworking is an issue of considerable and increasing
interest among the social partners, governments and European
Union institutions, as well as more widely. The definition of
teleworking can be difficult: telework is not a legal
category, but a functional definition. Two elements, it seems,
must go together for the definition of this form of work
organisation: (a) the place of work must be somewhere other
than the traditional workplace of the employer; and (b)
telecommunications (computer, fax, telephone, satellite,
disks, CD-ROM etc) must be used. The nature of the work
involved in teleworking varies enormously from highly
qualified to highly unskilled. The legal status of the
teleworker also varies across and within countries - they may
be employees, self-employed, homeworkers etc.
Regardless of the nature of the work, there is a general
tendency in many countries for more and more workers to be
engaged under non-permanent contracts, or in such a way that
their status is other than that of an employee. It is thought
that employers, wishing to reduce their costs to a minimum,
may seek to use non-employees because the costs are lower and
they can be dispensed with more easily when they are not
needed. Teleworking fits this perceived need well in some
countries.
The aim of this study is to provide a brief overview of the
extent of teleworking; and an examination of:
- the way in which teleworking is regulated (or not) by
law
- the extent to which teleworking is dealt with in
collective agreements;
- the contents of such agreements;
- the coverage of teleworkers by collective bargaining and
their unionisation; and
- the extent to which teleworking is affecting industrial
relations, or might do so in the future, with reference to
the views of the social partners.
The study draws on the contributions of the national
centres of the European Industrial
Relations Observatory (EIRO), describing the situation and
developments in the 15 EU Member States plus Norway.
European Commission interest in teleworking
While the International Labour
Organisation (ILO), for
example, has taken an interest in teleworking for some years,
it seems to be only since the mid-1990s that the issue has
started to climb the agenda of the European Commission in a serious
way. The topic was identified as one for consideration in the
1994 White Paper on social policy, and a working party was
subsequently set up to examine the issue, and a wider debate
launched. Teleworking was among the topics examined by the
"high-level group of experts on the social aspects of the
information society" and the Information Society Forum,
established by the Commission in 1995, and by the Commission's
1996 Green Paper on Living and working in the information
society: People first. Other Commission activities in this
area have included various projects under the ADAPT and EMPLOYMENT initiatives and the
Commission now publishes an annual teleworking status report
and sponsors the European Telework
Development (ETD)
initiative.
The teleworking debate led in July 1997 to a statement by
the Commission in the Communication
on the social and labour market dimension of the information
society. People first - the next steps ( EU9707140N)
that it would initiate consultations with the EU-level social
partners on "whether and to what extent Community action on
the protection of teleworkers is advisable".
The 1997 Green Paper on Partnership
for a new organisation of work ( EU9707134F)
examined teleworking - which it sees as being distinguished by
the use of telecommunications and advanced information
technologies and the performance of work at a location other
than the traditional workplace - in its various forms
(home-based, alternating, multi-site telework, freelance,
mobile and "relocated back offices"). The Commission notes
that; "Although the spread and penetration of telework remains
unclear, the current numbers of teleworkers do not seem to
meet the expansive forecasts made in the 1970s. However, the
lowering cost of telecommunications, changes in managers' and
trade unions' attitudes towards telework, as well as new
practices in respect of alternating telework, are strong
indications that the number of teleworkers will increase
substantially in the coming years. Telework is particularly
evident in industries and occupations which are information
intensive."
The Green Paper links teleworking closely with job
creation, increasing employment opportunities, environmental
improvement and regional development, and asks how teleworking
and related techniques can be used "to bring about a net
increase in work opportunities for Europeans in such a way
that the overall quality of working life is enhanced".For the
Commission, the transnational dimension of information and
communication technology, and in particular the fact that
electronic commerce on the Internet goes beyond geographical
borders, "brings to the fore the issue of transnational
teleworking, international private law and transnational
industrial relations". The Paper concludes that:" It is
necessary to assess what measures are necessary to facilitate
the development of telework, whether the existing rules are
appropriate and what are the respective roles of the different
actors."
Following on from comparative research and analysis of
national law and practices, the Commission has identified a
number of issues for consideration by the public authorities
and the social partners, which provides a useful checklist of
the industrial relations and employment issues raised by
teleworking :
- contractual status (employed/self-employed teleworking);
- voluntary character and teleworkers' right to return to
the company's premises;
- equality of treatment between onsite workers and
teleworkers;
- teleworkers' involvement in information, consultation,
participation and negotiation;
- teleworkers' training rights and skills development;
- social security issues;
- data protection issues;
- environmental impact;
- "inviolability" of the home and the question of
employers' access to it;
- working time, availability and workload;
- pay systems;
- infrastructure, equipment and expenses;
- teleworkers' involvement in the company's affairs;
- separation of working and living environments;
- health and safety issues, including isolation, stress,
checking and control;
- social implications of transborder teleworking; and
- the legal framework applicable to freelance teleworking,
including trade union rights
The Commission is due to publish a Communication on social
aspects of telework during 1999 (according to its November
1998 Communication on the modernisation of work organisation).
Finally, the Commission's plan to consult the social partners
on possible Community action on teleworking was repeated in
the 1998-2000 Social Action Programme ( EU9805104F).
Extent and status of teleworking
Current scale and forecasts
At present, reliable data on the scope of teleworking are
not available in any country of the EU, with the exception of
Austria. In this country, the
official statistics on employment have - very recently -
included the topic of teleworking, using three
definitions:
- work at a computer at home for at least eight hours per
week and transmission of the results to another computer, by
phone or by fax. Of the three, this is the definition that
comes closest to the one recommended by DG XIII-B of the Commission;
- work at a computer at home for at least one hour, and
transmission of the results exclusively to another computer;
and
- like definition 2), but also including transmission by
phone or fax.
Depending on the definition, in September 1997 Austrian
teleworkers represented between 0.6% and 1.5% of employed
persons and between 0.4% and 1.1% of wage-earners.
In the remaining countries, the available data vary
greatly. Official statistics do not give any information on
teleworking and non-official studies use definitions and
methodologies too diverse to be compared. In some cases they
take into account only employees, in others any legal form of
teleworking; some analyse only homeworking teleworking, others
include teleworking in any location; some specify a minimum
number of hours of teleworking, others take into account only
full-time teleworking; and sometimes the methodology is
qualitative, sometimes quantitative.
Indeed, at present relatively little definite can be said
on the scale of teleworking in the European Union, although we
may suppose the Austrian figures may be taken as a reference
to the rest. It does seem clear, however, that it is still a
minority phenomenon and that it is developing more slowly than
was initially expected. The difference between the forecasts
of some years ago and the current situation seems to be a
common feature, particularly in the national reports from
Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom. In some countries
there is also controversy about the forecasts of future
development: the reports from France
and the Netherlands
state that several analysts doubt that telework will grow
rapidly or create a significant number of new jobs in the next
few years.
Telework
1998, the annual status report from the European
Commission, while acknowledging the problems of definition and
lack of information, cites estimates of some 4 million people
telworking in one form or another across the EU in 1998. The
document reports calculations from European Telework
Development (ETD), which suggest that in late 1997, there were
around 1,125,000 "formal" teleworkers - ie as part of a formal
company scheme - in the EU (0.8% of the workforce), rising to
4,630,000 (3.1%) if informal teleworking - working at home
part of the time based on an informal employee-manager
agreement - is included. Estimated levels of formal
teleworking are highest in Denmark (3.9% of the workforce),
the Netherlands (3%), Ireland (1.2%), Germany (1.1%), and the
UK (1.1%), and lowest (at 0.1% or below) in Belgium, France,
Greece, Portugal and Spain.
Main characteristics
There is also a lack of reliable data on the legal
status of teleworkers. However, it seems clear that the
proportion of self-employed workers among teleworkers is very
large in all the countries and shows a tendency to increase.
The reasons are arguably evident: self-employed workers
involve less cost and give companies greater freedom to
establish working conditions. Others would argue that
self-employed telework can meet workers' wishes for greater
autonomy in working life.
In relation to other aspects of the nature of teleworking,
there is a greater degree of reliability and homogeneity in
the available information. Insurance, banking, services to
companies and telecommunications are cited in almost all
national reports as the sectors in which teleworking
has shown the fastest development. Other sectors mentioned -
although less frequently - are retail, teaching and research,
the media, some branches of manufacturing industry and the
public administration.
With regard to occupations, all the national reports
include as teleworkers "knowledge professionals" - highly
qualified white-collar workers with great autonomy and high
value-added in the processing of information. Examples are
programmers, analysts, engineers, architects, travel agents,
estate agents, insurance brokers, banking agents, journalists,
writers, lawyers, consultants and advisers. However, several
reports - particularly from the UK and Spain - report that telework is also
spreading among white-collar workers with a medium level of
occupational skills, with little autonomy and low value-added
in the processing of information. This group includes
secretaries, clerical workers and data processors.
The regulation of teleworkers' employment conditions is
very directly related to their legal status. In the case of
wage earners with indefinite contracts, telework occurs
predominantly in large companies. It normally consists of
"alternating" telework, combining work at home - or in a
telecentre - with regular work within the company, and the
conditions are often set by collective agreement. Full-time
teleworking is more characteristic of self-employed workers or
temporary employees, who generally have a far less stable
status.
The law and teleworking
Teleworking is not a legal category independent from the
traditional forms of providing services in any country of the
European Union. It is a form of work organisation whose
employment law status may vary greatly. The applicable legal
framework depends on the teleworkers' legal status, defined by
their relationship with the company or companies for which
they work.
A total of seven different applicable types of legal status
are identified across the countries concerned. Telework can be
carried out, depending on the country, by an employer, a
self-employed worker, a quasi-self employed worker (one
category used in the Netherlands), a "coordinated" freelance
worker (Italy), an
"employee-like" person (Austria) a civil servant or an
employee. The special category of homeworking is sometimes
also used, though its legal status may differ between
countries.
These different types of employment status can be divided
into two main groups: employees, where an employment
relationship exists; and non-employees, where a business
relationship exists. The applicable legal framework is
therefore either labour law or company law. Nevertheless, in
all countries considered, the application of the legal
framework to telework is now, or may become, problematic.
There are two basic reasons for this:
- when the teleworking contract is defined as a business
relationship, conflict arises in those cases in which the
existence of an employment relationship is plausible but
difficult to prove, because the criteria on which the
existence of an employment relationship is assessed in most
countries may be obsolete in dealing with teleworking; and
- when the teleworking contract is defined as an
employment relationship, the definition of some rights and
duties is difficult and problems of gaps in regulation arise
that may lead to discrimination.
Teleworking as a business relationship
When a business relationship is deemed to exist in
teleworking, this may often in reality be an employment
relationship, or at least a "semi-employment" relationship.
However, this is difficult to prove because the concept of an
employment relationship is often not easily applicable to
teleworking.
Teleworking raises important challenges for the basic
concept of labour regulations. In some countries the
definition of an employee is based on obsolete ideas: physical
vicinity, uniformity and continuity in the performance of the
task, and immediate hierarchy and control. The subordination
of the teleworker tends to be depersonalised, because the
control can be exercised by machine, and it can be relaxed in
cases in which the worker organises his or her own activity,
making decisions previously made by the employer or its
representatives; that is to say, the work may involve greater
autonomy, and sometimes there is not even a
technical/functional dependence. The exercise of management
power can be sporadic (rather than continuous), the control by
the employer may be a mere ex post verification (rather
than a continuous control of the labour activity), and the
requirement may be a particular result (rather than a fixed
timetable). In this situation, in which it can become
difficult to demonstrate subordination - the main criterion
used for defining a worker as an employee - there may be a
tendency towards the use of different types of
self-employment.
It is evident that, for employers, a self-employed legal
status for teleworkers has many advantages. It is far cheaper
in terms of taxation and far more flexible because it allows a
wide discretionary power (there is no labour protection and
total contractual freedom). However, it might be pointed out
that in some circumstances, the cost advantage to employers
would be lessened if the worker concerned has a scarce skill,
which can be sold at a high price. The national reports from
Belgium, France, Ireland,
Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and the UK indicate that the use
by employers of "false self-employment" as a way of
circumventing labour law is a problem.
This perceived propensity (not exclusive to teleworking,
which is a minority form of work organisation in all Member
States) to avoid traditional employment contracts is being
addressed in some countries. In Germany, the Netherlands and
the UK, the concept of subordination as a test of the
existence of an employment relationship in case law is being
revised in favour of concepts of "economic dependence" and
"integration in the organisation".
Furthermore, some countries have defined a specific status
for people who are formally or personally independent but
economically dependent in their work - as in Austria
("employee-like person"), the Netherlands ("quasi
self-employed worker") and Italy ("coordinated freelance
worker"). This is an intermediate status between employee and
self-employed worker, which is only partially protected by
employment law. However, in many cases it is not easy to apply
this new legal status to the telework situation.
In Italy, several bills which would regulate telework have
been under discussion for some time, covering both employees
and "coordinated" freelance workers. The most important of
these is the "New Jobs Statute", which seeks to give a general
definition of the rights of atypical workers that would
include teleworkers.
In Greece, a recent law defines telework as an "atypical
form of employment." For employers to establish with
teleworkers a non-dependent or business relationship, they
must present the contract of service to the competent Labour
Inspectorate; otherwise it is presupposed that there is an
employment relationship.
The use of the homeworking category for teleworkers is also
problematic. In the countries in which this category exists,
its regulation is insufficient. In most countries, the
regulations are obsolete, having been designed essentially to
provide legal support for workers linked to craft workshops.
Thus, they do not provide adequate protection for teleworkers
because: they were intended for manual workers (Portugal);
they involve definitions that are not suitable for this type
of work organisation (Spain); telework is not always carried
out at home; or they do not provide for all employment
legislation to apply to homeworkers, thus potentially leading
to discrimination. Furthermore, the legal status of homework
is not the same in all countries. In some countries
homeworkers have employee status (Spain), while in others they
may have employee or self-employed status (Germany), and in
yet others homeworking is a de facto rather than a
legal category (UK).
Telework as an employment relationship
When the teleworking contract is defined as an employment
relationship, the issues centre on the regulation of
employment conditions. A salaried teleworker enjoying full
rights cannot always exercise them due to the special
characteristics of working outside the traditional workplace
(eg at home, on the road or in a client company) and using
telecommunications. Such gaps in regulation arise in area as
diverse as:
- the definition of the management power of the employer,
against the fundamental right to privacy of the worker (at
home and at work);
- confidentiality and security of company information;
- the employer's liability in the case of industrial
accidents and health and safety at work;
- pathologies and illnesses associated with telework that
are not covered by the social security system or are not
dealt with in regulations on health and safety at work;
- the concept of working time;
- access to training, qualifications and promotion; and
- access to and participation in the collective
representation of workers and in all matters concerning
collective rights.
The need may arise for a revision of existing regulations,
so that employees who do not carry out their work physically
within the company can exercise their rights as employees.
Some countries have undertaken initiatives in this
direction:
- in Belgium, a law on teleworking has been in force since
1996. The law provides that important issues such as working
time, pay, location and task description must be included in
the contract;
- in Sweden, an official committee has been set up to
present a legislative proposal on salaried telework. The
aims is to make slight modifications to the regulatory
framework in order to apply to teleworking provisions on
matters such as working hours, holidays or health and
safety; and
- in Norway, an initiative is underway to ensure that the
legal vacuum relating to salaried homeworking telework is
filled. In principle, employment legislation cannot at
present be applied to homeworking. In 1995, the existing
regulation of salaried homeworking was abolished because it
was obsolete, and now there is a gap in regulation for all
homeworkers.
Collective bargaining and teleworking
The importance of collective bargaining
The role played by collective bargaining in the regulation
of teleworking varies greatly.
In many countries, telework is not regulated at all by
collective bargaining. This is the case in Belgium, Finland,
Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and
Portugal. In these countries,
telework as such is not dealt with in collective agreements at
any level, though in some countries - especially the
Netherlands - the unions have tried to incorporate this topic
in the bargaining agenda. In some companies, a succession of
individual agreements between companies and workers has led to
a certain degree of regulation, sometimes even with the
involvement of works council-type bodies, but teleworking is
not strictly speaking regulated through collective bargaining.
Spain can also be included in this group, although in this
country bargaining is starting to develop: in some companies,
negotiations are underway over distance working, and one
agreement refers explicitly to telework.
In other countries there has been some development of
collective bargaining on telework at company level, although
in general this is a relatively new phenomenon. This is the
case of France, Germany,
Ireland and the UK. Austria and Norway can also be included in
this group, although with some reservations. In Norway,
collective bargaining on teleworking seems to be less
developed. In Austria, besides some company agreements, there
is a sectoral agreement in the mineral oil industry that
regulates teleworking, but it has met with strong resistance
among employers and no further sectoral agreements are
foreseen in the near future.
Finally, in a small number of countries collective
bargaining on telework seems to be more developed and
"articulated", combining company agreements with an emergent
development of sectoral agreements. In Sweden, sectoral
agreements include a 1997 joint recommendation in tarde,
commerce and services, establishing guidelines for lower-level
agreements. In Italy, company agreements began to deal with
the topic of telework in 1994, and since 1996 sectoral
agreements have been signed which regulate this question in
retail and telecommunications. Finally, in Denmark teleworking
has received special attention since 1997, with the signing of
sector agreements that deal with this topic in the state
public sector, the regional and municipal public sector and
the banking sector. In industry, retail and services,
protocols on telework have been added to collective
agreements, and committees are currently discussing the
subject. Denmark is also the country in which collective
bargaining on telework is most articulated. Sectoral
agreements differentiate between aspects dealt with in the
sectoral agreement itself, in company agreements and in
individual agreements between employer and worker. These three
levels are "subsequent", so there must be a sectoral agreement
and a company agreement before an individual agreement can be
entered into.
There are no general data on the extent to which
teleworkers across the EU are covered by collective
bargaining.
The table below provides examples of collective agreements
on teleworking from the countries covered by this study.
Examples of collective bargaining on telework
| Austria |
A model agreement drawn up by the Union of Salaried
Employees (GPA) has been
used as basis for works agreements in the information
technology sector, including IBM and Hewlett-Packard. The
agreements establish that telework is voluntary and that
teleworkers' involvement in the company must be
guaranteed. The distribution of working time between
home and company is specified, though teleworkers are
free to distribute their working time during the day
provided that company requirements are respected. The
company meets the cost of the equipment, data
transmission and telephone, plus additional expenses.
The home workstation must respect health and safety
regulations. The agreements are aimed mainly at
employees combining in-company work with telework. |
| Denmark |
An experimental agreement in the financial
sector (60,000 employees), expiring in May 1999,
establishes a general framework for the regulation of
telework in the industry, distinguishing the aspects
that are to be regulated at sector level, at company
level and individually between worker and company. The
sectoral agreement defines telework and establishes
that: it should be voluntary; it is reversible at four
weeks' notice; the equipment and its maintenance are the
responsibility of the employer; the teleworker, like any
other employee, is covered by existing regulations on
health and safety at work; telework can occupy a maximum
of 50% of the working time over a 13-week period; and
weekly working hours must be those specified in the
collective agreement. |
| France |
A July 1996 agreement on the employment of disabled
people at Banques
populaires (27,000 employees), signed by all the
unions, seeks to provide for voluntary telework
opportunities at home. |
| Germany |
A teleworking collective agreement concluded by
Deutsche Telekom and the DPG union in October
1995 establishes that: teleworkers retain employee
status for all purposes; telework should be voluntary
and reversible, with workers guaranteed a return to
their previous job; the employer is responsible for
providing and maintaining equipment, and for all
additional expenses; and the distribution of working
time between home and company must be agreed
individually and established in writing. A 1991 works
agreement at IBM Germany
is also noteworthy as one of the first in Europe. |
| Italy |
A December 1997 agreement at Electrolux Zanussi introduces
an experimental programme of telework prepared by the
group's "national committee for equal opportunities". Up
to 40 people will participate voluntarily in the
two-year programme. Its main aim is to help pregnant
women or those with small children to combine family
responsibilities with work, thus avoiding the use of
parental leave when not strictly necessary. The
programme is aimed at women, but men can also
participate, in line with Italian parental leave
legislation. |
| Norway |
A company agreement has been concluded at Vesta, in the framework of the
National Information Networks project. The agreement,
aimed at typical telework activities such as
telecommunications and administration, specifies 10
clauses to be included in individual employer-worker
agreements, leaving some questions open for individual
negotiation. The clauses refer to: the workplace (a room
at home or rented, in both cases used exclusively for
work); the general loss of the worker's right to occupy
their job in the company while the agreement lasts; the
employer's obligation to provide equipment, ensure its
maintenance, and pay insurance and domestic expenses;
the worker's duty to take care of equipment and return
it; the obligation to respect professional
confidentiality; the right of the teleworker to an
unspecified wage bonus; and the conditions for
termination of the telework agreement. |
| Spain |
A March 1998 agreement at DHC Internacional España
establishes the possibility of job creation by means of
telework, a formula that can also facilitate the
integration of disabled people. The company can define
the jobs that it considers appropriate for recruiting
staff as teleworkers. A joint commission will study and
agree economic aspects, and bear in mind the factors
that define work at home, including the smaller amount
of time spent on the job. |
| Sweden |
A joint recommendation in the trade, commerce and
services sector (80,000 employees), signed in
November 1997, establishes rules for the (total or
partial) move to telework of companies' existing
employees, serving as a guide for agreements at company
level or individual employer-worker agreements. The
recommendation provides that: telework should be
voluntary and reversible, with the conditions to be
regulated; teleworkers' attendance at meetings should be
facilitated; teleworkers should have the same rights as
other employees to information, consultation and
professional development; equipment must meet health and
safety regulations; and the employer is responsible for
safety at work and thus must have necessary access to
the home work area. |
| UK |
A teleworking agreement was signed at British
Telecom in 1992, aimed at managers and
professionals. It states that telework cannot be seen as
a way of combining work with childcare, and establishes
that: telework is voluntary; teleworkers are paid a
salary and are therefore covered by collective
bargaining for all purposes, including health and
safety; there should be equal opportunities in
professional development; equipment and domestic
expenses are paid for by the company; the employer is
responsible for health and safety; and teleworkers are
guaranteed information and communication with the
company, including attendance at regular
meetings. |
Issues regulated by collective bargaining
Where collective agreements regulate teleworking, their
provisions are generally quite similar:
- voluntary nature. The worker must agree to
telework voluntarily, and it can never be imposed by the
employer;
- reversibility. Both the employer and the worker
may terminate teleworking. The procedures for termination,
normally including notice periods, are regulated;
- employee status. The workers concerned maintain
their employee status for all purposes, and their general
employment conditions are therefore often governed by
collective bargaining, although some aspects may be
regulated specifically;
- non-discrimination. The workers concerned should
not suffer any type of discrimination due to their
teleworking situation. Explicit reference is occasionally
made to remuneration or career development. Access through
telecommunications to company information and trade unions
or workers' representatives is usually mentioned;
- health and safety at work. Rules adapt existing
regulations to the specific situation of telework. In
general, the employer's responsibility for health and safety
at work extends to to supervising the employee's work area
at home and ensuring that it meets regulations;
- working time. The working hours are those laid
down in the relevant agreement, but specific rules are
usually established on flexible working hours and procedures
for calculating overtime. In some cases, a minimum of
working hours within the company is also agreed in order to
ensure that the workers attend meetings and do not lose
direct contact;
- equipment and extraordinary domestic
expenditures. The company usually provides the worker
with the necessary equipment and ensures its maintenance.
Extraordinary domestic expenses caused by telework
(telephone, electricity, etc) are also met by the company;
and
- specific groups. In some cases, telework is
specifically oriented towards a certain group, such as
high-level technicians, people with disabilities or women
who are pregnant or have young children. However, this
tendency is not general and some agreements on telework
openly reject teleworking being used as a means to combine
work and family life, because this may be discriminatory
against women.
Teleworkers and trade unions
There is no information available on trade union membership
among teleworkers. It might be assumed that unionisation is
often relatively high among teleworkers covered by collective
bargaining on the issue, because they are employees of large
companies with open-ended contracts, in some cases
participating in experimental telework programmes supervised
by trade unions. Unionisation is probably far lower among
employees with individual teleworking agreements or
self-employed workers. There are no known specific
associations of teleworkers with a collective bargaining role
(though see below).
Within unions, there is a certain amount of debate on the
impact of teleworking on trade unionism. The dispersion and
isolation of the workers concerned may make it very difficult
for unions to gain access to them. Traditional trade unionism
has trouble dealing with these new realities and the unions
are fully aware of the risk leaving "atypical" groups of
workers unprotected. In general, unions see a danger of
individualisation and segmentation of employment relationships
and employment and working conditions, and acknowledge the
need to explore new forms of communication, organisation and
representation to face these challenges.
Some unions have undertaken specific initiatives aimed at
teleworkers:
- In Germany, the postal and telecommunications workers'
union, DPG, the media and
arts workers' union, IG
Medien, and the trade, commerce and industry workers'
union, HBV, jointly
established a so-called "employee-oriented telework
consultation" (OnForTe) in
1997. This project is supported by the Federal Ministry for
Education, Science, Research and Technology and the
telecommunications company, Deutsche Telecom AG. OnForTe seeks
to analyse the opportunities and risks of teleworking, make
suggestions and develop solutions and alternatives for
problems in this area. It provides tips, legal advice, and
support for teleworkers and self-employed people (eg via a
service hotline). Furthermore, it provides information on
"best practice" and information on health and data
protection issues as well as examples of collective
agreements on teleworking. Lastly, the service lobbies on
behalf of teleworkers.
- In Ireland, the Communication
Workers' Union (CWU)
has targeted the needs of teleworkers by compiling a set of
guidelines for equitable treatment and establishing a
"virtual branch" to recruit teleworkers into the union.
Membership of this "virtual branch" is open to teleworkers
(whether employees or self-employed), and anyone in the
communications, online, distribution and computer
industries. The guidelines set out a number of principles
that should be followed by employers when employing
teleworkers.
- In Italy, in 1998 the three main union confederations
created internal structures to organise and represent
"atypical" workers with employment relationships regarded as
lying somewhere between dependent and autonomous employment
(for example, "coordinated" freelance work and consultancy).
Cgil set up New Job Identities (Nidil) and Cisl the Association of Atypical and Interim
Workers (Alai) while
Uil intends to extend the
range of action of its Committees
for Employment (Cpo)
- which at the moment mainly deal with unemployed people and
workers in the "socially useful jobs" employment scheme - to
include atypical workers. Cisl may create an association
specifically for non-dependent teleworkers alongside the
general association for atypical workers.
The opinion of the social partners
Telework does not currently appear to be especially high on
the social partners' agenda. In some countries, the partners'
positions are clearer than in others, but in no case is it
reported that teleworking is a particularly high-priority
topic.
Trade union opinions
In general, trade unions regard teleworking ambivalently,
reflecting both the new opportunities that it creates and the
risks that it involves. In Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, there has reportedly been a
clear evolution of the unions' positions: while in the past
there was resistance because telework was seen as linked to
traditional homeworking - manual, low-qualified, with unstable
working conditions - attitudes are now more neutral or even
positive, although always with reservations.
Unions accept that teleworking generates favourable
expectations among many workers who want a different working
environment or a new balance between working time and free
time. However, unions are also aware of the risks that this
new form of work organisation involves: against the generally
optimistic view of telework as a formula for job creation, the
unions are concerned about the increasing instability of
employment and working conditions that may result from
"outsourcing". A common union demand is to avoid any mandatory
transfer of teleworkers into self-employment. For employed
teleworkers, union demands are very similar to the provisions
frequently laid down in collective agreements (see above):
ensuring that telework is voluntary and reversible; equal
rights and opportunities with other employees; and the
adaptation of labour legislation to the specific situation of
telework, especially with regard to working hours and health
and safety.
In general, all trade unions consider that telework should
be regulated more extensively, although there are differences
on how to combine legislation and collective bargaining. These
differences partly relate to differing national regulatory
frameworks, but are sometimes also present among different
unions in the same country. In brief, some unions give
priority to legislation in establishing regulations, so as to:
avoid unrecognised situations of dependent employment;
regulate some basic aspects of telework; and allow for labour
legislation to be adapted to telework. Other unions consider
that telework is still too undeveloped a phenomenon, and that
legislative reform would immediately be overtaken by events.
They are in favour of collective bargaining at company and
sector level, without ruling out - once telework is more
widespread and there is greater experience - the adoption of
more general measures through multisectoral agreements or
legislation.
At European level, over the past few years the European
Trade Union Confederation has developed a generally
constructive attitude towards teleworking, while recognising
the potential problems raised. For example, in a document
setting out 25
points on industrial relations in the information society,
the ETUC states that" teleworking should neither be condemned
out of hand nor glorified. The crucial question is how it will
be organised." ETUC goes on to reiterate many of the common
union demands listed above.
Employers' associations' opinions
The position of employers' associations is usually less
clear than that of trade unions, because they generally
consider that work organisation is a question which is the
exclusive concern of companies. However, employers'
organisations tend to take a positive view of telework: they
feel that it allows work to be reorganised and made more
flexible, reduces costs and generates favourable expectations
among workers. it is reported from several countries that this
stance does not always coincide with that of company managers,
who may be reluctant to change existing models of management
and organisation and above all to lose direct control of work.
The position of employers' associations on regulation is
usually very clear: they do not consider it necessary to
regulate telework specifically, and in the event of it being
regulated, they prefer collective bargaining to
legislation.
Common approaches on the regulation of telework
Although trade unions and employers' associations often
differ, in some countries there is a certain level of
agreement on regulation of telework. In Portugal, the
"Strategic Social Pact" (1996-9), signed by the government and
social partners, declares that telework can lead to
instability if it is not regulated appropriately. The
government has agreed to begin consultations with the social
partners to promote a new legislative framework for telework.
In the Netherlands, the unions and employers' organisations
represented in the tripartite Social and Economic Council have
recently taken the position that the protection of teleworking
employees should be analogous to that of "traditional"
employees. Telework should be given a place in the negotiation
of regular terms and conditions of employment between
employers and employees. The Council also takes a positive
view of the opportunities for self-employment offered by
telework, while noting that the protective scope of labour and
social security legislation should not be undermined. In
Greece, the social partners have shown a positive view of new
legislation on "atypical forms of work", including telework,
adopted in 1998, although differences persist on other related
questions. In Norway, despite differences among the social
partners, a "joint declaration on telework" was included in
the latest revision of the "Basic Agreement" between the NHO
employers' organisation and LO trade union confederation
(1998-2001). In the declaration, the two organisations agree
on the existence of problems connected to teleworking, and
express a common commitment to monitor closely the future
development of teleworking through studies and dialogue. A
joint committee will look at different aspects of teleworking
and propose changes to the existing legal framework and to
collective agreements.
Commentary
There is still no clear picture regarding the development
and uptake of telework in the EU Member States and Norway. Its
expansion has probably been less than was predicted a decade
ago. Official statistics do not generally take telework into
account (although they do not provide much information on
other forms of work organisation either), and while there is
much literature on teleworking, there is little research into
its use as a form of work organisation, and even less into its
effects on employment conditions or industrial relations.
Telework covers a great variety of situations
Teleworking is a form of work organisation that has not yet
been fully defined. Beyond the general two-pronged concept of
work outside the traditional workplace and the use of
telecommunications, a diversity of situations exists. While
telework can be carried out from many different places, with
different types of connection to companies' computer networks
and for different periods of time, we feel that the key
diversity lies in the legal status of teleworkers and the
nature of the work performed. The combination of these two
factors creates a dual profile within which employment
conditions vary greatly.
As mentioned above, some seven employment categories are
reported from around Europe as being applicable to telework -
employer, self-employed or independent worker, quasi-self
employed worker, "coordinated" freelance worker,
"employee-like person," employee and civil servant - as well
as the homeworking category, whose legal status is unclear.
These various categories are intermixed with different types
of occupations. The most "teleworked" occupations have two
distinct profiles in terms of work content and status:
- administrative work and customer care, involving a
medium level of qualification, low mobility, low value-added
in the processing of the information and little bargaining
power (examples are administrative assistants, clerical
workers, secretaries and telephone operators); or
- the "knowledge professional", highly qualified, usually
with mobility and high value-added in information
processing, and high bargaining power (such as programmers,
analysts, engineers, architects, travel agents, estate
agents, insurance brokers, banking agents, journalists,
writers, lawyers and advisers).
Outmoded concepts and non-coverage by employment
regulations
There is a general gap in regulatory cover - whether by
legislation, case law or agreement, depending on the countries
concerned - regarding the specificities of telework and its
effects on employment/working conditions and industrial
relations. However, this void is not exclusive to telework,
which is only a small part of a far more complex and probably
far more problematic phenomenon. The prevailing regulatory
frameworks in most European countries do not cover the present
complexities of the labour market and industrial relations.
They were developed to deal with situations that now cover
only part of the workforce, leaving the remainder seemingly
unprotected.
It seems that work is increasingly characterised by
decentralisation and "atomisation", weakening the
possibilities for the defence of workers' interests,
especially in extreme situations where workers have a business
- rather than an employment - relationship imposed by the
employer in order to circumvent labour standards. In the
countries covered by this study, forms of work are developing
that fit poorly into the employment categories laid down by
law, making it difficult to attribute employee status to the
workers involved. Existing regulations are based on ideas that
may be obsolete: physical vicinity; uniformity and continuity
in the performance of the task; and continuous and immediate
hierarchy and control. Increasingly, some workers are
organising their own activity - they have greater autonomy in
the way they carry out the assigned tasks and/or they simply
carry out their work outside the employer's premises for all
or part of their working hours. However, such workers do not
cease to be organisationally integrated in the company (they
cannot choose whether or not they do the work or over what
period they do it), nor do they stop being economically
dependent on it. What does change is the way in which the
employer exercises managerial power (ex post
verification of results), and this change is used to define
the relationship between employer and worker as a business,
rather than employment, relationship. The legal status of
workers with the same occupation and doing the same work may
vary according to the company for which they work, the point
at which the contract was signed, or other criteria that have
little to do with the specific conditions in which the
activity is carried out.
In most European countries, there is an increasing tendency
for relations between employees and employers to become more
like business than employment relationships, with a resulting
reduction in protection for - and discrimination against - the
workers concerned, who in some countries are known as the
"false self-employed". Managerial strategies may use the
obsolescence of labour regulations as an excuse to not apply
them. Employers may thus be able to reduce labour costs (to
pay less in social security contributions), to reduce their
obligations towards the workers (eg in terms of training,
health and safety and promotion) and to increase their
contractual freedom (to "hire and fire" according to the
demands of production).
In this situation, employment in Europe is characterised
increasingly by managerial work organisation strategies that
are not fully covered by increasingly obsolete labour
regulations, leading to a phenomenon known as "flight from
labour law" (huida del derecho del trabajo), or loss of
employment rights. In some countries, the legal categories of
employment have been diversified by designating intermediate
situations between employees and self-employed, which have
greater labour protection than self-employment but less than
employment, and are less expensive for employers than the
latter. Other countries have redefined case law regarding the
criterion of "dependence", to include greater autonomy in work
organisation, distance work or non-continuous work, and thus
allow workers whose situations differ from those laid down in
the prevailing regulations to join the category of employees.
However, in other countries, legislative policy and case law
tend to exclude these workers from the coverage of labour
legislation. These two solutions are qualitatively different
in terms of whether they support of prevent discrimination
against the workers involved..
The existence or otherwise of an employment relationship is
not, however, the end of the problem. If the employment
relationship is recognised, there arises the possibility of
discrimination arising from the special conditions of all
employees who perform distance work and/or homeworking and/or
work with telecommunications, which are are not recognised by
the regulations. The problems include fundamental rights
(privacy, equal treatment in training and promotion, or
collective rights) and new occupational illnesses that not
covered by health and safety regulations or social
security.
The social partners agree in some Member States on the use
of collective bargaining at regional, sectoral or company
level to solve these problems, by establishing a series of
conditions under which telework is performed or regulating
other organisational strategies that are related to this type
of work. However, not all workers have the power to negotiate
or the power to enforce fulfilment of the prevailing
regulations. The bargaining solution does not seem consistent
with the fact that some of the workers concerned are
characterised by weakness, segmentation and dispersion. If
this question is to be dealt with successfully, it seems that
a fuller reconsideration of the prevailing legislation is
necessary, as well as a more profound change in trade union
strategies (María Caprile and Clara Llorens,
CIREM-QUIT).
Note - Selected sources of information on teleworking
The European Foundation for the
Improvement of Living and Working Conditions has been
conducting research into the subject of teleworking since the
mid-1980s and has built up a considerable portfolio of reports
and working papers. Details can be found at the Foundation website or by
contacting Camilla Galli da Bino by e-mail at
camilla.gallidabino@eurofound.ie. Recent publications of
interest include a handbook, the European
guide to teleworking: a framework for action, and three
reports on the Social implications of teleworking,
covering the social
security position of teleworkers, the health
and safety issues for teleworkers and the legal
and contractual situations of teleworkers. The summary of
the Social implications of teleworking reports can be
downloaded as a PDF file by clicking here.
Other particularly useful sources of information on the
World-Wide Web for those with an interest in the industrial
relations and employment implications of teleworking
include:
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