New Levels of Escalation in the Home Office Dispute: Are Wage Losses Increasing? New Levels of Escalation in the Home Office Dispute: Are Wage Losses Increasing?

The big return to the office is gaining momentum. Many companies are tightening home office rules and asking their employees to return to their scheduled workplace, as we reported. But what if the workforce does not meet the new requirements? That is clearly the case and that is why more and more action is being taken.

According to American media, the technology group Google now wants to monitor attendance times. So it is checked when and for how long employees have checked in with their badge. Employees would face violations of the requirements. Moments of attendance are also included in the performance review.

Employees must spend at least three days a week in the office. This also applies in Switzerland. A spokesperson for Google Switzerland says the model has proven itself. “We want Google employees to connect face-to-face and collaborate. Therefore, exceptions to this rule are limited.”

A major US trade law firm goes even further, as the Wall Street Journal reported: Employees who do not meet the minimum requirements should expect bonus cuts. The measure is the next level of escalation in a conflict that has already been dubbed, with some exaggeration, in the Anglo-Saxon media: “War over the return to the office”.

No general right to home office

Can Swiss employers also resort to pay cuts if they don’t return to the office soon enough?

In principle, this is possible, because there is no general right to work from home. Unless it’s contractually agreed that some of the work can be done in the home office, the business is generally considered the workplace, says HSG professor Isabelle Wildhaber. If employees stay away from the office despite being asked to do so, they are in breach of their contractual obligations.

“So the employer has all the labor law instruments available if employees do not fulfill their obligations,” says the labor lawyer. According to Wildhaber, this includes a warning, a dismissal and the cessation of salary payment. So those who refuse to return to the office without having an employment contract with a work-from-home contract risk a pay cut and even dismissal.

In the US, companies struggling to get back to the office are no exception. It is rather normal that office buildings are only half occupied or even less. This applies to megacities such as New York, Chicago or San Francisco. In Europe things look a bit better for the cities. According to figures from real estate advisor JLL, the offices there are about three-quarters full.

In Switzerland, too, employers and employees do not agree on the homework issue, Daniel Stocker of JLL Switzerland recently told CH Media. There are many employers who would not dare to claim their expectations too boldly: “They are afraid of being fired.”

Home office: a career disadvantage and a health risk?

Home office yes or no; and if so, how much of it – there is a wealth of research on these questions. Working from home can become an occupational disadvantage, even though employees shouldn’t expect a pay cut, according to a Harvard University study.

According to the authors, employees in the office receive 17 percent more feedback than home workers. The study looked at software developers and therefore people who are well acquainted with digital working methods. It is quite possible that working from home is an even bigger disadvantage in other sectors.

In May, the U.S. Department of Health released a report that the United States was suffering from a “loneliness epidemic.” Social isolation causes damage similar to the effects of heavy smoking, namely 15 cigarettes a day. The report calls for a “national strategy” that should include the issue of attendance times.

Scott Galloway, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, said in an interview with the Financial Times that socializing is crucial to mental health, especially for young people.

Still, employees seem to appreciate the home office. Employees who work exclusively from home are more willing to accept a lower salary. This is according to a study from the US.

55 percent of those who always work from home would accept pay cuts in favor of working from home. Of those who partially work from home, 38 percent still prefer lower pay to a full return to the office. (aargauerzeitung.ch)