BDA AGENDA 16/2024 | TOPIC OF THE WEEK | August 15, 2024

Mobile working has been boosted by the coronavirus pandemic and has become an integral part of working life. Employers are making this possible. In many cases, mobile working is key to retaining and recruiting employees and skilled workers. A trusting use of mobile working in the company cannot be achieved with legal overregulation. Company practice shows: Mobile working works best within a flexible framework in order to find good solutions for companies and employees.

Mobile working - especially working from home - has long been part of everyday life in German companies. Wherever possible, many employers offer home offices. In 2023 alone, 23.5% of all employees in Germany worked from home. This figure has almost doubled compared to the pre-coronavirus level (Destatis, 2024). Hybrid solutions are particularly popular, i.e. mobile days and office days alternate.

The operational reality shows us that mobile working is diverse. There are numerous solutions that have been worked out flexibly in the respective companies together with the employees. Reality also shows that good and suitable solutions can be found without statutory regulations. It is therefore right to refrain from legal demands for discussion or tightening up occupational health and safety. Overly rigid legal regulations for mobile working or even a legal entitlement to working from home would unnecessarily complicate or even prevent the operational organization of mobile working.

The result was confirmed by the BMAS policy workshop with the participation of the social partners. Employers in Germany want to enable mobile working and need legal flexibility so that it remains feasible for companies and employees. For example, for employees who would not be able to accommodate a desk with an ergonomic office chair in their home or who do not have their own workspace with their parents who need care, or who need to switch to a quieter co-working space because their sick children need to be looked after by their partner at home.

Mobile working is a challenge for companies: collaboration, management, office concepts and communication need to be rethought, and new hardware and software solutions may be required. It is important to ensure industrial peace if not all employees in the company are able to work remotely. If there is to be a legal definition, it must satisfy the multifaceted nature of mobile work. Good mobile working is based above all on trusting cooperation between employees and employers. A legal right to work from home can neither impose this trust nor bring it to life.

Employers are also obliged to ensure occupational health and safety in the case of mobile work. In the case of mobile work, employees have a particular duty of self-care and personal responsibility for safe and healthy working practices. Our position, which we emphasized during the policy workshop and in the political debate, is largely reflected in the BMAS's recommendations on mobile work.

This recommendation is a practical basis for mobile work and therefore a useful result of the policy workshop.