PRESS RELEASE

22 November 2022

Public thematic report

TELEWORK IN THE CIVIL SERVICE AFTER THE HEALTH

CRISIS

Telework under general laws, which appeared informally in the 1990s, was introduced in the

civil service in 2012 by the so-called Sauvadet law. It is distinct from “enforced” telework in

exceptional circumstances, imposed by the employer to protect staff and simultaneously

ensure the continuity of public services. Until the health crisis, telework in the civil service

was relatively insignificant. During the health crisis, the decree of 5 May 2020 extended and

relaxed the use of telework under general laws, and then the collective bargaining

agreement of 13 July 2021 on its implementation in the civil service required employers to

negotiate or renegotiate their telework arrangements. The use of telework during the Covid-

19 pandemic, albeit on a restricted basis, paved the way to it becoming commonplace. The

report published today analyses recent developments in the area of telework as well as

issues raised by the use of telework in terms of maintaining the quality of public services,

while noting the opportunities it offers in relation to improving services for users.

A very proactive acceleration in the use of telework

Although telework developed significantly in the early 2010s, mainly in the State Civil Service

(SCS), it was not a widely used working method. The absolute need to ensure that public

services were able to continue operating during the lockdowns significantly altered the

situation. However, although in the SCS (at least at the ministries) collective negotiations have

taken place, the situation is very different in the decentralized local public services (DLPS) and

the hospital civil service (HCS), where the roll-out of telework has not been a priority.

Nevertheless, there has recently been a significant increase in the number of teleworkers and

it is now common for more than half of staff in central government to telework two days every

week on average, with some staff telework two and a half days every week. telework also

remains limited to administrative roles that had no contact with the general public.

Carefully reconciling the roll-out of telework arrangements with the interests of the

department and property-related expenses.

The new role of telework represents a strategic and operational challenge for public sector

employers. Currently, due to its rapid roll-out in the wake of the health crisis, the overall level

of consideration given to telework has been and remains insufficient. In terms of duties, staff

will only be able to be given the option of telework three days per week, as set out in the

agreement of 13 July 2021, if public employers are very vigilant in ensuring beforehand that

the level of service can be maintained or, preferably, improved. Similarly, in terms of property

assets, the Court notes that while, in the private sector, large-scale telework has frequently

been associated with a reduction in office space, the public sector has only just started thinking

about such issues. The Court considers that public employers will have to apply a similar

approach to the private sector once telework in their departments reaches a certain threshold.

Ensuring that telework is productive and that procedures for monitoring teleworkers are

effective

The widespread use of telework in the civil service raises two issues: on the one hand, public

sector employers must ensure that telework does not adversely affect the overall productivity

of their departments - a subject open for debate given the absence of authoritative studies -

and does jeopardise the continuing existence of essential working groups. On the other hand,

employers need to put in place effective monitoring systems for teleworkers to ensure that

they are being productive and that they are being treated equally with employees who are not

teleworkers. The challenge for managers is therefore significant and work remains to be done,

especially if opening hours are to be extended. All in all, the successful roll-out of telework

suggests that public sector employers should now follow a more holistic and systemic

approach.

Telework: an opportunity to refresh the public services offered to users

Telework also represents an opportunity for refreshing the service offered to users, a

dimension that has not been given sufficient consideration. The Court has identified two ways

in which telework could improve the service offered to users: it could be used as a way of

extending the hours in which users of public services are able to contact the authorities, for

which there is strong demand among users. In addition, it provides a real opportunity to

develop contact through video conferencing, which would then become a fourth way of

contacting users of public services, limiting the criticism that has sometimes been levelled

relating to the digitisation of procedures. These advantages, whether proven or potential, point

to the fact that public sector employers should embrace these working methods, so that

telework becomes a major focus in the modernisation of public services, benefiting both agents

and users.

Read the report

PRESS CONTACT:

Julie Poissier

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Head of Press Relations

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T

+33 (0)1 42 98 97 43

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+33 (0)6 87 36 52 21

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julie.poissier@ccomptes.fr

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