Efforts but can do better.
A week after the reframing in order of the Minister of Labor with companies who were reluctant to implement the "obligation" of telework hammered out since the reconfinement, Elisabeth Borne, takes stock exclusively for Le Parisien-Today in France .
"The idea that employers would not play the game is overwhelmingly false," assures the minister while acknowledging that there is room for improvement for a third of the employees concerned.
According to the results of a Harris Interactive survey commissioned by its department and conducted among employers and employees last week, 70% of workers who could easily telecommute did so at least partially last week and only 45% full-time .
During the first confinement, companies had played the game. For this reconfinement, many seem reluctant to apply teleworking.
How do you explain it?
ELISABETH BORNE.
The two situations have nothing to do with it.
In March, we told the French to stay at home and do what they could by telecommuting.
The consequence is that our economy had largely stopped.
We have seen a sharp drop in activity with millions of employees in partial activity.
This is not what we want to do today.
Suddenly, the rule we have set is that all activities that can be teleworked must be 100% teleworked.
The rule is less binary but it will allow us this time to reconcile the maximum of teleworking and the pursuit of economic activity.
Last week, your message on mandatory teleworking did not seem to have been understood ...
It took time to organize within companies to determine what teleworking activities correspond to, which can vary from one workstation to another.
That's why we talked about a test week.
There also had to be discussions in the companies to properly assess which tasks were eligible.
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What are the lessons learned from the Harris Interactive survey that you launched last week to identify behaviors and issues facing re-containment in companies?
She first confirms that not everyone can telecommute.
39% of working people say that their current job cannot be done teleworking against 36% who say they can telework easily.
On average, those who telecommuted last week did so for 3.7 days compared to 2.7 days the week before.
In total, 45% of employees teleworked and 23% did so 100% of the time.
If we zoom in on the working people who say they can easily telecommute, 70% have teleworked at least partially and 45% have done so full time.
The idea that employers would not play along is therefore overwhelmingly false.
What is the room for improvement?
Among the employees surveyed and who were 100% present in their company last week, only 15% say that it is for lack of agreement from their employer to telework.
At the same time, 27% of telecommuting employees believe their employer has asked them to come back to the workplace for tasks they feel could be done remotely.
There is therefore room for progress on these employees.
On Friday you visited several large companies, such as Total.
What are their feedbacks?
Everyone understood that they had to push telework to the full.
Company managers and HRDs have also told us that 100% teleworking is not popular with employees either, some of whom do not have good memories of confinement.
Moreover, in our study, 58% of employees who were 100% teleworked last week would prefer to come back one day a week and four in ten employees say they have a feeling of isolation.
I am aware that we are asking employers and employees alike to make efforts, undoubtedly beyond what everyone would like.
But we are facing an epidemic that is still very brutal.
Reducing travel, company presence and interactions remains one of the most effective means, with the wearing of masks and barrier gestures to break the dynamics of the epidemic.
Recall that there were still 551 deaths in 24 hours in hospital due to the Covid on Monday.
What instructions have you given to the labor inspectorate?
She continues to provide education and advice as she has been doing since the start of the crisis.
It ensures that the social dialogue works.
Since last spring, there have been more than 55,000 company interventions, of which 340 have resulted in formal notices.
Last week, the teams notably observed an ignition delay in the banking sector.
So I spoke with several leaders to tell them that the rule applied to everyone and that it had to be pushed to the maximum, especially in their seats.
I also had discussions at the end of the week with the President of the Bar of Paris and the National Bar Council which reminded in a note, including to all the major law firms that the rules of telework are binding on everyone.
What sanctions are envisaged for recalcitrant employers?
Some lawyers still dispute the “compulsory” nature of telework ...
Let's stop cutting hair in four.
The Labor Code lays down the obligation for employers to ensure the safety and health of employees.
On this basis their responsibility can be engaged.
As for the labor inspectorate, it uses its prerogatives: the first step is the formal notice.
Then there is a deadline to get into compliance.
In 93% of cases, the formal notices issued since last March were followed by the implementation of protective measures by employers.
The health protocol also obliges the bosses to take regular news of their isolated employees.
This obligation made employers jump ...
For its employees in difficulty, the leaders of large companies set up listening cells.
For VSEs and SMEs who do not have the means to set up such a device, this Tuesday we launched a helpline for support and advice which will mobilize more than 70 psychologists.
It will be accessible 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.
Despite the official communication, many officials are invited to go to work ...
In the administration, there was also a need for a delay in setting up, but the situation is improving.
Clear instructions were passed, a circular was sent to all the directors and general secretaries of the various ministries by the minister in charge of the public service.
What do you say to all those who are still not convinced?
We all want to turn the page, but it's in everyone's interest to play the telecommuting card.
The more the rules are respected, the more they will be effective and the faster we can get out of this penalizing period for the French and the economy.
