Only recently, the home office requirement was lifted in Germany. Due to increasing incidences, the Federal Minister of Labor does not rule out a renewed obligation to work from home.
According to some experts, the fourth corona wave * will not only roll towards us in autumn, but is already in full swing. The home office obligation for companies was suspended across Germany on July 1st – employers no longer have to offer their employees home work whenever possible. But in view of the increasing incidences *, it cannot be ruled out that the home office obligation in Germany will soon come back, as * echo24.de reports.
After the end of the obligation to work from home *, many offices are much busier again – which also represents a risk of infection, especially from those returning from travel who may bring more corona mutants with them from their vacation. In July, according to a new estimate by the Munich-based Ifo Institute, only a quarter of employees (25.5 percent) worked at least temporarily from home, a continuation of the downward trend of recent months. Employees in service professions continue to work more than average within their own four walls.
The Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil wants to put the home office obligation back into force if the corona infections continue to rise, as reported by the Tagesschau. However, he did not want to commit to a certain incidence value: “It also depends on the extent to which rising values become a problem for the health care system,” he told the Stuttgarter Zeitung . If the upward trend in the number of infections continues, it could soon mean all employees again: go home.
Home office compulsory in Germany: an imminent comeback cannot be ruled out
This should play into the cards for many employees: Most of them view work from home positively, as a survey by the European company “ClickMeeting” shows. 66 percent of the 731 survey participants stated that they “enjoy” or even “extremely enjoy” working in the home office, as reported by the German Press Agency (dpa) . Only nine percent generally reject the home office. More than two thirds of the respondents (69 percent) also see the advantage that working from home saves them time compared to being in the office.
“New Work” and the work models of the future are currently being discussed intensively. If the employees are of the opinion, the decision in favor of mixed forms of home office and face-to-face work in the office is relatively clear: 54 percent of those surveyed prefer such a hybrid model. At least 31 percent could make friends with pure work in the home office on a permanent basis. Employees, on the other hand, are not too enthusiastic about the idea of completely returning to face-to-face work in the office: this is the preferred option for only 15 percent.
Is the home office obligation coming back? Dutch company relies on home work
Lucien Bongers, head of the Dutch company “Office Cube”, is counting on companies in Germany also providing their employees with office space for working at home as naturally as company cars. “Working at home is a long-term trend beyond the Corona period,” says Lucien Bongers with certainty.
For this purpose, Office Cube offers designer offices in cube format, which can be set up in the garden or on the terrace or a comparable area to save space. The designer cube with an integrated office stands outside of your own four walls in order to create a clear separation between work and private life, as reported by the dpa. A heater is integrated in the transparent, closed cube for winter and air conditioning for summer. Office Cube delivers the Würfel offices all over Germany – is that an option for some employees when the obligation to work from home returns? * echo24.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
List of rubric lists: © Valentina Barreto / Westend61 / dpa-tmn
