Everyone should stay at home. And your company still requires you to come to the office, even though working from home would be possible?
- Many employees work in the home office because of the corona pandemic * .
- However, some companies wish to come to the office .
- What workers should know.
Home office or not: What workers should know
Due to the corona pandemic, many employees are currently working in their home office *. However, some are still encouraged to come to the office - even if they theoretically have the opportunity to work from home. Can you ask your boss to do that? The most important questions and answers at a glance.
Don't employers have to order home office now?
No. There is no general right to a home office . As long as the employer has not made a corresponding agreement with the employees and nothing is regulated in the company agreement or in the collective agreement, employees must continue to come to work. If you do not show up, you can be warned and terminated if you fail to appear again.
However, people with disabilities or previous illnesses who are at particular risk in the company or on the way to work can be entitled to a home office .
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Special protection for people with previous illnesses
Since there is now a theoretical possibility in all areas and industries to get infected by colleagues, the corresponding hygiene and distance rules must be observed in every company, explains Wolfhard Kohte, professor at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Among other things, he deals with labor, corporate and social law.
Do employees have to take the risk of using public transport?
The potential risk of contracting the novel corona virus when using public transport is not a general argument for workers not to appear at work. "The path risk is a problem for the employees," explains Prof. Kohte. "And at the moment the situation is not such that you can no longer walk on the street." If the current regulations remain, it is usually reasonable for employees to continue to leave the house to go to work.
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And what applies to people with previous illnesses?
According to Kohte, people with previous illnesses that lead to particular risks in the case of an infection, such as asthma , are entitled to special protection. For example, those who work in retail can ask the employer to work in another workplace with reduced customer contact, for example in the warehouse or in the office without customer contact. In addition, this group is also entitled to a home office.
In individual cases, people with previous illnesses may be certified as unable to work after medical advice. The obligation to work then ceases to apply.
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dpa / ahu
* merkur.de is part of the nationwide central Ippen editorial network.