Telework in the European Union
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Annex: Forms of implementation of European Framework Agreement on Telework
A) Implementation of telework agreement by law
B) Implementation of telework agreement by national level collective agreement
C) Implementation of telework agreement by sectoral level collective agreement
D) Implementation of telework agreement by company level collective agreement
E) Implementation of telework agreement by guidelines, recommendations or joint declarations
F) No implementation of the telework agreement
| Forms of implementation of telework agreement | Comments on implementation procedure | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A) | B) | C) | D) | E) | F) | ||
| AT | X | (X unilateral) | The 2002 European Framework Agreement on Telework has been implemented through sectoral and industry-level collective agreements. As a result, 80% of private sector employees are covered by collectively agreed provisions on telework. In the public sector, amendments to the Act on Service Regulations stipulate that public servants may – under certain circumstances – perform (part of) their work as teleworkers. Peak-level talks between the social partners concerning the full implementation of the European Framework Agreement through amendment of the Labour Constitution Act failed in 2005. The main employer organisations presented implementation guidelines to help companies not covered by a collective agreement to implement the Framework Agreement on Telework. | ||||
| BE | X extended | The collective agreement of 9 November 2005 – signed according to national practice in the framework of the National Labour Council (Conseil National du Travail/Nationale Arbeidsraad, CNT/NAR) – establishes a framework for telework, which implements the EU-level agreement. The national agreement became compulsory through a Royal Decree of 13 June 2006. In November 2006, these regulations were extended to civil servants. | |||||
| BG | X | No specific rules on telework have been enacted. Teleworkers are protected to the same level as other employees. No differential treatment is given to full-time employees. | |||||
| CY | X | There has been no implementation of the European Framework Agreement on Telework. | |||||
| CZ | X | The revised labour code (Act No. 262/2006 Coll., paragraph 317, points a–c) widened the definition of the employment relationship, to also include employees who perform work away from their employer’s premises. However, the labour code does not mention the use of IT. No differential treatment applies to teleworkers’ rights and protection, with the exception of limitations on overtime pay and wage compensation for public holidays, or interruptions caused by adverse weather conditions and personal obstacles. | |||||
| DE | X | X | Telework is usually regulated through company agreements, with the first agreement at Telekom dating back to 1995. The role of the national social partner organisations is limited in terms of labour regulation and, therefore, they have only been involved in the provision of information. At sectoral level, social partners in the chemical industry provided recommendations for the implementation of telework at company level. | ||||
| DK | X | X | The EU Framework Agreement has been implemented through collective agreements at sectoral as well as intersectoral level. However, affiliates of the social partner organisations at branch and local level did not always succeed in transposing the provisions of the higher-level agreements on telework. The implementation process has been most comprehensive in the public sector. | ||||
| EE | X | Telework is neither regulated by collective agreements nor by law. Teleworkers are subject to the same provisions as workers at the employer’s premises. | |||||
| EL | X | The provisions of the European Framework Agreement have been included in the National General Collective Labour Agreement (EGSSE) for 2006–2007 and are therefore binding for all employers and employees. It remains unclear, however, to which extent the EGSSE provisions address the particularities of telework in each branch of the economy. Supplementary regulation by collective or individual agreements may be required. | |||||
| ES | X | X | X | Telework is regulated at national, sectoral and company level. Since 2003, the Intersectoral Agreement on Collective Bargaining has included the provisions of the European Framework Agreement. At sectoral level, two national agreements for the chemical industry and the daily press take account of telework provisions. Further to a regional agreement in Catalonia (2002), company agreements at Siemens Nixdorf Spain (1997), BP Oil Spain (2002), DHL International (2003) and Telefónica (2005) stand out. In the public sector, a Royal Decree caters for the wide usage of telework in state administration. | |||
| FI | X voluntary agreement | The EU provisions on telework have been implemented through a voluntary agreement at national level. On 23 May 2005, all national trade union confederations and employer organisations signed a voluntary agreement that acknowledged the principles of the 2002 EU agreement. | |||||
| FR | X extended | The 2005 national cross-sectoral agreement incorporates the provisions of the European Framework Agreement. The agreement, which was signed by the main employer organisations and trade unions, was extended to all employers and employees in line with the usual extension procedure by 30 May 2006. | |||||
| HU | X | In 2004, national legislation implemented the 2002 European Framework Agreement into the labour code. While the legislative procedure was inspired by the EU-level agreement, the principles of the reversibility of telework and its voluntary character have not been fully transposed into Hungarian law. | |||||
| IE | X | No legislation or collective agreements dealing with the 2002 European Framework Agreement exist to date. However, under Ireland’s Sustaining Progress national social partnership agreement (2003–2005), signed by the government and the social partners, there is a commitment to implement the European Framework Agreement on Telework. In 2004, a former code of practice from 2000 was revised by the social partners, namely the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and the Irish Business and Employers’ Confederation (IBEC). This new code of practice takes account of the EU agreement. A number of trade unions – including the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) and the Manufacturing, Science, Finance Union (MSF) – also provide a set of guidelines for dealing with the issue of telework at company level. | |||||
| IT | X | X | In the private sector, the National Interconfederal Agreement, signed in 2004 by 21 employer organisations and three main trade union confederations, sets minimum standards for further bargaining on the telework issue at lower levels. A number of industry-level agreements regulate the transposition of the EU agreement on telework. In the public sector, telework was initially introduced by the public administration Law 191 of 1998. A collective agreement in 1999 laid down the basic principles for the introduction of telework in public administration. A 2007 agreement between the main trade unions and the government provides for several measures to modernise the public sector – this includes measures to increase the number of teleworkers in Italy. | ||||
| LT | X | There has been no implementation of the European Framework Agreement. Decree No. 1043 and the revised labour code that came into effect on 1 January 2003 provide for regulations on homeworking, which may also apply to teleworkers and therefore ensure equal treatment (Labour Code Articles 108 and 115). However, a number of provisions of the EU-level agreement are not addressed in the legislation, including the use of ICT in particular. | |||||
| LU | X extended | The principles of the European Framework Agreement have been transposed through collective agreement. On 21 February 2006, the social partners signed a collective agreement regulating telework that was extended to all employees by the Grand-Ducal Decree of 13 October 2006. | |||||
| LV | X | The European Framework Agreement was implemented through a tripartite agreement on 12 April 2006. The document comprises non-binding guidelines and information on the introduction of telework. | |||||
| MT | X | There has been no implementation of the European Framework Agreement provisions. | |||||
| NL | (X) | X | In 2003, the bipartite Foundation of Labour drafted a recommendation on telework, incorporating the 2002 European Framework Agreement. The recommendation explains the principles of the EU agreement and thereby prepares for decentralised bargaining at sectoral and workplace level. Several sectoral-level agreements take account of telework regulations, including the agreements for insurance, youth healthcare, childcare and welfare. | ||||
| PL | X | X | To implement the 2002 European Framework Agreement, a collective agreement on telework was concluded by the representative social partners in June 2005, within the Social Dialogue Roundtable for European Integration. This national agreement laid the foundations for the inclusion of a new chapter in the Polish labour code on ‘Employment in the form of telework’. The legal stipulations of this are in line with the EU-level agreement. | ||||
| PT | X | The implementation of the European Framework Agreement took place through an amendment of the labour code. The new legislation, which came into force in December 2003, addresses the main principles of the EU agreement. | |||||
| RO | X | There has been no implementation of the agreement so far. The general equal treatment clause applies to all employees. | |||||
| SE | (X) | X | In 2003, the social partners signed the agreement on common guidelines on the national implementation of the European Framework Agreement on Telework. It is up to the social partners at sectoral level to implement the guidelines into collective agreements. This has occurred, to a certain extent, in the public sector and in some branches of the private sector. | ||||
| SI | X | With the amendment of the labour code in 2007, the government considers the telework agreement to be implemented. The changes to Articles 67–71 of the labour code define telework as a subcategory of homeworking and provide for equal treatment of teleworkers regarding their rights and protection. | |||||
| SK | X | Since September 2007, telework has been regulated through the country’s amended labour code. The legislation generally provides the same rights for teleworkers as for other employees, as set out in the EU-level agreement. | |||||
| UK | X | In August 2003, the social partners and the Department of Industry and Trade (now the BIS) published a joint telework guidance, which follows the structure of the European Framework Agreement. The publication of the guidance, which is targeted at the implementation of telework at workplace level, has been accompanied by information campaigns by both the trade unions and employer organisations. | |||||
Notes: Table shows forms of implementation as at May 2009
X = Primary form of implementation
(X) = Secondary form of implementation
Christian Welz and Felix Wolf, Eurofound
EF/09/96/EN
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Page last updated: 04 January, 2010