Even when pandemic ends, working from home will stay with us
What is the future of teleworking? What are the long-term consequences of dividing employees into those who can work from home and those who, due to the nature of work, will not be able to do so? Will telework become an ephemeral phenomenon or a universal approach to working when the pandemic passes?
Experts from various fields tried to give answers to these questions at the third national conference of the CENTER dedicated to the future of work: “The elusive world of remote work” which took place on November 25.
The home edition of our conference gathered over twenty speakers - international and domestic experts, government representatives, employers and unions and about a hundred participants, our colleagues from Serbia, EU countries, the United States and Russia.
Jon Messenger, Team Leader of the Working Conditions Group at the International Labour Office in Geneva, Barbara Gerstenberger, Head of the Working Life Unit at Eurofund, Andrea Glorioso, Policy Officer, DG CONNECT at the European Commission, Marjan Stojanovi?, Secretary of the Association for Electronic Communications and the Information Society at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vladan Živanovi?, Country Manager for Serbia at Euronet Worldwide Inc, were some of our interlocutors... The full list is here.
The aim of the conference was to offer clear recommendations on how teleworking should be regulated in the labour law in order to preserve the principles of decent work. The recommendations are to be sent to the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy of the Republic of Serbia.
Practice in other countries indicates possible modalities of arranging work from home.
The directions of intervention refer to education / training of workers through adoption of digital skills, both through state programs and at the company level.
There is also a need for the improvement of the legal framework concerning right to privacy and supervision of workers by employers (collection and storage of workers’ data, incorporation of surveillance equipment into workers' personal equipment, incorporation of surveillance equipment into equipment provided by the employer).
Furthermore, there is a need for clear definition of rights steaming from the employment contract related to working from home (division of labour costs from home, e.g. cost sharing in purchase/use of equipment, internet, meal, etc.).
In order to preserve gender balance, there is a need for creation of services, which will allow for creation of services that would relieve women of unpaid housework.
As well as in other areas, the public sector was much slower in adapting to working from home, then the private sector. This is especially the case with large companies while smaller ones found it more difficult to adapt. Hence, there is a need for investing into smaller companies primarily, in their training for the introduction of digital solutions that will enable work from home.
As integral part of conference, Center presented Territory of working environments, the solo show of art works by Sava Kneževic.
This year's conference was organized in partnership with the Olof Palme International Center, International Labour Organization, and Open Society Foundation in Serbia.