Monday, January 11, 2021
Clear rules for the home office
Corona cannot be fought by appeal
A comment by Max Borowski
The fight against the pandemic can only succeed with clear rules. Politicians must set these and take responsibility for them. Appeals, such as the non-binding request to companies to send employees to the home office if possible, are cowardly and do not help.
While the Prime Minister and the Federal Chancellor drastically restrict some areas of the economy such as gastronomy and parts of the retail trade, they leave it to the subject of home office at the non-binding appeal: As far as possible, employers should please let their office employees work from home. Such requests are of little use. Besides, they're cowards. Because they pass the decision on to private entrepreneurs. And they cannot even live up to this responsibility.
If politicians consider the home office to be crucial for fighting the pandemic, it is their task to issue binding rules for working in offices, to check compliance with them and to take responsibility for the resulting economic damage. The same applies to all voluntary measures that restrict operations – and at the same time leave costs and risks to the company.
As soon as it comes down to money, companies also become less willing to voluntarily contribute even more to fighting pandemics than is legally required. A lot has been asked of entrepreneurs, especially in smaller companies, since the beginning of the Corona crisis: from hygiene concepts to company closings. For many, it's about existence. Understandably, some try to interpret the rules as generously as possible in their own favor. Some try to bypass them.
Fear of losing sales is greater than of controls
It is even reported from medical practices that some medical professionals deliberately do not have their employees tested at short intervals as recommended – for fear of finding corona cases and having to close the practice. Some grocers in Berlin still "forget" to count the customers in their shops in order not to exceed the prescribed maximum number per square meter. The fear of losing sales is apparently much greater than that of controls. A lack of controls also means that rules are perceived as being. If not all of them adhere to it, the others are the proverbial honest fools.
Entrepreneurs who dutifully follow the Corona rules or appeals have to bear the costs alone in most cases. If they violate appeals or bans that are barely checked, they profit from them in business. However, this affects the pandemic fight, this damage is borne by the general public. Those who give companies the choice should not be surprised that many entrepreneurs choose the second option. In addition, the risk of infection and the role of one's own small business in the dynamic pandemic are often underestimated.
As in other areas, politicians must also define clear rules for the home office, for example a proportion of employees who are still allowed to work in the office or a maximum number of people per square meter. Exceptions must be defined for companies in which such regulations cannot be applied. If a company gets into trouble due to additional costs – possible savings through less needed offices can often not be realized in the short term – help must be provided. If politicians do not want all of this, then they cannot expect a significant number of office workers to be sent home if that is not in the interests of the company concerned.
Business representatives meanwhile warn of further bans. But binding regulations, as tight as necessary and as loose as possible, are particularly important for companies. These rules must apply to everyone and actually be checked. In addition, the damage must be at least partially offset.
In this way, the state spares the entrepreneurs the fateful balance between their own interests and the common good. In exceptional situations like this, it is the state's core task to take responsibility.
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