By SudOuest.fr with AFP
Administrative fines could be imposed on companies that do not respect the government’s teleworking instructions
The Minister of Labor Elisabeth Borne wishes “to propose an amendment to the draft law on the vaccination pass to put in place more dissuasive and faster sanctions” concerning teleworking. This is what his cabinet confided on Tuesday, December 28 after a meeting with the social partners.
“When companies do not play the game today, it involves criminal penalties. It is long and, to simplify this, administrative sanctions will be proposed. The idea is to put it in place for companies that do not really play the telecommuting game, not when there is a disagreement on a particular function in a department ”, detailed Cyril Chabanier, president of the CFTC.
Companies still resistant
“The feedback from the Labor Inspectorate shows that some companies remain resistant” to the implementation of teleworking as provided for in the national protocol in companies, underlined the ministry. A new version of it will be published by Thursday, including an “obligation of teleworking 3 days per week on average for positions which allow it, for three weeks, from January 3”, as said Prime Minister Jean Castex announced Monday.
It “is asked to companies which can go beyond and to carry teleworking to 4 days a week when possible”, adds the ministry. As the ministry has repeatedly underlined, this “obligation” arises from the employer’s need to ensure the health of its employees.
Sanctions deemed too low
The CGT-TEFP, the first union of labor inspection agents, has long called for a tightening of the legal framework concerning teleworking. He denounced the weakness of the penalties incurred and the lack of staff to control companies. The Minister did not specify what the amount of the fines could be, this question being arbitrated.