The new day dawns

The first working day of the year. A perfectly clean desk. Not a piece of paper.
And now the paper anxiety has subsided.

It was worse on the last working day of last year when the green barrel was rolled to the workplace and I threw paper pile after paper pile.

To throw away or not to throw away. That is the question. Am I throwing away something that I absolutely should have kept? Is it something important that will be lost forever?

Soon I realized that I had almost everything in a double set. Partly in paper form and partly in digital form. In addition, I have taken the trouble to keep track of everything in two places; in the piles on the desk and in the folders in the computer.

It must be easier to keep track of everything in a system.

In the end, there were two small piles left. Things I didn't have in my computer, mostly saved articles, which I quickly scanned in. And then a number of collective agreements as signed originals.

Because almost everything can be managed in digital form. Money, receipts, accounts, annual reports, employment contracts, photos and more. But not collective agreements. At least that has been the interpretation so far.

The MBL (Co-determination Act) states:
Section 23 "Collective agreement" means a written agreement between an employers' organization or an employers' and employees' organization on the terms of employment of employees or on the relationship in general between employers and employees.An agreement is also considered to be in writing when its content has been recorded in adjusted minutes or when a proposal for an agreement and its approval have been recorded in separate documents.

Written is still interpreted literally as meaning that collective agreements must be signed in pen on paper. Symtomatic if collective agreements are to become the last paper bastion.

It is a common human trait to want to have one foot in the new and the other in the old. It is difficult to dare to break up!

But for me, my great digital adventure continues.

Stefan Koskinen
Director of the Federation
Almega Service Companies