OGB-L demands talks on teleworking

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In February 2000, Luxembourg's OGB-L trade union confederation asked the Ministry of Labour to call a meeting to initiate the tripartite discussions, promised in the government's programme, designed to examine teleworking and other new forms of work, with a view to subsequent legislation.

The policy statement of the new government that came to power in Luxembourg in August 1999 reaffirmed the existing broad principles governing employment policy and labour law, and stressed the maintenance of the existing body of employment law and rights (LU9909111N). At the same time, the government stated that new forms of working, such as teleworking and homeworking, will be encouraged in order to achieve a better reconciliation between working and family life.

Before embarking on regulation of these new forms of work, the government is committed to analysing the extent to which they are being used and their practical operation, so as to identify not only current shortcomings and difficulties experienced in applying them, but also any associated requirements. A statutory framework setting out the minimum conditions to be complied with by employers and employees should then be drawn up: employment legislation will, in certain circumstances, seek to both identify and prevent the precariousness associated with these new forms of work. Working time flexibility and a definition of the reference periods over which working hours may be averaged out will need to be defined through collective bargaining.

Considering that the above issues should be addressed in discussions involving the government, employers and nationally representative trade unions, the Luxembourg Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (Onofhängege Gewerkschafts-Bond Lëtzebuerg, OGB-L) wrote to the Minister of Labour and Employment on 10 February 2000, calling for a meeting to deal with these matters.