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BELGIUM
December 2000
Vocational training to telework
The Flemish public agency for vocational training and employment (VDAB) runs a new project TELETRA on vocational training on telework. This is a part of a European project of the NOW programme, co-ordinated by the AFPA (French agency for vocational training of adults) in Marseille and associating other German and Italian partners. Women are the target group of this training project.
The project aims to bridge three gaps:
- there are few training initiatives to telework;
- there are few accompanying measures for the teleworkers;
- there is still little interest from employers in teleworking.
The VDAB develops simulations of teleworking offices (telecentres), where women can learn about the teleworking environment. VDAB also develops a training method concerning not only the technical aspects of telework, but also the organisational and social aspects.
The TELETRA project was presented in a VDAB conference in Brugge on 30th November, together with other European projects of the Flemish agency.
More information (in Dutch) can be requested from Ludo Wynants at:
lweynants@vdab.be
The TELETRA project is not yet documented on the VDAB web site.
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December 2000 - January 2001
Gérard Valenduc, Patricia Vendramin
FTU, with the support of the Walloon Regional Government
Special issue of "La Lettre EMERIT", presenting the final results of Euro-telework
A special issue of the quarterly newsletter on technology assessment 'La Lettre EMERIT' is devoted to telework. It presents some of the results of the Euro-telework thematic reports, mainly those on telework regulation and equality issues.
Content of the newsletter:
– New aspects of telework
– Characterisation of telework in Europe
– Telework and social negotiation
– Women and telework
– Telework and local development
Full reference of the Euro-Telework publications and web site are also given.
The newsletter will be available in early January 2001.
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December 2000
Training programme "Eurotélétravail"
Eurotélétravail is a training programme for continued education, designed by five commercial high schools in Brussels, Liège, Namur, Arlon and Mons.
Other associated partners are chambers of commerce and the Walloon research and training institute of the trade-union FGTB (IWERF). The initiative is supported by the European Social Fund.
The courses are designed for managers or executives, employees or executive officers in public administration.
The programme includes four training modules:
– Implementation of telework: management of teleworking environments; preparation of the enterprise to distance working; implementation of virtual offices; advantages and consequences of call centres at the enterprise level; mobile telework and tele-homework.
– Skills and competencies: psychological and social aspects of telework, cooperative work, help-desk, data protection, teleconferencing.
– Computer skills (software and networks)
– Activities and professions: e-commerce, telemaintenance, press and publishing, traduction.
Moreover, a pool of experts from the five high schools has set up a diagnosis service, which intends to help managers and executives to carry out an analysis pf teleworking potentialities within their organisation.
[visit the web site]
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26 June 2000
CCE and CNT
Advice of the social partners on the information society
Both national consultative Councils associating social partners (CCE, National Council of Economy and CNT, National Council of Labour) have published a common advice on the information society, in the framework of the European decisions taken during the Lisbon and Feira summits. (Advice No.: 1315)
This advice (printed copy in French sent by postal mail) includes a short section concerning telework (pp. 17-18)
"The Councils observe that telework is generally considered as one of the indicators of changes in work organisation.
At the beginning of the 90s, the CNT has paid attention to the creation of an appropriate framework for the development of this new form of work organisation, in order to guarantee rights and duties for employers and employees.
The CNT has published the advice no.: 1104 (July 1994), to which the legislator has given a positive follow-up un the law of 6/12/1996, that edicts guidelines for work contracts at home.
The social partners have brought their contribution to the action to be undertaken in order to foster the development of telework, accompanied by useful safeguards.
Nevertheless, the Councils recognise that many aspects of the new forms of work organisation are not yet precisely understood and that it will be necessary, in a short future, to question on the social protection to be given to these new jobs."
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May 2000
LBC – Flemish white collar union of CSC-ACV
LBC publication about working conditions in call centres
This very comprehensive and didactic booklet (63 pages) has been written by a working group of union delegates and union officers concerned with the working and employment conditions in call centres in Brussels and the Flemish region of the country. It is the first specific trade union publication on call centres in Belgium. The information gathered by the authors is very interesting and relevant.
It consists of nine chapters:
1) Overview of call centres
2) Work contracts and work regulation: their application in call centres
3) Work duration and flexible working time
4) Workers’ privacy
5) Out-sourcing
6) Workload, stress and prevention
7) Specific features for the call centre workers belonging to the joint committee CP218 (National Auxiliary Joint Committee of Employees)
8) Consultation, information and negotiation in call centres
9) The demands and proposals of the trade union LBC
The trade union CNE (Walloon counterpart of LBC within CSC-ACV) also intends to publish a booklet on call centres, partly based on the material collected by LBC (at the end of the year).
This publication can be accessed on-line at:
http://www.lbc-nvk.be/publicaties/leden/callcenters.asp
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(Updated January 2000)
OSPRACT Project.
OSPRACT means: Trade union observatory of practices and consequences of telework (French acronym).
The partners in the project are institutes liked to trade unions in Belgium (IWERF/FGTB), France (ISERES/CGT) and Italy (IRES/CGIL). OSPRACT is supported by the ADAPT programme.
Collective agreements and laws applicable to telework in Belgium, according to the current results of the OSPRACT project
The OSPRACT project realises an inventory of laws and collective agreements applicable to telework. The Belgian inventory only contains two references:
1) The national collective agreement CCT39, concluded in 1984, concerns the social consequences of the introduction of new technologies in enterprises. It defines obligations for the employer to inform and consult the workers’ council before any important decision (concerning at least 10 % of the workforce). Although telework is not directly mentioned, it should be applicable to it. However, there is not any reported case where CCT39 has been used for any teleworking initiative, for 16 years.;
2)The law on home work, dates from 1996. This law is applicable to telework, but only for tele-homework as a principal activity for the worker, regulated in a contractual way, either for independent workers or for salaried workers. It does not concern the majority of teleworking situations, which are “informal telework” (flexible use of home as work location during a small part of the working time, without any change in the functions or the contract of the worker).
Our own experience at Fondation Travail-Universite is that both these legislative dispositions are not really relevant for regulating the wide variety of informal teleworking situations.
The inventory made by OSPRACT confirms that there is no other existing regulation for telework in Belgium – excepted agreements concluded at the enterprise level.
In our next monthly reports, we will try to gather examples of such collective agreements at the enterprise level – it is however not so easy to know them!
The CCT39 collective agreement can be accessed on the OSPRACT web site at:
http://www.ospract.org/download/cct39fr-be.htm
The 1996 law on homework can be accessed on the OSPRACT web site at:
http://www.ospract.org/download/loi-travaildomicile-be.doc
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January 2000
Belgacom
Initiative of the telecom operator Belgacom in order to promote teleworking solutions in enterprises
The Belgian telecom operator Belgacom provides its business clients with extended documentation on teleworking solutions. The document not only contains a description of the technical solutions marketed by Belgacom, but also a very detailed overview of work regulations applicable to telework. It contains recommendations for employers and employees while concluding individual teleworking agreements.
The material in English, French and Dutch, including downloadable Acrobat PDF files, can be accessed on the BELGACOM web site at:
http://www.belgacom.be/atwork/teleworking/default.htm
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1998
SITEL
Collective agreement
This collective agreement concerns:
1) Working time for non operators: reduction of working time from 39 to 38 h/week
2) Working time for operators: 8h/day, including 24 minutes at lunch and 10 minutes break each 4h – the tasks defined as “operators” are specified in an annex to the agreement. The agreement also specifies the particular conditions applicable to night work, twilight work and week-end work, as well as for the remuneration of supplementary hours. Part-time work is limited to at least 3h/day.
3) Registration of working time: the current system must be audited and evaluated and then discussed with the union delegates.
4) Stand by: rules are defined for stand-by availability of workers (previous planning, remuneration, limitation)
5) Interim work: union delegates will be informed each Friday about the planning of interim work for the next week. A standard work contract must be proposed to each interim worker who has worked at least three consecutive months in the same regime.
6) Duration of the agreement: from January 1998 to January 2001 (must be re-negotiated before the deadline)
7) Area of application: SITEL Belgium s.a. (about 300 workers)
8) Signature of the agreement: both white collar unions belonging to CSC and FGTB – as SITEL is located near Brussels airport, i.e. in the Flemish region, the agreement is signed by the Flemish unions BBTK (FGTB) and LBC (CSC)
Although it is not really new, this collective agreement in the only one which is referred to among trade unions. Some practical aspects of the agreement, for instance working time, breaks, control upon workers, are not really implemented within the firm. The practical implementation is partly left to the team supervisors and team managers, and it leads to abuses against workers
(see report of the Belgian meeting).
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