TWING project coordinated by Notus ends
The TWING project, coordinated by Notus, has been completed after 24 months (November 2022 – October 2024). The TWING project, funded by the European Commission, has been dedicated to explore the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on telework. It focused on impacts in terms of working conditions and industrial relations, with the overarching objective of supporting social partners in the promotion of decent and productive telework in the post-COVID-19 scenario.
For this purpose, the project analysed the challenges faced by four different sectors with different constraints in relation to telework (information and communication technologies, financial, chemical, and public sectors); and six countries that differ in the prevalence of telework and the methods of regulating telework, and that are representative of different industrial relations regimes (Austria, Estonia, Finland, Spain, Poland and Portugal).
To carry out the project, the transnational consortium—Notus (lead organization, Spain and Portugal), Working Life Research Centre (FORBA) (Austria), Praxis Centre for Policy Studies (Estonia), University of Jyväskylä (JYU) (Finland), and the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) (Poland)—has conducted extensive fieldwork, including documentary research, statistical analysis, and semi-structured interviews with social partners.
The analysis showed that cross-country differences persist in the post-pandemic COVID-19 period, with Finland recording the highest rate of teleworkers in 2021, Estonia and Portugal experiencing a rapid increase in telework prevalence, and Spain and Portugal remaining well below the EU average. At the sectoral level, these cross-country differences are also evident. Notably, the ICT sector is the only sector where telework patterns have converged across countries.
Research analyzing national and sectoral approaches to telework regulation highlights significant differences across countries, with national labor traditions shaping strategies more than sectoral factors.
In Austria and Finland, despite both countries having a strong tradition of centralized collective bargaining on telework, company-level bargaining differs: while Austria has extensive agreements between employers and works councils, Finland relies on informal, case-by-case negotiations, except in some specific cases.
Spain has seen a notable increase in collective bargaining on telework at both the sectoral and company levels, especially compared to Portugal, where telework-related collective bargaining remains minimal, despite both countries having similar industrial relations structures and detailed statutory telework laws.
In Poland and Estonia, no sectoral bargaining or company-level agreements on telework have been identified. Despite trade union efforts (notably in Poland), new Polish legislation has failed to significantly alter these trends.
The Final Report presents a comprehensive analysis of the TWING project’s findings, offering valuable insights to support evidence-based policymaking. You can consult the different project documents at the following link.
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