With the expiry of the federal emergency brake, companies are no longer required to offer home offices wherever possible.
The employers' associations are pleased. The trade unions are calling for permanent regulation.
Berlin - The economy has welcomed the expiry of the corona-related home office obligation this Wednesday.
This “bureaucratic actionism” was an unnecessary meddling of politics, said the chief executive of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations, Steffen Kampeter, of the German press agency. In the past few months, the companies have made it possible to work from home independently, voluntarily and very reliably in all industries. “We employers have delivered in the home office and we will continue to do so wherever internal and external business processes allow. We don't need a regulation for that. "
The head of the German Trade Union Federation (DGB), Reiner Hoffmann, called for permanent regulation in this area. A legislative package is also expected from the next federal government, he told the dpa. Many employees wanted a healthy mix of face-to-face work and the possibility of being able to work on the move in the future. "This healthy mix includes clear rules of the game, because the pandemic at the latest has made the serious problems in the home office visible: excessive working hours and unpaid overtime, permanent availability expectations, shaky equipment or digital monitoring."
Hoffmann demanded a legal right to home office or mobile work, adequate occupational health and safety, "proper equipment" and further steps towards more participation.
"It must also be clear that home office cannot be prescribed by the employer."
The employers refuse.
"A home office regulation is neither necessary nor useful," said Kampeter.
"In order for the economy to get going again, it needs the right framework conditions: flexibility and freedom for innovations instead of further regulations."
The home office obligation anchored in the federal emergency brake expires this Wednesday together with the emergency brake. In the Infection Protection Act, the validity was limited to June 30th. Companies still have to maintain corona measures and offer two tests per week and draw up hygiene plans. This is regulated in the new Corona Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance, which comes into force on July 1st and is to apply until September 10th.
The DGB bases its demands for permanent regulation of home office and mobile working on an as yet unpublished evaluation of survey data from employees, which was collected a year ago. The dpa has received the evaluation. According to this, employees in the home office have, according to their own opinion, more design options in terms of working hours and work allocation than employees with a permanent job in the company. However, they often report excessively long working hours and pressure to perform.
46 percent of those surveyed who worked in the home office or on the move stated that it "very often" or "often" happens that they cannot switch off properly during their non-working hours. Of the employees with a permanent job, only 34 percent said that. Significantly more home office employees (39 percent) also stated that they were "very often" or "often" expected to be available outside of working hours by email or telephone (other employees: 15 percent). dpa
