As already indicated in previous articles, the majority of workers who had been imposed by Covid-19 to work remotely, would prefer to have access to a hybrid form of work -  a combination of remote and office work. However, this shift presents important challenges, both from an organisational and regulatory point of view, as indicated in the White Paper.

Prior to detailing these challenges, the paper provides very practical and useful definitions on remote work, telework, work at home, and home-based work, which are relevant to understand the legislative frameworks in the countries analysed as well as the policy recommendations.

Among the main obstacles to a successful shift to hybrid work, there are: 

• Inequality: “if unregulated, remote work could worsen inequalities, as not all workers enjoy the same access to this model”.
• Productivity: “to ensure that remote work goes hand-in-hand with an increased productivity, a strong focus should be put on workers’ physical and mental wellbeing”.
• Cost, wages and taxes: “working remotely implies new costs and new ways of calculating wages and taxes. On the company level, employers should make clear which costs are incumbent to whom. In addition, governments should adapt a new tax system to assist this new way of working”.
• Cybersecurity and IT tools: “the spread of the remote work model has made businesses even more vulnerable to cyberattacks”.

Concerning the impact of remote work on productivity, the White Paper highlights: “If working remotely (partially or fully) is to become the norm in the long-term, we need to rethink the way we measure performance and the way we manage teams. We should shift from an approach that conflates performance with presenteeism to an approach that values outputs”.

To this point, Mthunzi Mdwaba Former IOE Vice-President to the ILO & ILO Vice-Chariman, added: “Adopting a continuously changing mindset towards employees’ well-being (which in itself is important for productivity), working time and productivity, is extremely critical for success. Productivity should be measured based on outcomes rather than on working hours”.

The paper provides an interesting analysis and success stories on the three challenges of recurring to remote work and maintaining high productivity, namely employee satisfaction and well-being, reduction of knowledge-flows and interactions, and managerial skills to deal with remote workers.

The comparative analysis of the legislation on remote work in 16 countries looked at elements such as whether remote work arrangements result from a mutual agreement between the employer and employees, whether this should be included in a written contract and if the employees could request such an arrangement.

It also studied the existence of the right to disconnect, the obligation to bear the costs of installing and maintaining the IT equipment, and means to monitor the employees’ activity (video-surveillance and/or audio surveillance).  

The paper concludes with policy recommendations, for governments and for employers. It says: “we urge both governments and employers to take action -- now. On the government level, officials should take the follow actions:

• Build a Framework: Provide a legislative framework for remote work.
• Address Inequalities: Promote remote wok for under-privileged groups and underserved populations.
• Invest in Infrastructure: Investing in infrastructure will close the connectivity-divide between urban and rural areas.
• Consider Taxes: adapt the tax system for remote work and engage in bi- or multilateral tax negotiations to avoid a double tax burden for remote workers.
• Reskill: Support companies’ endeavour to reskill and upskill the workforce.

We urge employers to:

• Address Inequalities: redesign jobs to enable remote work whenever possible, to allow a greater section of the population more flexibility.
• Invest in Infrastructure: invest in ICT infrastructures and improve your cybersecurity to make remote work a safe option for the company.
• Reskill and Upskill: determine the digital skill gap of the workforce and upskill whenever possible to allow workers to feel comfortable navigating their work-from-home situation.
• Management: promote a management based on empathy, agility, and creativity”.