CLA 149 Teleworking

The National Labour Council concluded the collective labour agreement (CLA) 149 on 26-1-2021 on recommended or mandatory telework due to Covid.

This CLA is suppletive, applying only to companies that do NOT have existing agreements on structural (CLA 85) or occasional (Law 5-3-2007) teleworking before 1-1-2021. This framework CLA provides in particular:

• the obligation to specify the modalities of application in a CLA, the work regulations, a policy or individual agreements;
• the obligation to determine the modalities for the provision of equipment and technical assistance, the coverage of costs related to the use of personal equipment and additional connection costs;
• the obligation to determine the modalities for monitoring results/evaluation criteria, accessibility and, if necessary, timetables (failing which, the original timetables shall be used);
• the maintenance of individual (subject to changes inherent to teleworking) and collective (information) rights;
• the obligation to provide information on data protection, the rules on the use of IT, the welfare policy and the names and contact details of the persons who can intervene (superior, prevention advisor, occupational physician or trusted person) as well as to carry out an analysis of the risks specific to teleworking;
• the obligation to inform and, if necessary, to train workers and line managers in teleworking.

Compared to the structural or occasional teleworking, it should be noted that the CLA:

• does not expressly provide for the obligation to conclude a written agreement with the worker for the items covered in section (ii) above;
• provides for the possibility for the employer to exercise "control over the results and/or the execution of the work" in order to "verify" punctually "whether the work" is "effectively and correctly carried out", however, referring directly to CLA 81 and the GDPR and indirectly to the secrecy of telecoms; and
• the obligation for the employer to put in place measures to maintain "social contact between colleagues" and to avoid isolation but without the possibility of recall to the office.

This CLA expires on 31 December 2021 but could cease to have effects earlier if the Covid special measures are lifted in the meantime.