A year ago, most offices were empty. Shortly before Christmas, the Federal Council imposed new corona measures, including a home office requirement.
Many employees were happy when they were allowed to return to the office in early February. But occasionally working from home is something many people enjoyed during the corona pandemic. The home office makes it easier to combine family and work, you can save yourself the trip to work and sometimes receive a package that you ordered.
The federal government should investigate home office laws
However, not all companies where a home office would be possible allow their employees to do so. A circumstance that annoys SP alderman Gabriela Suter (50). She refers to a survey by opinion research agency Marketagent.com commissioned by total company Steiner. Nine percent of respondents whose jobs at least partially allow working from home stated that their employer does not allow it.
“It’s annoying that an employer can just say, ‘No, we don’t do that,'” says Suter. She wants the federal government to enshrine the right to a home office in law. In an initiative, she calls on the Bundesrat to investigate exactly how this can be implemented. Depending on the result, it will then take further steps.
Model Netherlands
Suter’s role model is the Netherlands. Last summer, the House of Representatives decided, similar to the National Council, to enshrine the right to work from home in labor law – provided that the profession allows home work. Since 2015, employees have the right to demand that their boss at least seriously investigate the possibility of working from home.
In Germany, too, the introduction of home office law is being considered, says Suter. The government states in the coalition agreement that it wants to introduce a so-called “right to discuss”. This means that the employer must check the home workplace at the request of the employee and can only say no if ‘operational matters are contradictory’.
Home office as a contribution to climate protection
“A flexible workplace is the future,” says Suter. Sometimes working in the office and sometimes at home leads to a better quality of life. “And it also has a positive influence on mobility behaviour. The problem of traffic jams and overcrowded trains during rush hours could be reduced,’ says the SPlerin. With this, the home office also contributes to climate protection.
Not only Suter is fascinated by the benefits of working from home. Numerous demands regarding working from home have already been discussed in parliament in recent years. There is another initiative in parliament by FDP chairman Thierry Burkart (47) that was submitted in 2016 and calls for the modernization of labor law to make working from home more flexible. No fewer than 103 national councilors signed on.
There are also tax issues. The federal government has just announced that it has reached an agreement with France on taxing the income of home-based employees.