Teleworking: an opportunity for Monaco - Monaco Economic Board Conference

On Tuesday 5 July, nearly 130 people took up an invitation from the Monaco Economic Board (MEB) to attend a breakfast conference entitled: “Teleworking, an opportunity for Monaco”. Stéphane Valeri, Minister of Health and Social Affairs, spoke at the conference. 

In his opening remarks, Stéphane Valeri recalled that the teleworking initiative was the end result of several years of negotiations with France. These led to the agreement signed in Monaco on 18 March 2014, which defined teleworking and established the principle whereby teleworkers resident in France could be subject to Monegasque social legislation and therefore affiliated to the Social Services Compensation Fund for the duration of their employment as teleworkers for a company based within the Principality. 

The Minister then recalled the objectives of the two pieces of legislation recently adopted unanimously by the National Council, as well as their key principles, including, in addition to affiliation to Monegasque social security schemes during the period of employment, the obligation to formalise teleworking arrangements in an employment contract or an amendment to an employment contract, and the obligation for teleworkers to spend at least a third of their working hours on company premises to maintain their relationships with their employers and colleagues. 

In order to make the introduction of this new working format as smooth as possible, Stéphane Valeri noted that concrete and practical measures would be made available to employers by the Department of Employment, as follows: 

-  sample employment contracts and amendments to employment contracts may be given in person to interested parties, 

-  a form which will serve as an aid for employers in drafting a framework structure setting out the general procedures for teleworking will also be made available. 

Finally, a leaflet aimed at both employees and employers has been produced and was handed out for the first time at the end of the presentation. 

Sophie Vincent, Deputy Director of the Department of Employment, also confirmed that, to facilitate the implementation of teleworking in practice, her department was ready to talk to any employer who requested a meeting. Patrick Moreau, a member of the Caisse d’Epargne Côte d’Azur Board with responsibility for Resources, then gave an overview of the experience his organisation had acquired with regard to teleworking in France over the course of more than a year. The test phase has proved conclusive and will be renewed. It may now be extended to Monaco.

Time was given over to practical questions and comments from participants. Other Monegasque companies had an opportunity to share their strong interest in this new working format: Martin Péronnet, Director of Monaco Telecom, confirmed that his staff had high expectations of the new initiative.

In conclusion, Stéphane Valeri reminded participants that this was an important step forward in the history of the Principality. Over the coming decades, teleworking will enable the country to respond effectively to the challenges presented by the success of Monaco’s economic development, namely the limited size of its territory. Teleworking guarantees additional income for the state, through VAT and corporate income taxes.

Finally, he reiterated the significant opportunities for entrepreneurs and employees who wished to take advantage of them:

-  in concrete terms, employers will very soon be able to recruit their first teleworking employees, without needing to secure additional office space and therefore without increasing their property costs;

-  employees will gain time previously lost to commuting, which they will be able to devote to their families and hobbies.