TELEWORK NATIONAL STANDARD ORDER

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 452.104

TELEWORK NATIONAL STANDARD ORDER

28th November, 2008

LEGAL NOTICE 312 of 2008.

The title of this Order is the Telework National Standard

Order.

(1)

In this Order, unless the context otherwise requires -

"the Act" means the Employment and Industrial Relations Act;

"telework" means a form of organising and, or performing work,

using information technology, in the context of an employment

c o n t r a c t o r r e l a t i o n s h i p , w h e r e w o r k , w h i c h co u l d a l s o b e

performed at the employer’s premises, is carried out away from

those premises on a regular basis;

"teleworker" means any employee carrying out telework.

(2) Subject to the provisions of subarticle (1), terms and

expressions used in this national standard order shall, unless the

context otherwise requires, have the meaning assigned to them in

the Act.

(1) Telework may be required as a condition of

employment in an employment contract or, where there is no

specific reference to teleworking in the employment contract, by

agreement, in the course of the employment relationship.

(2) In the case where telework is required as a condition of

employment in an employment contract, the conditions of

employment relating to telework laid down in the contract of

employment shall not be less favourable than those laid down in

this Order.

(3) In the case where there is no specific reference to

teleworking in the employment contract and telework is undertaken

in the course of the employment relationship

(a) if the employer makes an offer of telework, the

employee is free to accept or refuse this offer

Provided that such refusal shall not constitute a good

and sufficient cause for terminating employment, nor

shall it lead to a change in the conditions of

employment of the employee concerned;

(b) if an employee expresses the wish to opt for telework,

the employer may accept or refuse such request;

(c) the passage to telework does not affect the employee’s

employment status nor his right to revert back to his

previous post or, in the event that this is not possible,

to another similar post; and

(d) where both parties agree to a telework arrangement,

each party shall have the right to terminate that

telework agreement and the employee shall revert to

his pre-telework post

(i)

in the first two months of the telework

arrangement, by giving three days’ notice in

writing to the other party, and

(ii) after the first two months, by giving two weeks’

notice in writing, unless a different period is

agreed in the written agreement on telework

Provided that if the decision to terminate the

agreement on telework is taken by the employee, that

decision shall not constitute a good and sufficient

cause for terminating employment, nor shall it lead to

a change in the conditions of employment of the

employee concerned.

(4) In the case of telework arrangements which are in existence

on the date of entry into force of this Order

(a) subarticle (2) shall apply to those contracts of

employment in existence on the date of the entry into

force of these regulations whereby telework is

required as a condition of employment in an

employment contract; and

(b) subarticle (3) shall apply to telework agreements

which have been entered into in the course of an

employment relationship where there is no reference

to teleworking in the employment contract.

(5) An agreement for the performance of telework shall,

whether required as a condition of employment in an employment

contract, or whether it is as an agreement where telework is

undertaken in the course of the employment relationship and there

is no reference to teleworking in the employment contract -

(a) be in writing, and

(b) contain written information as is required by the

Information to Employees Regulations, and written

information which is particular to telework, including

(i) the location where telework is to be carried out,

(ii) provisions related to the equipment used for

telework including its ownership, maintenance,

liability and costs,

(iii) the amount of working time to be spent at the

place of telework and at the workplace,

(iv) the schedule by which the employee will

perform telework, where applicable,

(v) the description of the work to be performed,

(vi) the department of the undertaking to which the

teleworker is attached, the teleworker’s

immediate superior or other persons to whom

the teleworker can report and reporting

arrangements,

(vii) provisions related to monitoring, if any,

(viii) notice of termination of telework agreement, and

(ix) in cases where telework is undertaken in the

course of the employment relationship and there

is no reference to teleworking in the

employment contract, a reference to the right of

reversibility by either party, including the right

of the teleworker to return to his pre-telework

post.

(1) Whenever there is a telework agreement, whether

required as a condition of employment in an employment contract

or, where there is no specific reference to teleworking in the

employment contract, when this is entered into by agreement in the

course of the employment relationship, teleworkers shall

(a) enjoy or continue to enjoy the same rights laid down in

the Act, in the regulations issued thereunder, in an

applicable individual agreement or in any applicable

collective agreement as comparable employees at the

employer’s premises; and

(b) have the same rights of access and rights to participate

in training and career development programmes

provided by or on behalf of the employer in the same

manner as comparable employees at the employer’s

premises and be subject to the same appraisal policies

as comparable employees.

(1) The employer shall respect the privacy of the

teleworker.

(2) The employer may only put in place any kind of monitoring

system if

(a) this is agreed to by both the employer and the

teleworker in the written agreement on telework as

provided in article 3(5); and

(b) such monitoring system is proportionate to the

objective and is introduced in accordance with Council

Directive 90/270 on the minimum safety and health

requirements for work with display screen equipment.

(1) Unless otherwise agreed upon by the employer and the

teleworker in the written agreement on telework, the employer is

responsible for providing, installing and maintaining the equipment

necessary for the performance of telework and for providing the

teleworker with an appropriate technical support facility.

(2) It shall be the duty of the teleworker to take good care of

the equipment and data provided by the employer and he shall not

collect or distribute illegal material via the internet.

(3) Costs for loss, damage to and misuse of equipment and data

used by the teleworker shall be borne by the employer or by the

teleworker in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code.

(4)

The employer shall compensate or cover the costs relating

to communication directly caused by telework.

(1) Without prejudice to what may be laid down in the

written agreement on telework, the teleworker shall be responsible

for the management of his working time.

(2) The workload and performance standards of the teleworker

shall be equivalent to those of the comparable employees working

at the employer’s premises.

(3) The employer shall take the measures necessary to prevent

the teleworker from being isolated from the rest of the workforce,

such as giving the teleworker the opportunity to meet with

colleagues and to have access to information related to his work.

(1) The employer shall take the appropriate measures,

particularly with regard to software, to ensure the protection of data

used and processed by the teleworker in the carrying out of his

duties.

(2) The employer must inform the teleworker of the provisions

of the Data Protection Act and of the measures taken pursuant to

subarticle (1), including any restrictions on the use of IT

equipment, internet or other IT tools and any sanction in case of

non-compliance.

(3) The teleworker shall abide by the provisions of the Data

Protection Act and by the measures taken by the employer in terms

of this regulation.

(1) The teleworker has the same collective rights as

comparable employees at the employer’s premises.

(2) The teleworker has the right to participate in, and to stand

for elections to bodies representing employees.

(3) The teleworker is to be included in the calculations for

determining thresholds for the purposes of worker representation,

for the purposes of information and consultation rights in terms of

article 38 of the Act, the Transfer of Business (Protection of

Employment) Regulations, and of the Employee (Information and

Consultation) Regulations, and for the purpose of determining a

collective redundancy in terms of article 37 of the Act and the

Collective Redundancies (Protection of Employment) Regulations.