Teleworking in Europe Webinar Thursday November 19th, 2020 4.00 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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 teleworking Countries with teleworking legislation / government decrees due to Covid-19 Countries currently without teleworking legislation

• Albania
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Croatia
• Greece
• Luxembourg
• North Macedonia
• Poland
• Portugal
• Slovenia
• Bulgaria
• Greece
• Hungary
• Italy
• Moldova
• North Macedonia
• Romania
• Serbia
• Spain
• Ukraine
• Austria
• Cyprus
• Germany
• Switzerland

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

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

➢ 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 special cases) Right to telework for employees (in special cases) Neither of the two regulations

• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Bulgaria
• Greece
• Hungary
• Moldova
• Slovenia
• Spain (since 13 october)
• Switzerland
• Ukraine
• Austria
• Italy
• North Macedonia
• Portugal
• Serbia (for all employees)
• Albania
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Germany
• Luxembourg
• Poland
• Romania

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

➢ 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
• f telework does not violate the limit of reasonable discretion
• In other countries such as Greece or Poland, a trial period of 3 months is

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

• 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

• f

keyloggers

• r

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

iii. Employees’ representatives and public authorities 1. Involvement of workers’ representatives a. Extent: negotiation (co-determination?), information, none… 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 legal representatives are involved by law Countries where the involvement of legal representatives is not compulsory or is very limited

• Austria (“Company Agreements”)
• Croatia (information every 3 months)
• Germany (right of “codetermination”)
• Hungary (consultation; non-binding)
• Luxembourg (information and consultation)
• Moldova (general obligation)
• Poland
• Slovenia
• Spain (through collective agreement)
• Switzerland (partially)
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Bulgaria (very limited participation)
• Cyprus (though it is advisable)
• Greece (unless provided by a CBA or collective agreement)
• Italy (but common practice to sign collective agreements)
• North Macedonia (indirect influence by CBA)
• Portugal
• Romania
• Serbia
• Ukraine

Involvement of trade union representation in telework

a. Extent: negotiation (co-determination?), information, none…

• 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 Authority about the formalization of teleworking agreements The Company must inform the Labor Authority and register all telework agreements No obligation towards the Labor Authority in relation to telework agreements

• Greece (ERGANI…)
• Italy
• Luxembourg (copy to works council)
• Poland?
• Slovenia

(prior notice to Labor Inspectorate)

• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• North Macedonia
• Romania (general register employees)
• Serbia (registration before the Social

Security fund)

• Spain
• Austria
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Germany (!)
• 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

Health, Safety & Data Protection

Employer’s responsibility for heath & safety measures at the teleworker’s workplace.

• informing the personnel on regulations to be observed
• taking the appropriate measures
• employee participation may be required

Provisions of labor law regarding working time and breaks apply accordingly. Employer’s responsibility to record working time.

• type of documentation to be potentially agreed between the parties

No access can be gained to the teleworker’s residency without the latter’s consent.

• employer’s liability in case on non - compliance by the employee to health and safety measures
• inspection of the employee’s workspace at home

01 02 03 04

Health, Safety & Data Protection

▪ Employer’s responsibility for the protection of data processed by the teleworker. ▪ Employer’s responsibility for the protection of employees’ data and privacy.

Liability

• Accidents at the employees’ premises perceived as occupational accidents.
• employer’s liability
• same legal consequences with any occupational accident at the workplace
• Reimbursement of the employee by the state.
• Company accident insurance provides compensation.
• No obligation for supplementary insurance regarding telework.
• employers may conclude insurance agreements to cover any such work-related accident claims
• Liability of the employer for employees’ or third parties’ property damage.
• the extent of the liability is determined upon evaluating the specifics of each case e.g. joint liability for employer & employee
• employer potentially entitled to reimbursement from the employee
• The company liability insurance probably does not cover damages caused by third persons.
• third party fully liable
• the extent of the insurance coverage to be clarified with the insurance company

Cord Vernunft Germany cord.vernunft@de.Andersen.com Pablo Santos Spain pablo.santos@es.Andersen.com Anastasios Triantafyllos Greece anastasios.triantafyllos@gr.Andersen Legal.com Alfredo Aspra Employment Service Line Coordinator Spain alfredo.aspra@es.Andersen.com