The bill on teleworking in the public sector in Parliament

Filed in Parliament the draft law «Institutional framework for teleworking, provisions for human resources in the public sector and other regulations of the Ministry of Interior», which regulates teleworking in the public sector under normal conditions.

The regulations apply to all bodies of the public sector and in particular include bodies of the General Government, legal persons governed by public law other than the General Government, as well as public enterprises and organisations (INGOs) other than the General Government. Excluded are those whose work requires them to be physically present in the service, as well as teaching staff and instructors in all education and training establishments at all levels.

Teleworking is voluntary for the institution and the teleworker, whether permanent or permanent or fixed-term employee in the public sector, including those employed under a contract of employment. It is mandatory if requested by the service in case of public health risk and emergency conditions, such as the current one.

Salaries and working hours are not affected, as teleworkers have the same rights and obligations as employees working physically in the office.

It is specified that 25% of the employees per Directorate or Department of the institution may work remotely, while by decision of the Minister of Interior, following a reasoned request of the institution, this percentage can be increased up to 50%.

Remote work is provided on fixed days per week and month and cannot exceed 44 working days per calendar year, which must be taken within three months. Teleworking shall be excluded between 15 July and 31 August. It may be provided from home or from another fixed place, in Greece and in other EU countries. A «teleworking station» is installed at the teleworker's premises, consisting of the necessary telecommunications equipment and technological device, which are provided by the service. The service provider shall bear the cost of maintaining and upgrading the teleworking station and shall be responsible for replacing or repairing it in the event of its failure or destruction. Those who so wish may use their own personal technological equipment.

It is also provided that the institution undertakes to ensure the protection of personal data used and submitted by the teleworker. The latter has the right of disconnection, i.e. after the end of the working hours he can close the computer and not be «disturbed» further by his service.

The posts reserved for teleworking shall be determined by the Head of the Directorate or Department of the institution at the beginning of each calendar quarter or at shorter intervals in the event of exceptional circumstances.

You must apply to the head of the Directorate to which you belong, written request, indicating the number of days and the total period of time they wish to telework and the address of the place where the telework is to be carried out. In the request, the staff member shall indicate whether he wishes to receive a teleworking station and may, exceptionally, propose different starting and finishing times for his normal working hours.

The addressee of the request shall have 10 days to reply, taking into account the needs of the service, the proper functioning of the service and the official's duties. In case of health risk or health problems (permanent or temporary), the institution must accept the request for distance work.

The use of a camera built into the telework device is not permitted when conducting teleconferences or for monitoring the teleworker's performance, unless required by the operational needs of the work provided by the institution.