Office notebook. The resumption of the obligation to telework in 2022 in a context of increasing absenteeism encourages HRDs to be vigilant on remote management. The past two years were marked by a jaws effect with a drop in short work stoppages, avoided thanks to the freedom to organize work (in 2021, 21% of teleworkers did not take prescribed sick leaves), and an extension of long stops for employees exhausted by massive teleworking. In 2021, 18% of teleworker stoppages are due to psychosocial risks against 13% for others.
“Teleworking reinforces the intensity of the work. People don’t take the breaks at home that they have at the office, illustrates Benoît Serre, deputy vice-president of the National Association of HRDs (ANDRH) and HRD France of L’Oréal. In many companies, rules had to be set. At L’Oréal, videoconferences before 9:30 am have been banned and their duration limited to forty-five minutes so that there is at least ten minutes of break between two meetings. “
In 2021, 65% of companies were thus affected by long shutdowns, largely linked to trauma, accidents and psychological disorders, details the annual barometer of mutualist Malakoff Humanis, carried out from 23 August to 24 September 2021 with 2 500 employees and managers of private sector companies. Multiple stops, also on the rise, affected 41% of employees.
The first difficulty for HRDs is the replacement of absent employees, then the reorganization of the company, and, to a lesser extent, the motivation of those who remain.
Vigilance
There is no real fear of disorganization, as companies now have two years of practice of managing Covid-19 dependent telework. The operating rules for generalized teleworking are now included in the renegotiated agreements. Even if everyone does not live the same scenario: “The most difficult is in companies that have few functions compatible with teleworking. It cuts the box in half and those who are sent home feel like they are no longer part of the company, underlines the deputy vice-president of ANDRH. Employees are also tired of being deprived of inter-professional relations. “
For the health of workers, vigilance remains essential. Mandatory teleworking set at three days changes everything, because employees spend more time at home than in the office. “Based on data from the barometer, the link between teleworking and absenteeism is clearly established: the number of exemptions for contact cases should decrease. On the other hand, we can fear an increase in stoppages for psychosocial risks. Hence the interest in limiting the obligation to telework to three weeks, because giving an end date reduces uncertainty for employees ”, estimates Anne-Sophie Godon, director of services at Malakoff Humanis.
You have 5.61% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.