What whole groups of employees was not allowed to do for a long time suddenly became part of everyday life as a result of Corona: mobile working.
Yet there is tremendous opposition to any legal claim to it.
Because many employees have been working more and more from their
home
office
in recent months
, a debate has ensued.
Labor Minister
Hubertus Heil
wanted to establish the right to mobile work in a
law
.
The
Chancellery
let the SPD minister appear now.
Berlin - Whether employees in Germany will be
able
to legally enforce
home office
against their employer
in the future
is in the stars.
The
Federal Chancellery
sees a corresponding draft by Federal Labor
Minister
Hubertus Heil
as unsuitable for further coordination between the federal ministries, it said on Tuesday in Berlin from the Chancellery.
Without such a departmental coordination, the legislative initiative would have failed.
This vote comes before the formal decision of the Federal Cabinet when a draft law is introduced by the federal government.
The reason given in the Chancellery was that the coalition agreement contained an explicit
right to information
, but no legal right to work from home.
Heil had announced
a “Mobile Work Act”
on the weekend in
Bild am Sonntag
for a
legal right to work from home
.
Employees should be able to work mobile or in the home office 24 days a year with a five-day week.
The prerequisite is that the activity is suitable and that there are no operational reasons against it.
Right to work from home?
The Union and the SPD had made important agreements in the coalition agreement
For further agreements, the employer should have to justify within a certain period why he is rejecting a request for mobile work or home office.
Otherwise, the employee's request is
considered approved
for a
maximum of 6 months
.
In the coalition agreement, the
CDU
*
, CSU
* and
SPD
* had agreed: “We want to promote and facilitate mobile work.
We will create a legal framework for this.
This also includes the employee's right to information from their employer about the reasons for the rejection, as well as legal certainty for employees and employers when dealing with privately used company technology.
The collective bargaining partners should also make agreements on mobile work. "
North Rhine-Westphalia's Prime Minister
Armin Laschet
also appealed against a legal claim to home office
.
"I think it doesn't help," said the deputy CDU chairman in
Berlin
.
From his point of view, this would be a rigid rule - “more of an increase in bureaucracy than a reduction”.
Laschet said that some companies are more advanced, while presence is required in other areas.
"You cannot stipulate that by federal law."
Home office by law?
Altmaier warns of more bureaucracy
Federal Minister of Economics
Peter Altmaier
had also warned against more bureaucracy in connection with the draft law.
The Federal Ministry of Labor only said on Tuesday that it was in coordination with the Chancellery.
Heil
had justified his advance with the experience in the Corona crisis *.
"The virus taught us that much more mobile working is possible than we thought."
In fact, employees in many companies and authorities have been at least partially mobile at work for months.
“Do we still need the office?”,
Zeit Magazin
asked last
.
According to Heils Ministry, there are already options for mobile work, for example to
retain skilled workers
.
Nevertheless, in a country comparison there is a strong "obligation to be present and / or culture of presence".
Home office as a right?
The AfD, FDP, Greens and Leftists do not go far enough
AfD
* and
FDP
* had made
skeptical comments about Heil's advance
.
Heil did not go far enough for
the
Greens
* and the
Left
*.
CSU General Secretary
Markus Blume
had said that home office had become a matter of course in many places in the wake of Corona *.
Heil but have “regulatory fantasies”.
Video: 24 days home office: Minister Heil wants entitlement for everyone
The coalition had
already created several legal claims for employees
based on proposals from the
Ministry
of
Labor
.
These include a right to a temporary reduction in working hours or a right to qualification.
DGB leader
Reiner Hoffmann
had planned eligible for up to 24 days mobile work criticized as too little: "Such minimum claim is a concession to the employers who still block on the subject."
(Dpa / fmü) * Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen digital editorial network.