Union wants work-from-home regulations in labor agreements

Trade union FNV thinks that regulations around working from home should be included in future collective bargaining agreements. A survey among its members showed that most find this desirable. The union will be discussing new collective agreements with employers in the financial sector starting next month, and how to arrange working from home properly will be part of those negotiations, NU.nl reports.

FNV surveyed 9,400 members working in the financial sector, for the municipal and national government, and at call centers. "Now that working from home is lasting longer and employers and employees see that it is also possible, there is a new situation that requires new agreements," FNV vice president Kitty Jong said. "Also for the period after corona."

Work-from-home regulations must include things such as compensation, material, agreements about the combination of work and private life, and the right to work from home as well as at the office. The union also wants to answer questions like what can be done to prevent work pressure increasing, and what extra costs do employees incur by working from home?

Two thirds of surveyed FNV members said that they enjoy working from home. Less than 20 percent have the opposite experience. The most mentioned advantage to the home office is no travel time. Better concentration, higher productivity, and more freedom to work like you want are also often mentioned. The main disadvantages mentioned are the lack of colleagues and social interaction. Older employees in particular like working from home, younger employees less so. The union thinks this is because younger employees more often have young children or smaller homes. The younger employees also miss their colleagues most, even though they are best at collaborating remotely.

The vast majority of FNV members want to keep alternating between working from home and working from the office in the future. Almost half of the members want the union to make sure they keep the right to work at the office.