Deployment of Telework in European Public Administrations

Equipment and technical support
The vast majority of employers purchased equipment for their teleworkers' the home offices;
some lent it to them. In two cases the costs for equipment were shared between employer and
employee. In three cases equipment paid for by the employees was in use. In most of the cases
‘equipment’ refers to computer hardware and software. One of the Scandinavian organisations
even purchased ergonometric furniture for teleworkers home offices. Furthermore, office supplies
like paper, pencils etc. were provided.
Several contracts regulate the procedures for reliance on technical support, some emphasise the
employees' duty to treat equipment carefully, only for professional reasons and to report damage
or theft.
Reimbursement
Surprisingly and in contrast to several existing agreements on company level, ‘good practice’
guidelines and union positions
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, only a minority of employers reimburse teleworkers for the use
of their homes as offices. Two of them make the amount dependent on managerial case-to-case
decisions. Sometimes expenses for telecommunications are compensated. Espoo town in Finland
pays 500 Finnish markka per month for phone costs, electricity, heating, cleaning and paper, the
Moray Council in the UK offers £300 per year. Another organisation from the UK said that
reimbursement would be considered in the evaluation process of the pilot and might be offered in
the future.
Emphasis on teleworkers' responsibility
Regarding the contractual situation we find some grey zones of uncertainty, not necessarily with
regard to the outline of the legal environment, but regarding the practice of law in a fairly new
logistic and technical environment. In such a situation of weakened external and structural control
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