Deployment of Telework in European Public Administrations

Case No. 4: Finland - The local authorities at ‘Espoon kaunki’
Policy environment
‘Teleworking in Finland is seen as a way of supporting the expansion of a new working culture,
and in particular, of supporting small businesses in the rural areas and creating a new action
culture in the Finnish communities suffering from unemployment through collaboration with
voluntary organisations to encourage voluntary work.’
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80% of telework in Finland is practised informally, thus, formal agreements between employers
and teleworkers are the exception. Nevertheless, an expert in the Ministry of Labour states that
‘teleworkers' legal status with regard to labour law is not vague in Finland, because labour
legislation applied to teleworkers is the same as that of other workers.’
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At national level the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Education are promoting, supporting
and funding projects in the framework of ‘Finland's National Telework Development
Programme’. This programme suggests changes of the public administration and the public sector
itself. The co-operation with Scandinavian and Baltic countries and Russia are sought to be
supported by setting up virtual offices in these areas for an experimental period of three to five
years. Telework in the public sector is promoted in order to reduce work-related travel and
decrease environmental impact by redirecting investment from physical transport to information
technology infrastructures.
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Municipalities, regional authorities and national ministries have been
provided with handbooks and recommendations on telework practise. Nevertheless, in contrast
with a general awareness in Finland (and successful projects in 44 telecottages by the beginning
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