On the border of the physical and the virtual workplace – Dogmatic issues of home office and telework in general and in Hungarian law

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31261/zpppips.2023.21.04

Keywords:

home office, flexibility, telework, virtual workplace, virtual workplace and health

Abstract

The recent pandemic forced companies to switch to working from home, which was necessary to maintain health and economic efficiency. The move from physical workplaces to virtual workplaces in the digital space, however, started earlier than the pandemic. The pandemic amplified this process. In parallel, we also see that companies have had positive experiences in the process of creating virtual workplaces. The virtual workplace has serious IT-issues, which we attempt to reflect on. Some of the employees have taken to this solution: a significant part of the companies has not even returned to the classical former working processes. We have to focus also on the issues of the virtual workplace. Due to its practical popularity, it was necessary to regulate home office at the legal level, as most experts also had the opposite opinion on its essential elements. In order to close this debate, the legislator has created a new regulation concerning teleworking, which amends the rules of the Hungarian Labour Code on teleworking with effect from the end of the emergency. The purpose of this paper is to present the new legislation, with particular attention to the points at issue and the basics of its application in practice.

References

Bibliography

Allen, T.D., Golden, T.D., Shockley, K.M.: Assessing the Status of Our Scientific Findings. “Psychological Science in the Public Interest” 2015, 16 (2), pp. 40–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100615593273.

Bankó, Z.: The dilemmas of regulating telework. In: Ünnepi tanulmányok Lőrincz György 70. születésnapja tiszteletére. Eds. Z. Bankó, Gy. Berke, L. Pál, Z. Petrovics. HVG Orac 2019, p. 27.

Bankó, Z., Berke, Gy., Kiss, Gy., Szőke, G.L.: Nagykommentár a munka törvénykönyvéről szóló 2012. évi I. törvényhez. Wolters Kluwer Hungary Kft., Budapest 2021.

Berényi, L.: Gondolatok a munkajog dogmatikai fejlődéséről, különös tekintettel a munkáltatói koncepció alakulására. “Polgári Szemle” 2021, 17:4–6, pp. 423–432. DOI: 10.24307/psz.2021.1231.

Berényi, L.: The Right to a Healthy Working Environment in the Light of Flexible Working Conditions. “Revue européenne du droit social” 2022, LVI:3, pp. 70–79. DOI 10.53373/ REDS.2022.56.3.0076.

Cano, V., Hatar, C., and Zapatero, A.: Teleworking: conceptual and implementation problems. “VINE” 1997, Vol. 27, No. 5, pp. 27–34. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb040663.

Davies, P.: Efficiency Arguments for the Collective Representation of Workers: A Sketch. In: Autonomy of Labour Law. Eds. Bogg et al. Hart Publishing, Oxford and Portland Oregon 2015, pp. 367–396.

Gray, M., Hodson, N., Gordon, G. (eds.): Teleworking Explained. John Wiley & Sons, England 1993.

Herdon, I.: A munkavégzés helyének megváltoztatása – távmunka, „home office”. In: Országos Bírósági Hivatal Mailáth György Tudományos Pályázat 2020: Díjazott Dolgozatok. Ed. Országos Bírósági Hivatal, Budapest 2021, p. 660.

Herdon, I., Rab, H..: Megvalósítható-e jogszerűen a home office? A home office fogalmi ismérvei és munkajogi keretei. “Pro Futuro” 2021, p. 3.

Kártyás, G., Petrovics, Z., Takács, G.: Kommentár a munka törvénykönyvéről szóló 2012. évi I. törvényhez. Wolters Kluwer Hungary Kft., Budapest 2020.

Kossek, E., Ozeki, C.: Bridging the work-family policy and productivity gap: a literature review. “Community Work and Family” 1999, 1, pp. 7–32.

Lipták, K.: Maradj otthon, dolgozz otthon! – A koronavírus-járvány hatása a távmunkára Észak-Magyarországon,“Területi Statisztika” 2021, 61:2, pp. 153–169, 17. Doi: 10.15196/TS610202.

Máté, D.A.: Flexible working, flexible rules. “Revue européenne du droit social” 2022, LVI, p. 86. DOI 10.53373/REDS.2022.56.3.0078.

Máté, D.A: New Trends in Employment. “Lex et Scientia” 2022, No. XXIX, Vol. 1, pp. 97–110.

Migliore, A., Ceinar, I.M., Tagliaro, C.: Beyond Coworking: From Flexible to Hybrid Spaces. In: The Flexible Workplace. Eds. M. Orel, O. Dvouletý,

V. Ratten. ­Human Resource Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62167-4_1.

Mélypataki, G., Máté, D.A.: Necessity of Reconsideration of Labour Law Relations - Pandemic, Labour Market, Social Innovation. “Z Problematyki Prawa Pracy i Polityki Socjalnej” 2021, 19:5. Paper: zpppips.2021.19.05.s.1.z.19. Doi:10.31261/zpppips.2021.19.05.

Molnár, B.: Reflections on the home office in general and in times of virus. “Hungarian Labour Law E-journal” 2021, Vol. 1.

Noonan, M.C., Glass, J.L.: The hard truth about telecommuting. “Monthly Labor Review” 2012, 135, pp. 38–45.

Ortiz-Lozano, J.M., Martínez-Morán, P.C., de Nicolás, V.L.: Teleworking in the Public Administration: An Analysis Based on Spanish Civil Servants’ Perspectives During the Pandemic. “SAGE Open” 2022, https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440221079843.

Strihó, K.: Labour law in the world of digitalisation. “Erdélyi Jogélet” 2021, (4) 157–169. https://doi.org/10.47745/ERJOG.2020.04.12.

Szekeres, B., Mélypataki, G.: The Flexible Home Office Regarding Its (New) Question in Hungary and the Issues of the Virtual Workplace. “Revue européenne du droit social” 2022, LVI:3, pp. 63–69. DOI 10.53373/REDS.2022.56.3.0075.

Vallasek, M., Mélypataki, G.: Rules on Home Office Work and Telework in Romania and in Hungary. “Central European Journal of Comparative Law” 2020, 1:2, pp. 177–191.

Venczel-Szakó, T., Balogh, G., Borgulya I.: Távmunka, home office: hogyan érinti a távolról dolgozás a szervezet intern kommunikációját? “Vezetéstudomány/ Budapest Management Review” 2021, 2, pp. 75–86.

Case Law

A Technológiai és Ipari Minisztérium Munkavédelmi Irányítási Főosztályának tájékoztatása az információtechnológiai vagy számítástechnikai eszközzel végzett távmunka során a munkavégzéshez szükséges, egészséget nem veszélyeztető és biztonságos munkakörülmények szabályairól. 2022.06.17., http://www.ommf.gov.hu/index.php?akt_menu=172&hir_reszlet=851 (10.09.2022.)

Guide on Teleworking during COVID-19 Pandemic Knowledge and results from Tele-WOSH as a RESTART 2016–2020 project, belong to the participating organization carrying out the work that produced them. 2021. 30–31.

EU strategic framework on health and safety at work 2021–2027. occupational safety and health in a changing world of work, European Commission, Brussels, 28.6.2021 COM (2021) 323 final, 2. (20.08.2022).

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on The challenges of teleworking: the organisation of working time, work-life balance and the right to decoupling (2021/C 220/01). “Official Journal of the European Union” 9 June 2021, Vol. 64.

Pilot projects in Public Administration Management: – Summary of a Research at Pázmány Péter Catholic University Faculty of Law and Political Sciences 2013, Vol. II, edited by B. Sz. Gerencsér. Budapest, Pázmány Péter Katolikus Egyetem.

Downloads

Published

2023-04-19

How to Cite

Mélypataki, G., Solymosi-Szekeres, B., & Kovács-Berényi, L. (2023). On the border of the physical and the virtual workplace – Dogmatic issues of home office and telework in general and in Hungarian law. Z Problematyki Prawa Pracy I Polityki Socjalnej, 21(4), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.31261/zpppips.2023.21.04