The legal framework of on call duty for teleworkers

Abstract

Today’s Labour Law acknowledges the importance of flexibility in the individual work relationships by the widescale use of teleworking programs. However, the teleworking phenomenon proliferates in parallel with an opposite trend, by which teleworkers are less protected, as a consequence of the current practices by which they are required to respond work-related calls at any time, wherever they are, and the general standards regulating the working time are ignored. While the European Union states show obvious concern with removing such risks, the practice of the Court of Justice of the European Union, given in its interpretation of the Directive concerning certain aspects in the organization of working time, is extremely important. The present study starts from the analysis of certain points in the content of the Working Time Directive 2003/88 adopted across the European Union with regard to the working time, and goes on to provide an overview of relevant decisions issued by the CJEU on working time, then draws conclusions on the legal framework (juridical regime) of on-call duty in the case of teleworkers.