A baker cannot bake bread rolls at home. Hubertus Heil knows that too. But the corona crisis showed that "a lot more mobile work is possible than we thought." That is why the Minister of Labor is presenting a new "Mobile Work Act". It is supposed to make family life easier.
Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil is striving for a legal right to work from home 24 days a year for employees. As the "Bild am Sonntag" reports, the SPD politician has completed his announced law for a right to work from home and now wants to include the "Mobile Work Act" in the departmental vote. Heil also justified his advance with the experience of the Corona period.
"Wherever possible, all employees should have a statutory right of at least 24 days per year for mobile work," Heil told the newspaper. If both parents have a job in which mobile working is feasible, then, according to my suggestion, one parent could alternately work one day from home every week. "That makes family life much easier," said Heil.
The Corona crisis showed "that much more mobile work is possible than we thought." Mobile working is not only something for young people "who sit in a café with a laptop and a latte macchiato". Because mobile working is already part of the modern world of work for some, but is not yet possible for many, a law is required for it.
"The right to negotiate with the boss"
The minister would like the 24 days to be understood as the lower limit. Employees and employers could also agree on more home work individually in collective agreements or works agreements.
"All employees have the right to negotiate mobile work with their boss," said Heil of "Bild am Sonntag", but also referred to the limits of mobile work. "Of course, a baker cannot bake bread rolls from home. That is why an employer can reject the desire for mobile work if he has understandable organizational or operational reasons for doing so."
According to the law, it is no longer possible for employees to reject mobile working on principle. "As an employer, simply saying 'no' is no longer possible with the law. In the future, boss and employees will negotiate on an equal footing."
In addition, the law stipulates that the working hours in the home office must be documented digitally: "Working from home must not lead to the fact that you can no longer let go of work. Even in the home office, work has to end at some point," said Heil. That is why the law prescribes digital documentation of working hours for mobile work. This is technically very easy to solve using apps and programs.
.