Home office must not become exploitation – economy

Anyone who wanted to work flexibly from home for a long time met with a lack of understanding. Many managers suspected that employees would make themselves comfortable outside the company. Then the pandemic forced millions of Germans to work from home and changed everything. Supervisors have learned that employees are not comfortable in their homes. On the contrary: Many even exploit themselves in the home office, as is now evident. But this is going in the wrong direction. Companies, works councils and politicians are required to prevent excessive demands.

First of all, many employees rightly find it enriching to work from home a few days a week. You avoid annoying commuting. It’s easier for them to fit in doctor’s appointments, yoga or the next load of the washing machine – and if necessary, supervise their children.

As long as it’s only a matter of working from home for a few days a week, i.e. the employee does not lose contact with his colleagues, more and more companies are open to it. They not only know the studies that show that employees are at least as productive at home as in the company. They also realize that they save on rental and energy costs.

Therefore, working from home and other mobile working should become the new normal for millions of Germans who want it. And some others, too, who are being put under gentle pressure by cost-conscious employers. It is therefore worth taking a close look at the newly created home office reality.

A survey by the German Trade Union Confederation shows advantages, such as greater freedom, as well as negative sides: Homeworkers often work unpaid overtime, work late in the evening and miss more breaks than colleagues who are only in the company. That doesn’t make them heroes of the work, but rather victims. Because this stress can damage your health – and your professional performance. Every second home worker switches off badly when he finishes work.

There are several reasons for this overload. Some workers exploit themselves because they see working from home as a concession. And some superiors exploit homeworkers by demanding constant availability. Because there are several causes, several actors have to change something to eliminate the disadvantages of working from home.

That starts with the homeworkers themselves. Anyone who performs at home is not obliged to thank the company for the home office – or even to work unpaid overtime out of a guilty conscience. Sure, some of the delusions of presenteeism of bad superiors are still in their bones. But what counts is not sitting around in the noisy open-plan office for as long as possible or constantly whispering half-baked ideas to your boss. The only thing that counts is the performance – no matter where you do it.

Companies that make excessive demands on employees working from home also have to rethink. There is no justification for calling homeworkers more often outside normal working hours than other colleagues. Or even to exert pressure so that the employee in the home office “quickly” takes on another project even though he has long since completed his weekly working hours. Anyone who squeezes employees will lose them at some point – to the burnout clinic or to other companies who, given the general shortage of staff, are happy to lure them away.

Before things get that far, works councils should come into play, if they exist in the company. Studies show: If a company agreement regulates mobile working, the disadvantages decrease considerably. Then homeworkers work significantly less in the evenings, shorten their breaks less often and do not have to be available all the time.

So far, however, only every second homeworker has benefited from such an agreement. This is a call to the federal government to follow further developments closely. If the company agreements do not increase and the downsides of mobile working do not decrease, a law is due. So that the blessing of working from home does not become a curse.

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