- Unions and employers' organizations are engaged in discussions around telework. A second "diagnostic" meeting was held this Thursday, July 2.
- The aim of these discussions is to draw up a report on remote work, which has become part of the daily life of French people and of new businesses with confinement.
- The unions would like to take this opportunity to develop new rules with employers, to limit the excesses of remote work. Medef, for its part, does not want to intervene. The social partners will decide on the follow-up to the subject next September.
With confinement, telework has entered the daily lives of many French people. And faced with such a revolution, it was difficult for unions and employers' organizations not to react. Since the beginning of June, they have engaged in discussions in order to draw up a "shared diagnosis" on remote working. A new meeting has just been held this Thursday, before two others scheduled for September.
For the unions, it is urgent to anticipate the possible abuses of telework. If working at a distance has been for many French people an additional source of comfort, with hours of transport or even saved sleep as well as increased autonomy, it has also had consequences on working conditions. For some, it has meant greater control. Not to mention the material conditions which could have been difficult in cramped apartments with poorly adapted equipment, which put our backs and sometimes our morale to the test.
The temptation to telecommute
Because it was unpublished for many people, it also gave new ideas to certain companies. "There is a desire, on the side of large companies, to take advantage of telework to achieve productivity gains in the short term, by increasing the workload while reducing real estate costs", notes Jérôme Vivenza, in charge of occupational health at the CGT.
Everyone has in mind the case of PSA, which announced in May its plan to perpetuate telework for its employees so as to require only one day to one and a half days of site presence per week. Within the automotive group, negotiations are underway to reach an agreement. "Telework can no longer be perceived or envisaged as a constraint that would be imposed on employees," warned the union Force Ouvrière.
Delicate negotiations
“The idea is not to develop 100% teleworking, because in such an organization, the creativity of the employees is not quite the same. The interest is to articulate telework and face-to-face according to the uses, explains Catherine Pinchaut, secretary of the CFDT in charge of this file. Especially since "telework does not appeal to everyone," she says. It also involves a risk of isolation and can damage the mental health of employees.
In the event of a massive introduction of telework coupled with reductions in office space, the CFDT recalls the importance of "quality social dialogue". The challenge is to be able to negotiate on "working conditions in reconfigured workspaces and investment in improved conditions for the exercise of telework", claims the reform union, in unison with Unsa and the CFTC.
And for good reason: in exchange for telework and in order to gain square meters, some large companies advocate the flex office. Employees do not have a dedicated workplace, it exposes them to a "struggle for places". In terms of the quality of life at work in these premises, it dissatisfied 22% of the workers concerned, according to a survey dated 2019 from Actineo, an observatory of the quality of life in the office.
Medef does not want to legislate
Do not go to any telework is a priori consensus between unions and employers. “Telework has brought a lot of satisfaction for some employees, but also constraints, sometimes burn-outs, management problems. It is not the alpha and the omega […] To recreate wealth, it is also to be physically present in companies ”, underlined on Europe 1, at the beginning of June, the president of Medef, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux.
But beyond this point, Medef refuses to create new rules on telework. And says nothing about the concrete developments he wishes to see on this subject, considering the question "premature", replies the employers' organization at 20 Minutes . According to AFP, from these discussions, the employers wish in any case to draw up a "summary" to help companies set up and negotiate telework. A national interprofessional agreement C that is to say a text signed between trade unions and employers who has binding force V is not necessary, because "the legal standards are perfectly applicable", explained Medef to AFP.
Telecommuting costs
The unions, however, would like to strengthen certain rules. They did not appreciate that telework cannot be regulated by a simple corporate charter, that is to say without a collective agreement, as provided for in the Macron ordinances of 2017. forms, or even standards so that everyone can find their way there, ”says Catherine Pinchaut, of the CFDT. In particular to protect the employees of small companies where union presence is less.
The guide from the Ministry of Labor, published in May to guide employers in negotiating agreements, did not cause controversy by accident. "In this guide, the Ministry of Labor tramples on the feet [...] the general obligation to cover the professional costs of all employees, teleworkers or not," was indignant the CGT.
A way to repeat their opposition to the Macron orders which, according to the union, have certainly developed telework but have also impoverished the rights of teleworker. Since 2017, “the employer is not required to pay his employee a telework allowance intended to reimburse him for the costs arising from telework, unless the company has an agreement or charter which provides for it Reminded the guide.
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