BMW signs company agreement on managing “mobile working time” (Germany)

After bargaining and experimenting for a year, the management of the German carmaker, BMW, and the company’s central works council announced that they had signed a company agreement to define and supervise “mobile work,” namely all forms of work performed outside the company’s walls.  Actually, this agreement – supposed to cover BMW’s 79,000 employees – only applies to administrative and management staff.  The number of mobile hours each employee will be allowed to perform will be defined internally at the level of the different units.  The system was completed with a “right to deny access” to avoid abuses.  The introduction of this new concept, which should join flexibility and the protection of privacy, will be combined with the circulation of a special information module, a sort of “driver’s license” for mobile work.  BMW’s HR spokesperson, M. Jochen Frey, has agreed to explain the project’s details to Planet Labor.