Heat-free in the home office - is that actually possible?

2021-06-17T21:53:10.562Z

When the summer heat wave rolls in, it gets unbearably hot in many homes. Do employees in the home office then get heat-free?

When the summer heat wave rolls in, it gets unbearably hot in many homes.

Do employees in the home office then get heat-free?

In Germany, the summer heat wave is already on the march.

And with it, the temperatures in many apartments also rise.

Badly insulated attic apartments in particular make residents sweat.

Anyone who works in the home office * can hardly think clearly.

Do employees have to work in the

home office

at all in exceptional heat - or is there a

heat-free option

for them

Also read:

Heat at work: this is why it is better not to use fans.

Is there a heat-free option in the home office?

Heat-free - these rules apply in the office

In the

office

, the matter is relatively clear: According to the "Technical Rules for Workplaces", employers should act as soon as the room temperature in the workplace rises to 26 degrees or higher.

This means that they must take appropriate measures (blinds, awnings, air conditioning, protective clothing, etc.) to cool down the employees.

If the

room temperatures nevertheless

rise

above 35 degrees

, this is considered unreasonable for employees - the boss has to give his employees

heat-free.

However, this is hardly possible in air-conditioned offices.

You can find out more about your rights in the heat of the office here.

Heat in the home office - what rights do employees have?

In the home office, the chances of being heat-free are extremely poor. It is true that the employer is obliged to ensure that home workplaces meet the requirements of occupational health and safety law. "Since the employer has

no immediate access to the home office

or the teleworking place

in the event of high temperatures

, these obligations to take measures from a certain room temperature do not apply to these workplaces," explains lawyer and labor law expert Patrick Klinkhammer to the online magazine

Businessinsider

. In fact, the employee in the home office himself has to ensure that he can do his work at his home desk even in the summer heat.

Anyone who still cannot control the heat at the remote workstation and is

unable to work

due to

heat

must report this to the employer "immediately", according to Klinkhammer.