Teleworking is now, perhaps even more than before, an aspiration for many employees. It is also, without doubt, a response to regional planning issues in rural areas.

In highly urbanized areas, where property costs can sometimes reach colossal sums, it can be a significant advantage for companies who are considering downsizing their premises.

Teleworking — a Way of Reconciling Professional and Personal Life

Article L.1222-9 of the French Labour Code gives a precise definition of telework. 

Teleworking is defined as “any form of work organization in which work that could also have been carried out on the employer’s premises is carried out by an employee away from those premises on a voluntary basis, using information and communication technologies.”

A teleworker is defined as “any salaried employee of the company who teleworks, either at the time of hiring or subsequently.” In other words, teleworking covers tasks that could have been carried out on the company’s premises (excluding, for example, traveling sales representatives) and for which ICTs must be used (excluding manual workers at home).

The main feature of teleworking is that the work is carried out away from the company’s premises. But that’s not all: teleworking is voluntary for employees and employers in normal times (excluding pandemic periods). 

To conclude with the definition of telework, it should be pointed out that there are several forms of telework.

Examples include:

  • Home-based teleworking (the work is done at home and the employer has provided the employee with the equipment needed to carry out his tasks).
  • Alternating or pendular teleworking (the employee alternates between face-to-face time at the office and remote time at home).
  • Teleworking in a local or coworking center (the employer provides its employees with premises equipped with all the necessary facilities close to their home).
  • Nomadic teleworking (in this case, the employee carries out his work outside the company, often because his job requires him to travel a lot, but he obviously keeps an office within the company in order to keep in touch).

Setting up Teleworking

Teleworking can be introduced by collective agreement or by means of a charter after consultation with the works council, as specified in article L.1222-9 of the French Labour Code.

Whether you choose to use the collective agreement or the company charter, certain points must be mentioned. You will need to specify the conditions for switching to telework and the conditions for returning to work if telework is not possible, the conditions under which the employee must accept the conditions for implementing telework, the conditions for monitoring working time or regulating the workload, and the determination of the time slots during which the employer may usually contact the teleworker.

You can also indicate the list of posts eligible for teleworking. The more precise you are in drafting your agreement or charter, the more you will prevent the risks of disorganization and leaks of confidential information, among other things.

Teleworking and COVID-19

For several months now, the pandemic has made us think of teleworking as a way of keeping the economy afloat rather than as a way of reconciling professional and personal life. Essentially, it has been a way of ensuring that economic activity continues during a health crisis

Article L.1222-11 of the French Labour Code has thus taken on its full meaning, as the implementation of telework is thus considered as an adaptation of the workstation made necessary to allow the continuity of the activity while preserving the health of the employees.

The Ministry of Labour has published a number of questions and answers on its website to answer the most frequently asked questions.

At a time when a return to our old lives is beginning to take shape, it is unlikely that teleworking will be returning to normal. On the contrary, it seems that teleworking is continuing to grow.

The practice is still recommended by the public authorities, even though it is no longer compulsory. Among other things, it makes commuting easier. A June 2020 survey of 458 HR directors by ANDRH and BCG showed that teleworking is now widely accepted. 85% of them want to make it a permanent feature of their company. In particular, they envisage a hybrid model combining teleworking and face-to-face work.

Some people are even talking about a real revolution in the workplace. In fact, some employees have taken a liking to it and have found significant benefits. Employers too, even if some were reluctant and a little apprehensive, have finally found that this way of working can be beneficial to their organization.

Among the benefits of teleworking, the most frequently cited were the following:

  • Increased productivity
  • Greater flexibility and organizational autonomy
  • Increased concentration, as it is possible to work without interruption
  • Reduced travel time and time savings
  • Reduced fatigue
  • Better work/life balance

Let’s not forget, however, that certain disadvantages have been pointed out by the detractors of teleworking. These include

  • Overconnection
  • Isolation, loss of social links
  • Work overload or underload
  • Porosity between work and personal life
  • Difficulty giving meaning to work
  • Recognition problems

Opinions on teleworking are often mixed. There are those who love it, and those who hate it. The time has undoubtedly come to provide a better framework for this practice, and to bring clarity and legibility to this new form of working.

HR departments are naturally faced with this new challenge, and they are going to have to reinvent themselves.

Teleworking — a Revolution in HR Services

For some employees, working from home is synonymous with loneliness and isolation. As a result, collaboration and communication are key issues for HR teams.

Here are a few tips:

Point 1: Create an Operational and Comprehensive HR Interface

Employees who are temporarily no longer on site need to have a single point of contact for HR queries, or at least a high-performance intranet and an easy-to-use knowledge base. For example, if the answers to their questions are not available, they should be able to contact someone at the click of a mouse.

An integrated cloud solution like Crosstalent is ideal for this as it allows you to add and remove module “applications” as you need them. This comprehensive HRIS software is designed to help you digitize human resource functions such as Talent Management, for instance, optimize human capital management (Recruitment) and improve employee experiences (Time and Attendance).

Point 2: Make Documents and Exchanges Legally Secure

Teleworking requires the use of electronic signatures to process documents quickly. A reliable solution therefore needs to be found and the use cases for this signature defined. Similarly, video conferencing and videoconferencing meetings have taken off in leaps and bounds, whether for professional or personal reasons. This means that even more than before, we need to secure our data transfers and confidential exchanges at all costs.

Point 3: The Right to Disconnect and Working Time Management

The ANI states that the rules on working hours, rest periods, respect for privacy, work-life balance, and the right to disconnect apply to telework.

The employer must therefore put in place a system for monitoring working hours, which may for example be an electronic clocking system for employees subject to collective working hours; and employees on fixed daily working hours continue to be able to make use of their right to disconnect.

Point 4: The Teleworker’s Health

If an accident occurs during working hours at the place where the employee teleworks, it is presumed to be an accident at work.

With regard to the working environment, the 2020 ANI is now more flexible. It specifies that ” account must be taken of the fact that the employer cannot have complete control over the place where telework is carried out and the environment, which falls within the private sphere “.

While the employer has no control over the space dedicated to teleworking at the teleworker’s home or its organization, it is still the employer’s responsibility to prevent occupational risks by implementing training and information initiatives as part of his safety obligation.

Point 5: Integrating New Employees

The remote integration of new employees is a major challenge. That’s why it’s so important to create a new bond. The new employee must feel expected. The IT department will send the technical equipment to the employee’s home with an access code and instructions. Video meetings will be organized, and we could imagine setting up a tutorial system. It’s up to you to be creative and imaginative!

As we’ve seen, teleworking has come a long way since its introduction. For some companies, it is also becoming a tool for attracting new talent and an undeniable way of saving money.

In a way, it’s an ideal way of signing a win-win agreement, provided it’s properly managed.

Related:

Advantages and disadvantages of HRIS management software

Customize Your HR Approach to Teleworking 

Find a solution that streamlines your HR workflows and encourages employees to be more productive. Crosstalent has eight solutions to help you attract, retain, and nurture the best talent. Find out more — book a demo with our team to see the tool in action.