Italy: TIM (formerly Telecom Italia) defines new hybrid working arrangements National industrial relations Improving the efficacy of hybrid work and saving energy by office closures and Fridays are the main objectives of the agreement that was signed on 22 November at Italy’s telecommunications giant TIM. This agreement potentially affects 32,000 employees who can work remotely from a total of the 42,000 staff employed by the group in Italy.
Free Poland: draft legislation proposed to combat alcoholism in the workplace and provide the basis for remote working National legislation On 07 June a bill amending the Labour Code was submitted to Poland’s lower house of Parliament (Sejm), which enables employers to utilise preventative means to curb employee alcoholism.…
Free Portugal: piloting the four-day working week National legislation Portugal is set to launch a pilot experiment to study new work organizations, which include the four-day working week and the use of hybrid working models (in-presence combined with telework).…
BNP Paribas signs its European charter on telework Transnational industrial relations On 06 April, the French banking group, together with the UNI Europa Finance trade union federation, the European Federation of Credit Institution Executives (FEDEC), and the bank’s European Works Council signed a common telework framework for the group’s 22 EU countries operating in the EWC’s scope. The charter provides an opportunity to define teleworking schemes comprising up to 2.5 days of teleworking per week and proposes four compensation packages for the group's 132,000 employees in Europe.
Italy: aerospace, defence and security group, Leonardo introduces hybrid work Quality of life at work In an agreement signed on 08 March by Leonardo management and the FIOM-Cgil, FIM-Cisl and UILM trade unions, more than half of the group’s workers (between 17,000 and 19,000 of the 30,000 staff in Italy), will be allowed to work remotely, on a voluntary basis, for up to between 8 and 10 days per month, depending on the sector and activity.
Free Italy: DHL Express experiments with smart working Quality of life at work A national framework agreement signed on 23 February by DHL Express Italy and the Filt-Cgil, Fit-Cisl and Uiltrasporti trade unions, sets out a smart working trial period that will start immediately after the national state of emergency ends on 31 March and will run from 01 April to 31 December 2022.…
Germany: the Versicherungskammer insurance group converts to ‘Smart Working’ Quality of life at work Germany's 9th largest insurer has seized the opportunity presented by the Covid-19 pandemic to transform what had previously been a relatively traditional plan, aimed at making its working methods and structures more professional, into a smart working revolution. Katja Gerke, who heads the newly created Department for Organizational Development, answered Planet Labor's questions on the changes and outlined the ongoing process.
France: MGEN insurer extends teleworking to all group employees National industrial relations On 07 January 2022, MGEN (Mutuelle générale de l'Éducation nationale) the mutual health and social security insurance group for those working in the French Ministry of National Education (including Higher Education, Training and Scientific Research & Innovation, Culture and Sport) adopted a new agreement on telework. Signed unanimously by the representative trade unions (UNSA, CFE-CGC, CFDT, and CGT), this text extends teleworking to all the group's entities, including the health centres. It also provides for the possibility of employees working remotely from any location on French territory. Unless the extraordinary teleworking arrangements that are currently in place are further extended, this new agreement will come into force on 01 March 2022.
Ireland: Bank of Ireland turning to its ‘remote working hubs’ to make work even more flexible Quality of life at work On 25 January 2022, the Irish bank, which employs roughly 10,000 staff, announced it was opening five additional remote working hubs, bringing the total number of its hybrid offices to 11. Located in small towns or places that make sense for employees in terms of commuting times, these remote working hubs mean employees can avoid travelling to the main offices and they can offer a complementary alternative for teleworking arrangements, a concept particularly backed by the government, which recently created a National Hub Network for start-ups, SMEs, and the self-employed.
France: “Telework is organised on a team basis,” Sophie Balmary, Director of Social Relations at Michelin (interview) National industrial relations Signed on 02 December 2021 by all the group's representative trade unions, Michelin's new telework agreement, which centres on team accountability and team empowerment, promotes a number of flexibility related developments. Sophie Balmary, Director of Social Relations, discusses how the agreement came about, along with the various options for telework organisation, and the change support arrangements that have been put in place.