Regulation at work: from Europe to the shop floor. The case of telework in Belgium

In 2002, European social partners signed the European Framework Agreement on Telework with the aim to define general guidelines for the UE 27 countries (Larsen et Andersen, 2007). While some countries transposed the European measures into ‘soft law’, other member states negotiated those measures in terms of regulations, obligations, standard rights and decisions (Eurofound, 2010). A large body of literature questions the effects of ‘multi-level governance’ or of non-legally binding commitments included in EU agreements on national-level social dialogue and on companies (e.g. Ertel et al, 2010; Léonard, 2008; Weber, 2010). However very little is known about the effects of a ‘European autonomous agreement’ on lower levels, and particularly on actual practices on the shop floor (Deakin and Koudiaki, 2008; Prosser, 2011). This paper examines to what extent a European-level agreement affects practices within companies. More precisely, it analyses the diverse social processes by which norms at play are interpreted, re-interpreted, transformed, avoided or simply forgotten (Reynaud, 2004), at different levels where actors interact, from the European level to the shop floor. Our aim is, precisely, to highlight social dynamics that occur from the negotiation of teleworking practices to their effective uses. This, in turn, questions the capacity of macro-level players to set up norms that have efficient impact at work. In terms of empirical work, we draw upon qualitative data (108 interviews) gathered in two companies located in Belgium. Research results highlight local re-regulation of the work activity such as time arrangements, workspaces relocation or work organization.