The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

New home office regulation: What employers and employees now need to know

2021-01-23T16:13:34.747Z


In the fight against Corona, the federal government wants to oblige companies to enable more home offices. But the regulation is controversial. What is important now.


In the fight against Corona, the federal government wants to oblige companies to enable more home offices.

But the regulation is controversial.

What is important now.

Munich

- Companies in Germany are encouraged to offer their employees more home offices from the middle of next week.

After lengthy discussions, Federal Labor

Minister

Hubertus Heil

(SPD) presented a corresponding “Corona occupational health and safety ordinance” to the cabinet on Wednesday.

The rules are limited until March 15th.

Criticism comes from the business world, and it is not just the coalition partner Union that warns of a “bureaucratic monster”.

But what applies now, what do employees and employers now have to pay attention to?

The most important questions and answers at a glance:

The "

Corona Occupational Safety and Health

Ordinance" essentially obliges employers to enable their employees to work from home wherever possible.

However, should the presence of employees be unavoidable, the companies must take precautions.

For example, in open-plan offices there must be at least ten square meters per person.

If clearances cannot be maintained, companies must provide their employees with FFP-2 masks.

There are two main reasons for this.

First, Heil also sees companies as an obligation.

Because in other areas such as shops, schools or leisure facilities the possibilities for infection protection are largely exhausted, "additional and time-limited measures of occupational health and safety are indispensable as a contribution to health protection," says the regulation.

In addition, according to an overview by the union

-related Hans Böckler Foundation

, the proportion of home workers has

apparently fallen significantly

recently

.

While in the first lockdown last spring around 27 percent of employees mainly or exclusively worked from the

home

office, the corresponding comparison value in November was 14 percent.

Rather not.

According to the ordinance, employers are required

to allow

employees to

work from home

, provided there are no compelling operational reasons to the contrary.

However, the term “compelling operational reasons” is not further elaborated in the relevant ordinance.

But one thing is clear: the bar is high.

Therefore, the employer needs a solid reason to refuse to work from home.

This can be, for example, that an employee has no access to the company network, for example because he does not have a mobile computer.

No.

Employees can, however

, complain about their employer

to the

works council

, the occupational health and safety authority or the responsible accident insurance institution if they are wrongly

denied

the opportunity to

work

from home in their opinion

.

However, it always makes sense, if possible, to talk to the

employer

first

.

Many employees can only work from home to a limited extent, for example because they do not have fast Internet access, or because they lack a study or a decent desk.

That is why many employees continue to prefer their office workplace.

So if you really want to come to the office, you can continue to do so.

In principle, the following applies: The employer cannot

force

his employee to work from

home

.

No.

Even if workers are afraid of infection, they cannot just stay at home.

If you work from home without consulting

your

employer

, you risk a warning

or

, in the worst case, a termination.

Therefore, the same applies here: It is best to talk to the employer.

Most companies take the worries of their employees seriously and try to find a good solution.

No.

In the run-up to the decision on the obligation to work from

home, there was

also the consideration of completely prohibiting a joint visit to the canteen or the coffee kitchen.

In the end, however, Minister of Labor Heil waived a regulation.

Since most company kitchens only offer their dishes as takeaways anyway and the tables in many canteens are completely blocked, such a regulation is not necessary, they say.

The regulation on

home office

provides, among other things, a special tax regulation.

Thereafter, retroactive to January 1, 2021, the necessary home office IT such as notebooks or necessary software can be completely written off in the current year.

Up to now, the depreciation period was three years.

List of rubric lists: © Julian Stratenschulte

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-01-23

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.