Teleworking has been the subject of growing interest in Denmark during the past year, encouraged by a great deal of media attention. It is still the case, however, that whilst many people are talking about it very few people have direct experience of how teleworking can be implemented.
A number of government departments, including the Ministry of Work, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of the Environment, and the Ministry of Social Affairs, have taken an interest in the issue.
In terms of telework potential, the Ministry for Research & IT recently commissioned a survey, which suggested that 250,000 employees (in all sectors) in Denmark could work from home two days or more a week. Another estimate, undertaken by the Transport Council, was more modest suggesting that between 56,000-211,000 employees will telecommute for 1-2 days a week. The Transport Council calculated that such a development would lead only to marginal reductions in total traffic movements.
Meanwhile, there has been a clear growth in informal arrangements which enable employees to work on occasions from home. This has led to discussion of the need for clarifying issues raised by this, such as insurance, liability, employment contracts and tax rules. Recently, some aspects of taxation related to telework were the subject of government attention and resulted in the abolition of tax liability on PCs supplied by employers for use at home.
Again partly as a result of informal home-teleworking, a number of trade unions and employers' organisations have undertaken studies and produced reports on the issue. In 1996 booklets from both the white-collar union HK and the Financial Sector's Employers' Organisation offered advice to members considering telework (distancearbejde).
| The National Board of Industrial Injuries Under the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Board responsible for evaluating claims relating to industrial and workplace injuries initiated a telework scheme between 1996 and 1997 in order to assess technical, organisational and personnel (including family) issues. In a department of 24 employees, including case workers, medical specialists and support staff, about half were provided with a full home office, including ISDN connections and full office equipment and furniture in order to be able to work away from the office a couple of days a week. The trial coincided with a project to fully digitalise the department in which the employees work, including full scanning of all incoming mail and documents and a formal workflow system. The trial was unique, at least in Denmark, as it replicated full workplace functionality in the home in order for employees to carry out the whole range of tasks just as if they were in the office. The project has now been formally evaluated as successful and likely to be extended in the future. It clearly demonstrated productivity improvements and increased employee and family satisfaction. |
Denmark has a high level of PC penetration in both businesses and the home, and a modern telecommunications network. The government has explicitly declared that the Information Society must be aimed at improving social and living conditions.
The current interest in telework follows a series of experiments in the mid 1980s, designed to identify ways in which ICT could be used to support local communities and help local economies develop. Among the results of this public initiative were the creation of about 60 telecottages across Denmark. These telecottages have now disappeared, but from this experience has come a network of projects engaged in training long-term unemployed people in IT skills. In general, these early experiments in the use of ICT has helped put the issue firmly on the public agenda in Denmark.
The first national telework conference was held in Denmark in November 1995, and the second in December 1996. Telework is now a favourite topic for conferences and seminars at national and local level.
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