Teleworking in Europe Webinar Thursday November 19th, 2020 4.00 p.m. (CET)
Content i. Welcome and introduction ii. Implementation of teleworking a. Introduction of telework • Specific law • Introduction with or without the consent of the employer/employee • Addendum agreement between employee and employer b. Time limit for teleworking c. Teleworking equipment d. Monitoring of the employees iii. Employees representatives and public representatives iv. Health and safety, data protections and liability v. Q & A
Implementation of teleworking
Introduction of telework Specific law • No European regulation on teleworking, except for the voluntary European framework agreement from 2002 ➢ Country specific regulations / government decrees • Few countries had already passed a law on telework before the pandemic • Many countries have passed laws and/or government decrees during the pandemic
Introduction of telework Overview at country specific regulations Countries with general legislation on Countries with teleworking legislation / Countries currently without teleworking teleworking government decrees due to Covid-19 legislation • Albania • Bulgaria • Austria • Bosnia and Herzegovina • Greece • Cyprus • Croatia • Hungary • Germany • Greece • Italy • Switzerland • Luxembourg • Moldova • North Macedonia • North Macedonia • Poland • Romania • Portugal • Serbia • Slovenia • Spain • Ukraine
Introduction of telework b. Introduction with or without the consent of the employer/employee • In many countries telework cannot be introduced unilaterally Some governments have granted a right to telework for employees in need of o special protection ➢ E.g. employees with severe disabilities or employees caring for a disabled person in their household (Italy) Other governments give employers the right to introduce telework unilaterally o ➢ E.g. as obligation to provide health and safety at work (Slovenia)
Introduction of telework Introduction with or without the consent of the employer/employee Unilateral introduction by employers (in Right to telework for employees (in special Neither of the two regulations special cases) cases) • Bosnia and Herzegovina • Austria • Albania • Bulgaria • Italy • Croatia • Greece • North Macedonia • Cyprus Hungary Portugal Germany • • • • Moldova • Serbia (for all employees) • Luxembourg • Slovenia • Poland • Spain (since 13 october) • Romania • Switzerland • Ukraine
Introduction of telework c. Addendum agreement between employee and employer • In most countries employers and employees should agree on a supplementary agreement Often, there is no written regulation o ➢ Risk of later disagreements; e.g. if telework is to be terminated against the employee's will ➢ Written agreement recommended
Time limit for teleworking • Employers should limit the duration of telework or reserve the right to call the employees back to the office Employers must consider, that in countries as Germany e.g., the termination o of telework does not violate the limit of reasonable discretion In other countries such as Greece or Poland, a trial period of 3 months is o provided for, during which both parties can terminate the agreement without justification • If employers or employees were able to unilaterally order telework due to the pandemic, telework will regularly end in the respective countries when the state of emergency ends (Ukraine)
Teleworking equipment • In most countries the employer is obliged to equip the employee's teleworking workplace – furniture and electronics • He is usually also obliged to cover the expenses, such as electricity, heating or telecommunication o The employer is well advised to agree on a flat rate for these costs with the employee, to keep the administration efficient and cost-effective • In return the employee must take care of the equipment
Monitoring of teleworking employees • Monitoring teleworkers is problematic • For all members of the European Union applies the General data protection regulation ➢ The use of keyloggers or camera monitoring is prohibited, since continuous and systematic monitoring of employees can hardly be justified because it opposes the respect to human dignity and private life of employees ➢ To monitor the work performance, it is advisable to request reports from the employees at regular intervals on the progress of the work
Employees’ representatives and public authorities
Content Employees’ representatives and public authorities iii. Involvement of workers’ representatives 1. Extent: negotiation (co-determination?), information, none … a. 2. Formal obligations with the labor authority b. Registration of telework agreements at the Labor Authority c. Sanction in case that the Company does not inform the Labor Authority 3. Collective rights of remote workers
Involvement of workers’ representatives Overview at country specific regulations Countries where the involvement of legal representatives is not Countries where legal representatives are involved by law compulsory or is very limited Austria (“Company Agreements”) • • Bosnia and Herzegovina • Croatia (information every 3 months) • Bulgaria (very limited participation) Germany (right of “codetermination”) • • Cyprus (though it is advisable) • Hungary (consultation; non-binding) • Greece (unless provided by a CBA or collective agreement) • Luxembourg (information and consultation) • Italy (but common practice to sign collective agreements) • Moldova (general obligation) • North Macedonia (indirect influence by CBA) • Poland • Portugal Slovenia Romania • • • Spain (through collective agreement) • Serbia • Switzerland (partially) • Ukraine
Involvement of trade union representation in telework Extent: negotiation (co-determination?), information, none … a. While in countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina the role of the workers’ representatives on this is minimal or almost non- • existing as there is no legal obligation to involve such representatives in any case, in Germany the employer must involve the works council before introducing telework. The works council even has a right of co-determination on several questions (safety, monitoring … ) and they can take legal actions for injunction. In Poland, the employer must reach an agreement with the union in order to introduce telework). In many countries (Spain, Italy, Greece, North Macedonia … ) the participation from the workers/unions comes from the • Collective Bargaining Agreements and/or other collective agreements. And in some other countries (Cyprus … ) their involvement is advisable. •
Formal obligations with the labor authority Overview at country specific regulations The company must inform the Labor The Company must inform the Labor No obligation towards the Labor Authority in Authority about the formalization of Authority and register all telework relation to telework agreements teleworking agreements agreements Greece (ERGANI … ) • • Bosnia and Herzegovina • Austria • Italy • North Macedonia • Bulgaria • Luxembourg (copy to works council) • Romania (general register employees) • Croatia • Poland? • Serbia (registration before the Social • Cyprus • Slovenia (prior notice to Labor Security fund) • Germany (!) Inspectorate) Spain Hungary • • • Moldova • Portugal • Switzerland • Ukraine
Formal obligations with the labor authority b. Registration of telework agreements at the Labor Authority • Registration of telework agreements with the Labor Authority will be compulsory in countries such as Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Romania. • On the other hand, in North Macedonia it will be mandatory for the Company, once the employment contract with a teleworking agreement has been signed, to present it to the Labor Inspectorate within 3 days from the introduction (or termination) date. c. Sanction in case that the Company does not inform about the telework situation to the Labor Authority • For companies located in Italy, Slovenia or North Macedonia they should be aware that, in case of failure to inform the labor authority about telework agreements, they may be sanctioned with monetary fines.
Collective rights of remote workers a. Collective representation for teleworkers In Spain, teleworkers will have the same representation rights in order to have a workers’ council as the ordinary workers, • exercising their rights of collective representation provided for in the Worker’s Statute. The same happens in Portugal (article 171 of Portuguese Labor Code). • In this sense, and in order to exercise their collective rights, the regulations established in Spain indicate that it will be mandatory to implement a virtual forum/notice board for the legal representatives of employees in order to carry out their activity Also, the Workers’ Council has a right of co-determination in aspects like health and safety, distribution of the working time, • etc. in countries like Germany. Serious consequences of a potential breach: injunction …
Health, Safety & Data Protection Liability
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