The Directorate of Labour wants to offer its employees a diverse work environment and flexibility to facilitate the reconciliation of work and personal life. In addition to time savings and increased flexibility, increased remote work reduces the carbon footprint due to travel to and from work and therefore has positive social impacts.

Through its remote work policy, the Directorate of Labour wishes to contribute to:

• Increase job satisfaction.

• Offer a more diverse work environment.

• Promote more flexibility in work and better balance between work and personal life.

• Saving staff time for commuting to and from work.

• A strong emphasis was placed on using international and regional teleconferences as much as possible.

• Reduced carbon footprint due to travel of staff to and from work. The general rule is that employees can work one day a week in remote work if they wish.

Principles

The main rule is that employees can work one day a week in telework if they wish.

• Telework is not a clear right of the employee and the head may leave employees to stay at the establishment all days of the week if circumstances and tasks require it. However, ways should be sought to make this more exceptional so that everyone who wishes to work remotely one day a week can have the opportunity to do so.

• An employee who wishes to work remotely shall consult the next supervisor in good time about the days scheduled for remote work.

• The Chief of Staff must approve the employee's teleworking arrangements and may change them in consultation with the employee. An employee shall normally be available from 09:00 - 16:00 or during the main meeting hours.

• An employee must have turned on the camera during a teleconference if this option is available.

More about remote work

The decision on remote work shall always be made in consultation with the next superior and shall inform where the work will be done at any time to facilitate organization and oversight.

Good communication is the foundation of successful cooperation. The management organizes team meetings regularly but all employees of the company are responsible for good communication, both with those who are at the establishment and those who are working remotely.

The Directorate of Labour provides employees with appropriate equipment, if necessary, for use in remote work. All equipment provided by the Directorate of Labour is the property of the Directorate of Labour. It is important to mention that if remote work is carried out, the same rules apply to data security. It is necessary to ensure that others do not have access to data by, for example, monitoring what is on a computer screen. A computer must always be locked when leaving the premises and equipment used to access the company's systems and data must not be left behind. Otherwise, the same rules apply as if an employee were in the workplace.