L'ESSOR DU TÉLÉTRAVAIL S'ACCOMPAGNE D'INCERTITUDES JURIDIQUES
THE RISE IS ACCOMPANIED TELEWORK LEGAL UNCERTAINTY

Summary/Abstract: Compared with other European countries, teleworking developed rather late because of the opposition of trade unions who feared that teleworkers would be exploited by their employers. In spite of this, teleworking today is firmly implanted in Germany. Trade unions realised belatedly that the majority of workers were in favour of teleworking. As they did not want to miss out on an important development they engaged into a collective agreement with Deutsche Telekom AG, then a branch of the German postal services Deutsche Post, in order to explore the possibility of introducing teleworking on their premises. This successful testing phase was the starting point of teleworking in Germany in the nineties. From that point on, a growing number of big companies introduced teleworking, in cooperation with trade unions and works councils. The advantages of teleworking for companies and workers alike seem to be more important than its drawbacks, but it must not be forgotten that at the time being, there is no legal framework for this new way of working. Only general employment laws apply to teleworking which do not take into account its specific problems. Collective agreements try to fill in this void, but that is not enough. As the number of teleworkers will probably continue to rise, the German government should take measures in order to offer a legal framework customized to their specific needs.

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