Flynn urges stricter rules to govern homework

Date: 21/05/1998

By Simon Coss

EU GOVERNMENTS should ensure that people who work at home have the same rights as their counterparts in more traditional jobs, Social Affairs Commissioner Pádraig Flynn will argue next week.

Flynn will call on all the Union's 15 member states to ratify a convention on homeworking drawn up by the Geneva-based International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 1996. Neither Germany or the UK have done so yet.

The ILO convention calls on all signatory states to introduce legislation to ensure people who work from home are afforded certain basic rights. These include the right to join organisations such as trade unions, assurances that employees will not be discriminated against over pay, and measures to prevent children being forced to work.

The Commission argues that it would not be possible to improve on the provisions of the ILO treaty by proposing EU-level legislation, which is why Flynn is urging member states to support the international deal rather than putting forward a separate initiative of his own.

“We believe the ILO document covers everything we would want to do and we don't believe we could go any further,” explained Flynn's spokeswoman Barbara Nolan.

Although the recent explosion in information technology has given working from home a high profile, officials point out that it is actually one of the oldest forms of employment.

While the modern image of teleworking is that of plugged-in online executives using faxes, e-mail and the Internet to stay in touch with the office without the problems and stress of commuting, many people who work at home carry out boring, repetitive tasks for very low 'piece-rate' wages.

“Cottage industries where the whole family works are among the most obvious forms of working from home,” explained one ILO official. “In such cases, it is still child labour if a minor is working at home.”

The ILO concedes that the convention is essentially a set of guidelines and that any legislation based on the text must be passed by national governments.

“The convention does not say 'do it this way or that way'. It doesn't go into a great deal of detail, but at least it sets out the sorts of rights which should be considered,” explained the organisation's Yoshie Noguchi. “How the convention is actually put into practice is to a large extent up to the governments to decide.”