ABSTRACT

The term “remote work” has become very popular. But it is used to designate very different situations. We propose to use the category “telework” to designate a particular form of “remote work” that is salaried, where employees work outside the organization through the use of information and communication technologies. “Remote work” then includes the development of forms of work that take place on the margins of organizations, on a self-employed basis. Today “telework” has become a managerial promise to make employees “autonomous” and “responsible” and to shift the role of management from control to support and trust. But the practice of “telework” remains very unequal along lines of gender and qualification: it brings to the fore new issues of equality and equity within organizations. However, these inequalities also take place outside the organization: the ability to manage a space-time framework and to defend its limits is unevenly distributed – this is true for employees as well for freelancers. Therefore, “telework” cannot be analyzed as a simple contractual work arrangement: it questions the principle of subordination and brings salaried work closer to independent work, allowing an increase in self-employment situations. “Remote work” is thus shaking up the wage framework and its boundaries.