Proceedings of 8th European Assembly on telework (Telework2001)

100• Combat any form <strong>of</strong> discrimination against e-workers regarding management methods , accessto information and integrity and foster the inclusion <strong>of</strong> remote employees into the corporatecommunity.• In addition to traditional occupational health measures, pay special attention to risks related to‘cross-border stress’ and provide to the e-workers opportunities to participate and influencetheir work.• Respect cultural diversity among e-workers and allow employees to influence aspects vital tothe individual’s work/life balance and quality <strong>of</strong> life.Data protection, security and integrityThe risks for unauthorized data access, and threats concerning the integrity <strong>of</strong> the individual,increase in businesses and work environments, where an essential part <strong>of</strong> the information flowis transmitted by electronic media. Application <strong>of</strong> <strong>European</strong> Union data protection directivecompany-wide can be a preventing measure to start from.Enterprises should:• Prevent fraud/crime and threats by providing clear directions on information handling andinformation dissemination.• Ensure that the communication facilities and information systems used by individuals andentities are technically and organisationally secured in order to protect commercial, intellectualand innovation assets.• Establish rules <strong>of</strong> conduct for the use <strong>of</strong> technology such as telephony, data transmissionfacilities, e-mail, video/audio conferencing, Internet/Intranet/Extranet etc in order to safeguardintegrity and obtain best possible working climate.• Protect the integrity <strong>of</strong> the employees by introducing strict company-wide rules for internalprocessing and external dissemination <strong>of</strong> personal data.• Specify clear standards and obtain fair solutions regarding employees’ Intellectual PropertyRights on outcomes <strong>of</strong> their work.Work technologies and toolsEqual opportunities and compatible working environments and tools across the organisation arekey elements for efficient cooperation between dispersed entities. Other crucial requirements aretechnical reliability, employee involvement, information access and training opportunities.Enterprises should:• Adopt user-friendly, compatible and reliable technologies, and ensure that all work sites matchcorporate technology standards.• Invest in interactive global working environments and tools in order to enrich cooperation.• Provide staff training in order to maintain technical skills for efficient co-operation amonggeographically dispersed workers.• Introduce technical support facilities that can secure local efficiency and safe global cooperationacross borders.• Adopt corporate policies that facilitate information access and encourage broad scale globalinformation exchange and information sharing.