Telework 2010
15^th International ITA Workshop

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TeleWork 2010 Book

Contact

Information: telework2010@tic.org.ar

TELEWORK: Public Policies and Legislation Models

FIDT - International Forum for the Development of Teleworking

Video: Buenos Aires emotions

Grants

The IDRC – International Development Research Centre – will award two grants for the best papers submitted by authors from Central America or the Caribbean. More information...

Publications

The authors of the best ten documents expounded during the Workshop are welcome to send a copy of their paper to be published by the Journal of eWorking (ISSN: 1872-3284). Aditionally, all documents produced will be published in "BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL DEL MAESTRO" (National Teacher Library)

Important Dates

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The 2010 Telework finish with the following "Buenos Aires Declaration on Telework", and we invite you to suscribe to it:

The purpose of this document is to work in the development of the modality of teleworking conducive to a greater equity and inclusion in the region with job opportunities for all. That is why we ask for your suscription.

Suscribe now!

BUENOS AIRES DECLARATION ON TELEWORK

After three intense days of workshops organized into the themes of Inclusion, New Labour Relations and Sustainable Development, participants from over 14 countries at Telework 2010: 15th International Telework Workshop ("Telework for sustainable development", 25-27 August 2010, the City of Buenos Aires, organized by the ICT Commission, the International Telework Academy and USUARIA), agree to make the following statements to social and governmental actors in different countries:

1.- Inclusion:

• Need to establish a general legal framework for all groups of telecommuters, with particular emphasis for each group through the regulation of laws, decrees or other legislation. This will protect the teleworker with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, because in this way it may give protection against all forms of abuse. It may also establish mechanisms to increase the attractiveness of hiring those vulnerable groups who are normally not taken into account. For example, this would help those workers who usually have no job opportunities, to perhaps enjoy probationary periods so that companies lose their fears and learn in practice about their true performance and productivity. It is also recommended to establish regulations that allow for the fact of working, do not exclude vulnerable groups and social benefits that have been granted earlier.
• Develop policies, incentives and resources to provide the necessary (legal, economic, technological, etc.) framework. This will allow the large-scale development of the practice of telework in the public and private sector, and especially to promote training in new technologies.
• Promote practices and corporate social responsibility to set new standards for the inclusion of vulnerable groups.
• Work to disseminate information about the nature and benefits of teleworking, show the benefits for employers and for teleworkers. This requires engaging the media, mainly the state, in order to ensure dissemination and understanding of this new form of work.
• Under the philosophy of inclusion it is required to ensure that schools, colleges and education centers regularly integrate people with disabilities. This will allow greater acceptance and familiarity with disability in particular from an early age.
• In line with the above, computers, peripherals and software applications need to be included in the special schools to achieve the "naturalization" of technology use.
• It also requires the adaptation of technology resources to new practices as well as the special characteristics of each disability and each person. In that sense, expertise in technological adaptation is required in order to train others.
• Need to generate agreements between government agencies, universities and NGOs, to assist training in new skills for telework and the professionalization of these new modalities work. Also so they can set new standards. We suggest supplementing with internships at a distance. Reconcile with inclusive forms of work and cooperation.
• To overcome the tendency for isolation and segregation, telework should be mixed whenever possible, ie not just working from home but set some time for interaction and presence in the enterprise, since relationships change with direct contact.
• Use, disseminate and apply the findings of intensive research and recommendations from Telecapacitados (www.telecapacitados.tic.org.ar) working on including people with disabilities through telework.

2.- New labour relations: telework and flexible working.

• Flexibility should be considered as a principle in the law of telework. On the other hand, it should encompass the concept of flexibility within its various multidimensional types, based on respect for the autonomy and independence of the worker. In this sense, telework should not differ at all from working face-to-face.
• Agreements between telecommuters and entrepreneurs should be based on a culture change and paradigm for all productive players, also including unions and business organizations.
• Organisations need to develop management policies aimed at ensuring work conditions, such as social security, wages, evaluation mechanisms, monitoring, control, feedback.
• Telework involves organizational change and communication. Basic agreements include:
  - Whether the contract is for an indefinite period or for a limited time.
  - Performance evaluation and career development.
  - Materials and work equipment.
  - Manual (handbook) of procedures.
  - Technology platforms, ICTs with peripherals and special applications if required (especially for hiring telecommuters with disabilities).
  - Code of ethics and conduct.
  - Diagnosis before recruitment (personal, familial and environmental) .
  
• The right to freedom of association and organization for teleworkers must be included and social security ensured.
• The role of the state with this new way of working must consider the heterogeneity of different forms and conditions of teleworkers (low dependency ratio and duration of work for teleworkers).
• Must have public policies, laws and regulations, international conventions, in particular telecommuting and personal data protection, and punishing spam.
• State enterprises should include telework in their roster for meeting quotas.
• Promote subsidies for hiring staff in the form of telework.
• Public policies should aim to ensure connectivity, and give priority to broadband Internet access from the home or through community access centers to ICT, training, dissemination and upgrading programs.
• Develop public policies aimed at land use planning, improving the quality of life, and environmental preservation.
• In the area of international law the law more favorable to the teleworker should apply.

3.- Sustainable Development:

• Sustainable development must be understood at three levels:
  - In social terms, sustainable development is the ability to achieve environmentally friendly development that is inclusive of all people and workers on the basis of the preservation of ethical values, equal opportunities, equity and intergenerational sustainability, ie that present generations will not compromise the future of later generations.
  - In economic terms, sustainable development requires a steady and sustained growth of wealth produced in a given country at a given time.
  - In environmental terms, sustainable development is related to the care and preservation of our natural resources, preserving and respecting the rights of individuals.
  

City of Buenos Aires, Argentina, the 27th day of August, 2010