The Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for Telecommunications

Summary of the initiative

Name
The Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for Telecommunications
Objective(s)
Commission consultation (second phase): "The Commission considers it necessary to lay down guidelines, which should be the subject of a Community instrument, formalising the practice of telework without hindering its development".<BR>The intention of the social partners' agreement is to define a general framework for the use of telework in such a way as to meet the needs of employers and workers. The agreement identifies the key areas requiring adaptation or particular attention when people work away from the employer's premises, for instance data protection, privacy, health and safety, organisation of work, training, etc. <BR>Three main objectives of the social partners' agreement: <BR>- improve the quality of telework;<BR>- provide teleworkers with the necessary protection;<BR>- promote voluntary telework.

Description of the Initiative

    Sector

    Sector

    Contact Point - Commission
    DG EMPL F.1

    Self/Co-Regulation Basic Act

    LEGISLATIVE ACT
    Year
    2007
    Title of Act
    Articles 154 and 155 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
    PRIVATE ACT
    Year
    2002
    Title of Act
    Framework agreement on telework
    Review, Revision or Sunset Clause Year
    2006

    Geographical Coverage

    Global coverage
    Participating Countries
    Austria

    Description

    Problems that lead to the introduction of Self/Co-Regulation and the adoption of the Founding Act
    The dissemination of information technology, accelerated by the growth of the Internet, has led to the expansion of telework as a new type of work organisation, which cannot be ignored. Its development should not adversely affect worker protection. Social partners have therefore agreed to lay the foundation for the further expansion of telework in a harmonious way that is beneficial for enterprises and workers alike.
    Target Group(s)
    Social partners in the Member States.
    Type of Instrument(s)
    <P>Autonomous agreement (see COM(2004) 557)<BR>(EU social dialogue text) <A href="http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/dsw/dspMain.do?lang=en">http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/dsw/dspMain.do?lang=en</A></P>
    <P><BR>The EU social partners pursued an autonomous dialogue following the process of social dialogue but resulting in &#39;new generation agreements or autonomous agreements&#39;. These are not transposed into legal acts and therefore do not fall in the remit of traditional social dialogue. Autonomous agreements or new generation agreements are implemented by the procedures and practices specific to management, labour and the Member States. </P>
    Level(s) at which private rules should be defined and applied
    Type of Monitoring
    Conduct an initial survey of compliance capacity of future regulateesConduct regular visits and spot checksInitiate complaints proceduresMaintain database of those bounded by the normsProduce regular reportsReceive complaints and verify if norms were breached or notReflexive dialogue with the - stakeholdersOther
    European Commissionyesyes
    National public authorityyes
    International public authority
    Private regulator (code owner)yesyes
    Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors)
    Self-appointed private parties (e.g. NGOs)
    Succinct description of the type of Monitoring
    -
    Type of Enforcement
    Faming, shaming and blamingJudicial sanctionsMembership suspension/exclusionPrivate finesOther
    Private Regulatoryes
    Private independent party with a mandate (e.g. auditors)
    Court system
    Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) / Online dispute resolution (ODR)
    Succinct description of the type of Enforcement
    -

    Results of Commission Monitoring

    Year of last Monitoring Results
    2006
    Scoring
    Link / Reference of Evaluation
    http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/social_dialogue/docs/telework_report_en.pdf

    Downloads

    SMO self- and co-regulation database - private code 107