The Regulation of Remote Work. Seeking Balance Through the Articulation of Labour Law Sources: A Comparative Appraisal

[en] The Covid-19 pandemic contributed to an unprecedented expansion of remote work across European countries, transforming what was once a marginal form of work into a new ‘normal’, particularly in its hybrid form. While bringing advantages for both employers and workers, remote work is also associated with some negative impacts on workers’ rights and well-being, including isolation, overtime, stress and difficulties to socialize and organize collectively. This paper explores post-pandemic changes in the regulation of telework in selected European Union (EU) Member States, in an attempt to identify common trends and obstacles in coping with the challenges outlined above. The analysis, attentive to the articulation of different legal sources and regulatory levels, focuses on four areas that are particularly relevant for the regulation of working from home: health and safety; working time; the right to disconnect; and privacy. The five jurisdictions examined – Italy, Spain, France, Luxembourg and Sweden – are representative of different models in the regulation of remote work within the EU. The paper argues that the current regulation of remote work arising from different legal sources and regulatory levels, while offering flexibility to adapt to its specificities, falls short of ensuring a coherent and comprehensive legal framework. This leaves unaddressed some of the challenges raised by the extensive recourse to remote work, giving rise to the need for a more targeted and holistic approach in regulation at different levels.

Disciplines :

European & international law

Author, co-author :

RATTI, Luca ; University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance (FDEF) > Department of Law (DL)

GARCIA MUNOZ ALHAMBRA, Manuel Antonio ; University Castilla-La Mancha

External co-authors :

yes

Language :

English

Title :

The Regulation of Remote Work. Seeking Balance Through the Articulation of Labour Law Sources: A Comparative Appraisal

Publication date :

2024

Journal title :

International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations

ISSN :

0952-617X

eISSN :

1875-838X

Publisher :

Wolters Kluwer, Dordrecht, Netherlands

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Available on ORBilu :

since 11 September 2024

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Bibliography

1 This paper is one of the outcomes of the ‘Wellbeing at Work (W@W)’ Project, an interdisciplinary project funded by the Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS) of the University of Luxembourg. The Project seeks to explore from a labour law and psychological perspectives an ongoing radical change in the working paradigm, namely, the disappearance of the workplace in its original features. We are grateful to professor Claus Vögele and professor Anna Kornadt for their cooperation on the W@W Project. We would like to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on an earlier draft.
2 The Future of Remote Work 14 (Nicola Countouris et al. ed., ETUI 2023).
3 The term ‘telework’ is the most commonly used in the EU to refer to digitally mediated work outside the employer’s premises. In other areas and jurisdictions, terms such as ‘working from home’, or ‘home-based work’, are used instead.
4 Telework. Online training series. International and EU Labour Standards. Background Paper (ILO 2020).
5 EU Framework Agreement on Telework signed by UNICE/UEAPME, CEEP and ETUC (Jul. 2002).
6 Jon C. Messenger, Some Reflections on the Experience of Telework During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Paradigm Shift and Its Implication for the World of Work 19 (Countouris 2023, supra n. 2).
7 Although some platform workers will be considered employees in some jurisdictions, we do not address the peculiarities of this category of workers.
8 Telework occupied approximately 5% of the European workforce back in 2019, whereas in Jul. 2020 around 48% of European workers were teleworking. Oscar Vargas Llave, John Hurley, Eleonora Peruffo, Ricardo Rodríguez Contreras, Dragos Adascalitei, Laura Botey Gaude, Elisa Staffa & Carlos Vacas Soriano,The Rise in Telework: Impact on Working Conditions and Regulations 7 (Eurofound, Publications Office of the European Union 2022).
9 Claire Kilpatrick, The Roaring 20s for Social Europe. The European Pillar of Social Rights and Burgeoning EU Legislation, 29(2) Transfer ETUI 12 (2023), doi: 10.1177/10242589231169664; Mehtap Akgüc, Béla Galgóczi & Pamela Meil, Remote Work and the Green Transition 45–60 (Countouris, supra n. 2); Silvia Rainone Digital and remote work: pushing EU labour law beyond its limits 163–185 (Countouris, supra n. 2).
10 See Telework in the EU: Regulatory Frameworks and Recent Updates (Eurofound, Publications Office of the European Union 2022). On problems related to the blurring boundaries between working time and rest time in a telework context see Tamy Katsabian, It’s the End of Working Time as We Know It: New Challenges to the Concept of Working Time in the Digital Reality, 65(3) McGill L.J. 379–419 (2020), doi: 10.7202/1075597ar; Working Anytime, Anywhere: The Effects on the World of Work (Eurofound and ILO, Publications Offices of the European Union and ILO 2017). For a comprehensive review of findings see Chrisalena Athanasiadou & Georgios Theriou, Telework: Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agenda, 7(10) Heylion (2021), doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e08165.
11 Manuel Samek Lodovici et al., The Impact of Teleworking and Digital Work on Workers and Society (Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies, European Parliament 2021).
12 Santo Milasi et al., Telework Before the Covid-19 Pandemic: Trends and Drivers of Differences Across the EU (OECD productivity working papers n. 21 2021); Lutz Gschwind & Oscar Vargas Llave, Telework and Its Effects in Europe 36–75 (Telework in the twentyfirst century Jon C. Messenger ed. Edward Elgar Publishing 2019).
13 The Future of Telework and Hybrid Work 9 (Eurofound, Publications Office of the European Union 2023).
14 Elisabetta Risi & Riccardo Pronzato, Smart Working Is not so Smart: Always-on Lives and the Dark Side of Platformisation, 15(1) Work Organisation Lab. & Globalisation 107–125 (2021), doi: 10.13169/workorgalaboglob.15.1.0107; Rainone, supra n. 9.
15 Countouris, supra n. 2.
16 New regulations on telework have been adopted since 2020 in Luxembourg, Slovakia, Austria, Romania, Latvia, Greece, Spain, Ireland and Portugal.
17 European Parliament, European Parliament Resolution of 21 January 2021 With Recommendations to the Commission on the Right to Disconnect (2019/2181(INL)).
18 Commissioner Schmi’s speech at the Conference on the Right to Disconnect and Telework, 15 Mar. 2022 (Brussels), https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_22_1773 (accessed 19 Jul. 2024).
19 The social partners’ work programme 2022–2024 is available here. However, in Nov. 2023 the trade unions announced the failure of the negotiations, calling for legislative action. See ETUC press release of 27 Nov. 2023, https://www.etuc.org/en/pressrelease/telework-legislative-action-needed-eu-commission (accessed 19 Jul. 2024).
20 Council Directive 89/654/EEC of 30 Nov. 1989 concerning the minimum safety and health requirements for the workplace OJ L 393, 30 Dec. 1989.
21 Council Directive 90/270/EEC of 29 May 1990 on the minimum safety and health requirements for work with display screen equipment OJ L 156, 21 Jun. 1990.
22 European Commission, EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2021-2027. Occupational Safety and Health in a Changing World of Work COM (2021) 323 final.
23 Directive (EU) 2019/1152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 Jun. 2019 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union OJ L 186, 11 Jul. 2019.
24 European Parliament, Council and European Commission joint Declaration on Digital Rights and Principles for the Digital Decade, signed on 15 Dec. 2022, https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/european-declaration-digital-rights-and-principles.
25 Framework Agreement on the application of Art. 16 (1) of Regulation (EC) No. 883/2004 in cases of habitual cross-border telework, https://socialsecurity.belgium.be/en/internationally-active/cross-border-telework-eu-eea-and-switzerland.
26 On the implementation of this agreement Nuria Ramos Martín & Jelle Visser, A More Autonomous European Social Dialogue: The Implementation of the Framework Agreement on Telework 24(4) IJCLL & IR 511–548, doi: 10.54648/IJCL2008027; Commission staff working paper – Report on the implementation of the European social partners’ Framework Agreement on Telework, SEC (2008) 2178.
27 European Commission, ‘First-phase consultation of social partners under Art. 154 TFEU on possible EU action in the area of telework and workers’ right to disconnect. Brussels, 30 Apr. 2024. C(2024) 2990 final.
28 Eurofound, supra n. 8.
29 As stated in their work programme 2022–2024, the social partners initiated negotiations to update the 2002 framework agreement on telework in 2022. However, after more than one year of negotiations, ETUC informed in Nov. 2023 that no agreement was possible, asking instead for a legislative intervention by the European Commission on the matter. At last, in Apr. 2024 the Commission decided to launch a fresh round of consultations pursuant to Art. 154 TFEU: EU Commission, Firstphase consultation of social partners under Art. 154 TFEU on possible EU action in the area of telework and workers’ right to disconnect (C (2024) 2990 final).
30 Thomas Prosser, The Implementation of the Telework and Work-Related Stress Agreements: European Social Dialogue Through ‘Soft’ Law? 17(3) Eur. J. Indus. Rel. 245 (2011), doi: 10.1177/0959680111410964.
31 Tamás Gyulavári & Emanuele Menegatti, Introduction: Recent Trends in the Hierarchy of Labour Law Sources, in The Sources of Labour Law 7–8 (Tamás Gyulavári & Emanuele Menegatti ed., Wolters Kluwer 2019).
32 Eurofound, supra n. 8, at 8–9.
33 Ibid., at 46.
34 Article L. 2254-1, Code du Travail.
35 Accord national interprofessionnel du 26 novembre 2020 pour une mise en oeuvre réussie du télétravail, https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/conv_coll/id/KALITEXT000043562007/ (accessed 19 Jul. 2024).
36 Eurofound, supra n. 8, at 51.
37 Francisco Trillo Párraga, Derecho del Trabajo digital: trabajo a distancia y teletrabajo (Bomarzo 2023).
38 Law 10/2021, of 9 Jul. 2021, de trabajo a distancia.
39 Aspects such as the scheduling and the availability, the percentage of distribution of in-person work or the place of work chosen by the worker are individually determined based on the worker’s individual agreement, although the intervention capacities of the collective bargaining agreement remain important.
40 Protocollo nazionale sul lavoro in modalità agile (2021), https://www.lavoro.gov.it/notizie/Documents/PROTOCOLLO-NAZIONALE-LAVORO-AGILE-07122021-RV.pdf (accessed 19 Jul. 2024).
41 Règlement grand-ducal du 22 janvier 2021 portant déclaration d’obligation générale de la convention du 20 octobre 2020 relative au régime juridique du télétravail.
42 Convention du 20 octobre 2020 relative au régime juridique du télétravail.
43 Eurofound, supra n. 8, at 8.
44 In the case of France, statutory legislation is combined with cross-sectoral national collective agreements. In Luxembourg, statutory legislation incorporates into law the provisions of previously existing collective agreements.
45 Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 Jun. 1989 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work.
46 Section 3 of the Work Environment Act.
47 Article 3, para. 10, Law no. 81/08 and Art. 9 of the Convention du 20 Octobre 2020 relative au régime juridique du télétravail, respectively.
48 Articles 15 and 16 of Law 10/2021 and Arts 29 and 14 of Law 31/1995 (Law on the Prevention of Occupational Risks).
49 Articles L.1222-9 and L.1222-10 Labour Code.
50 Work Environment Authority Regulation 2000:1.
51 Article 16.1 Law 10/2021 de trabajo a distancia.
52 Article 3 Law 10/2021 de trabajo a distancia.
53 Article 3.4.1 Accord national interprofessionnel du 26 novembre 2020 relatif à la mise en oeuvre réussie du télétravail.
54 Article 3, para. 10, Legislative Decree no. 81/2008 and Arts 22 and 23, Law no. 81/2017.
55 Article 16.2 Law 10/2021 de trabajo a distancia.
56 Article 3.4.3 Accord national interprofessionnel du 26 novembre 2020 relatif à la mise en oeuvre réussie du télétravail.
57 Article 9 convention du 20 octobre 2020 relative au régime juridique du télétravail.
58 There is important CJEU case law in the field of working time that is of specific relevance for telework. For instance, the obligation of recording working time established in the case CCOO has crucial implications for telework. See Case C-55/18, CCOO, 14 May 2019, ECLI:EU:C:2019:402.
59 Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 Nov. 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organization of working time.
60 Vincezo Ferrante, Between Health and Salary: The Incomplete Regulation of Working Time in European Law, 10(4) Eur. Lab. L.J. 370 (2019), doi: 10.1177/2031952519886144.
61 Section 2 of the Working Time Act explicitly states that it does not apply to ‘work performed under such conditions that supervision of how the work is organised cannot be deemed to be the employer’s responsibility’. However, under the general principle of good practices governing the Swedish labour market, any company policy that leads to excessive time of connection from employees working on remote, would still be considered in breach of the law.
62 Article 17, para. 5, Legislative Decree no. 66/2003.
63 Article 18, para. 1, Law no. 81/2017.
64 Protocollo Nazionale, supra n. 40.
65 Article 7 Law 10/2021 de trabajo a distancia.
66 Articles 7 and 13 of Law 10/2021 de trabajo a distancia.
67 Article 14 Law 10/2021 in coordination with Art. 34.9 Workers’ Statute.
68 Article 14 Law 10/2021 de trabajo a distancia.
69 First Additional Provision Law 10/2021.
70 Article D. 3171-10 of the Labour Code.
71 Article D. 3121-64 of the Labour Code.
72 Article L. 1222-9, para. II, of the Labour Code.
73 Article 10 of the 2020 collective agreement on telework.
74 European Parliament resolution of 21 Jan. 2021 with recommendations to the Commission on the right to disconnect (2019/2181(INL)). European Law Institute (ELI), Guiding Principles on Implementing Workers’ Right to Disconnect (2023), https://europeanlawinstitute.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/p_eli/Publications/Guiding_Principles_Workers_Right_to_Disconnect.pdf.
75 EU Commission, First-phase consultation of social partners under Art. 154 TFEU on possible EU action in the area of telework and workers’ right to disconnect (C (2024) 2990 final).
76 Olga Chesalina, Exploring the Right to Disconnect in European Labour Law and in the Legislation of the Member States. Just a Matter of Working Time of Employees? 193 (Beata Woźniak-Jęchorek & Kamilla Marchewka-Bartkowiak eds, Routledge 2023).
77 For some authors, the right to disconnect in France is ‘soft law’, see Loïc Lerouge, The Right to Disconnect From the Workplace: Strengths and Weaknesses of the French Legal Framework 222–224 (Jo Carby-Hall & Lourdes Mella Méndez eds, Routledge 2022); Chantal Mathieu, Le droit à la déconnexion: une chimère ?, 10 Rev. Droit Trav. 592 (2016).
78 Cass. soc., 29 Jun. 2011, Bull. civ. V, No. 181.
79 Philippe Waquet, Le temps de repos, Droit Social, mars 228 (2000); Jean-Emmanuel Ray, Naissance et avis de décès du droit à la déconnexion, le droit à la vie privée du XXIe siècle, 11 Droit Soc. 940 (2002).
80 Céline Mordant, Droit à la déconnexion: ce que font (ou pas) les entreprises pour lutter contre l’invasion des mails professionnels, Le Monde 14 Mar. 2016, available at: https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2016/03/14/les-premiers-pas-des-drh-contre-l-invasion-du-mail-professionnel_4882136_3234.html (accessed 19 Jul. 2024).
81 ‘Orange’ agreement on supporting digital transformation, 27 Sep. 2016, Art. 3.2.2. See a short reference here.
82 Article 19 of Law No. 81/2017 provides that the individual agreement, in addition to defining the worker’s rest time, shall determine the technical and organizational measures necessary to ensure the worker’s disconnection from technological work equipment.
83 Article 2, para. 1-ter, Law Decree no. 30/2021, later transformed in Law no. 61/2021.
84 Protocollo nazionale, supra n. 40.
85 Article 18 Law 10/2021.
86 Trillo Pàrraga, supra n. 37.
87 Judgment of 2 May 2019 of the Court of Appeal, (N°45230 du role).
88 Loi du 28 juin 2023 portant modification du Code du travail en vue d’introduire un dispositif relatif au droit à la déconnexion, https://legilux.public.lu/eli/etat/leg/loi/2023/06/28/a344/jo.
89 Article L.312-9 Code du travail.
90 An overview of these issues in Tammy Katsabian, The Telework Virus: How Covid-19 Has Affected Telework and Exposed Its Implications for Privacy, 44(1) Berkeley J. Emp. & Lab. L. 141–190.
91 Samek Lodovici, supra n. 11, at 40; Employment Outlook 2022: Building Back More Inclusive Labour Markets 132 (OCDE 2022).
92 Article 6 of the European Framework Agreement on telework.
93 Prior consent has been criticized in the context of employment relations for a number of reasons: the power imbalance between employees and employers, that makes refusal by the employee highly problematic, or the fact that most individuals are not aware of the potential of modern technologies for data processing and the use companies can make of it. Employee Monitoring and Surveillance: The Challenges of Digitalization (Eurofound Research Report 2020).
94 Frank Hendrickx, Privacy @ Work: A Systemic Introduction 3–4 (Frank Hendrickx, David Mangan & Elena Gramano eds, Wolters Kluwer 2023).
95 Trillo Párraga, supra n. 37.
96 Article 6.1 Law on Data Protection.
97 Article 4, Statuto dei Lavoratori (Law no. 300/1970), as amended by Art. 23, Legislative Decree no. 151/2015.
98 Protocollo nazionale, supra n. 40.
99 French Cass. soc., 13 Jun. 2018, n° 16-25301.
100 On the importance of this principle for labour law when conceptualized as an emancipatory legal order that prioritizes worker’s protection see Vladimir Bogoeski, Nonwaivability of Labour Rights, Individual Waivers and the Emancipatory Function of Labour Law, 52(1) ILJ 179–213 (2023), doi: 10.1093/indlaw/dwac020; Guy Davidov, Non-waivability in Labour Law, 40 Oxford J. Legal Stud. 482 (2020), doi: 10.1093/ojls/gqaa016.
101 Edoardo Ales, Occupational Health and Safety: A Comparative Perspective 411–412 (Edoardo Ales ed., Wolters Kluwer 2013). See also about the idea of a managerial culture engaging with telework in a positive sense in Countouris, supra n. 2.
102 EU Commission C (2024) 2990 final.
103 Ibid., at 11–16.