Lufthansa

Plant agreement on a Pilot project "working at home and telework"
 

Preamble

By means of this plant agreement a basis for testing telework at the Lufthansa Systems has been created. By this, experiences on the question to what extent telework in future could become a regular part within the work organization of the Lufthansa Systems shall be gained.
 

1. Area of validity

This plant agreement is meant for all employees* of the Lufthansa Systems GmbH within the area of validity of the company's constitutional law.
 

2. Principles for working at home

(1) Lufthansa Systems enables employees in case of demand to work at home. To individuals as well as to groups of employees Lufthansa Systems itself offers off-company working places.
(2) The decision whether and how in the concrete case telework will be offered or established, is made by each field. An important criterion in this regard is the question, whether each working task is suitable for homework and leads to economic efficiency in the company's perspective.
(3) Precondition is the voluntariness of the employees' performance at home. It exists no legal right for employees to tele-homework.
(4) In principle the performance should be served only partly at home, and partly (alternating) within the office.
(5) Employees who are working at home remain furthermore employees of Lufthansa Systems with all their rights and duties. Existing internal company regulations will remain in valid unchanged or analogously, if no explicitly different arrangements are made. Moreover, the works committee's rights of participation during planning and realisation of domestic work are preserved.
(6) Participants of the pilot project should at least be employed at Lufthansa Systems for one year, in order to be familiar with the internal company's events.
 

3. Equipment

(1) The required equipment generally is put at disposal for free by the Lufthansa Systems, as just as costs for maintenance and repair.
(2) Concerning form and extent of the equipment, the field decides in regard of the kind of task and the usual standards for this work within the company.
(3) The provided equipment is allowed for professional use exclusively and has to be protected from access of third parties. A joint use for other and private affairs is excluded. Use differing from this principle must be agreed explicitly.
(4) In case of the employee's professional use of private equipment, an explicit agreement of the field is necessary.
 

4. Refundation of costs 

(1) Lufthansa Systems prefers telecommunication technologies which guarantees the nearly complete covering of costs by the company.
(2) Travelling costs and time between company and home office are not reimbursed.
 

5. Working time

(1) The amount of the individual average (arithmetical) working time according to the working contract generally remains unchanged.
(2) Superior and employee come to an individual agreement concerning the distribution of the legal working time between home and office, and the periods of the employee's availability at the domestic working place. In case of a system breakdown the superior can approve the crediting of time, if it's a task, that implicates a high binding at computer systems.
(3) The share of performance fulfilled at home, which is not defined by internal company necessities, is controlled by the employees autonomously. Taking into account the rules of protection of wage agreement as well as oft the working time law. Working times beyond 10 hours a day (plus breaks) are not allowed.
(4) Extra charges according to the working time are only paid in that case, if the mentioned times have been defined by internal company necessities and ordered and approved in advance by the superior.
(5) Due to holiday and prevention the same regulations as within the company are valid for off- company workers.
(6) The extent of the daily performed working time at home as well as times of absence (holiday, prevention) is documented by the employees themselves in a working diary, which is shown to the superior immediately each end of the month.
 

6. Maintenance of industrial health and safety standards, data protection and security

(1) Telework and working at home just will be approved by Lufthansa Systems, if existing suitable working places are available. In the case of this, Lufthansa Systems guarantees the keeping of requirements concerning maintenance of industrial health and safety standards.
(2) Lufthansa Systems commits itself to follow the company's standards of data protection and security. Confidential data and information as well as passwords are protected in such way that no third parties might get a look or access to them. Lufthansa Systems takes care for providing the used PCs with the latest viral scanners.
 

7. Access to the off-company working place

The works committee or an instructed representative might have a look at the domestic working place in case of an agreement with the effected employee, in order to examine the keeping of requirements due to data protection and security and maintenance of industrial health and safety standards.
 

8. Liability

The legal liability to Lufthansa Systems of off-company working employees as just as the family members living in their household is limited to intention and culpable negligence. In case of an accident at work employees are protected by the legal accident insurance.

9. Final clauses 

(1) The company partners are according to demand, but at least half-yearly discussing the project's course. With this aim in view a work group is formed, which consists of each 2 management and employees' representatives.
(2) This plant agreement is coming into force by signing and ending with the expire of the pilot project at January 31st, 1998. It will be prolonged automatically for one further year, except in case of termination by one party within a period of notice of 3 months until the end of a year. In case of termination this plant agreement involves no after-effects.