Collective agreement on telework signed at Deutsche Telekom

In October 1998, the German postal workers' union, DPG, and the telecommunications companies, Deutsche Telekom and T-Mobil, signed a comprehensive collective agreement on telework. The agreement regulates general preconditions for telework, terms and conditions of employment, monitoring of performance and behaviour as well as trade union rights.

A first collective agreement on telework was concluded by Deutsche Telekom AG and the postal workers' union, Deutsche Postgewerkschaft (DPG) on 10 October 1995. The company "agreement on accompanying the testing of alternating telework at Deutsche Telekom AG" (Tarifvertrag zur Begleitung der Erprobung von alternierender Teleheimarbeit bei der Deutschen Telekom AG) aimed to combine increasing employee self-determination regarding working time and working location with the necessary protection.

On 8 October 1998, DPG signed a new, comprehensive collective agreement on telework with Deutsche Telekom and its subsidiary, T-Mobil, which will run from 1 January 1999 to 31 December 2000. The most important provisions of the agreement are as follows:

• mechanical monitoring of performance and behaviour of work is permitted only if explicitly agreed between employer and works council;

• collectively agreed regulations may not be amended by lower-level agreements - eg at company level;

• during the lifetime of the agreement, the signatories will continue talks on the experiences and problems associated with telework; and

• as compensation for the limited opportunities for teleworkers to use trade union services within the company, DPG is given the possibility to provide information autonomously and independently on the Deutsche Telekom/T-Mobil Intranet. DPG may also contact teleworkers by e-mail. The content of such e-mail is restricted to the provision of electronic services and giving the relevant address. In the event of industrial conflict in the company, these provisions are suspended.

The agreement also contains two appendices, listing specific provisions for alternating telework (Alternierende Telearbeit), where employees still have access to the company office as well as working at home, and mobile telework (Mobile Telearbeit), which covers field staff, consultants or managerial staff who have access to mobile telecommunications and may work at construction sites, hotels or on the client's premises.

The most important provisions regarding alternating telework are that:

• the teleworker retains employee status (abhängig Beschäftigte/r);

• participation in telework is voluntary

• the telework workplace may be checked by the project manager, who may be accompanied by representatives of the works council. Project manager and works council are to be granted access to the telework workplace;

• teleworkers are subject to the working time provisions of the collective agreement or of their individual employment contract. The division between telework at home and work in the office is to be agreed in writing. Any overtime must be planned by the employer in advance. Teleworkers have to record their own working time. Alternatively, working time may be recorded electronically, if such a system is agreed by social partners at company level;

• the employer will provides for a workstation in the company, where the teleworking employee may perform his or her duties. The employee is not entitled to a personal workstation;

• the employer provides and maintains the necessary equipment for teleworking, which may not be used for private purposes. In special cases, the employee may provide the equipment; and

• travel expenses between home and office are not borne by the employer.

DPG estimates that at Deutsche Telekom/T-Mobil there will be approximately 3,000 teleworkers by the year 2000. In the longer run, 70,000 jobs at the two companies could be transformed into teleworking jobs.