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Lasse Kroll lives a working life that many young people probably dream of.
During his studies from 2012 to 2015, he was drawn out into the world, to Asia for example, once for four months and once for six months.
“It was only then that it was technically possible to work or study from there,” he remembers today.
Kroll met many digital nomads, people who mostly take on various jobs as freelancers in the IT sector, only equipped with their laptops - and otherwise discover the world.
Today Kroll is sitting in front of his computer in his home office in Berlin.
The days of traveling through world history are over for him, but he still doesn't have a permanent office.
Kroll is now an independent consultant for companies or municipalities and helps to set up "decentralized work structures", as he calls it.
He also gives lectures on remote work, i.e. working away from a classic office in the company, and has founded a network for remote workers with Cuckoo.
There they should come together, exchange ideas and give each other tips.
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The topic of "working while on the move" has been gaining in importance for a number of years.
"Younger people in particular want to work more independently," says Kroll.
The advantages are, among other things, that the way to the office is no longer necessary and working hours are more flexible.
But it was the corona virus that turned the world of work really upside down.
In the past year, twice as many people worked from home or on the move as a study by the D21 initiative, which was funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics, shows.
The pandemic is thus becoming the largest home office experiment of all time.
Remote work: Few regulations in labor law
However, this usually has little to do with constant travel - only equipped with a laptop - or working in co-working spaces.
On the one hand because of the risk of infection in the pandemic, but also because it is simply not possible for most employees.
Remote work therefore often means that employees now sit at their kitchen table instead of in the office.
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An independent life like the one Lasse Kroll leads is often only possible for freelancers, says Nathalie Oberthür, specialist lawyer for labor law and head of the labor law legislative committee at the German Lawyers' Association.
“Work four hours in the morning, then go shopping, cook something, do the laundry and then go back to the desk from 6 to 10 p.m. - that's just not possible for employees,” she says.
Everything about the home office
“But a lot of employees have this view when they think about working from home.” What they forget: They have to observe certain rest periods.
According to the Working Hours Act, employees must take an uninterrupted rest period of at least eleven hours after completing their daily working hours.
The idea behind such regulations is that employers cannot exploit their employees and force them to be available at any time.
The rule is justified, but it also takes a major advantage of remote work: the possibility of dividing up working hours more closely.
"There is still hardly anything in labor law on the subject of remote work," says Oberthür.
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Only the design of the teleworking place is defined there.
This refers to the workplace set up by the employer at which the employee works in the home office.
"All other points about the remote office are individual agreements about the place of work between employee and employer," says Oberthür.
Workplace from the employer: mobile work or home office?
The Federal Ministry of Labor has also taken on the topic and drawn up a draft law on home office.
According to Oberthür, this is not about the organization of working hours, but employees should be given the right to discuss a wish for regular mobile work with their employer.
Heil originally wanted a legal right to work from home for at least 24 days per year.
But that had already failed in October due to resistance from the ranks of the CDU.
Employees should therefore not have a general right to work from home in the future either.
However, according to Oberthür, the employer is not allowed to force them there either.
"Even Corona has not changed that," she says.
From a legal point of view, you could take action against him if he sends you home to work - despite all the current restrictions.
Employers must enable more home offices
One result of the meeting in the Chancellery is the call to employers to enable more home offices.
Buses and trains are too full because there are still too many to go to the office, said the Minister of Labor.
Source: WELT / Matthias Heinrich
According to the lawyer, employees are not entitled to a fully equipped, employer-paid workplace in their own four walls.
"It's always a question of agreement." In practice, this means that if the employer wants to send them to the home office, employees have a good chance of getting something, for example paying for a new laptop.
Anyone who has agreed on mobile work can request mobile devices such as a notebook.
In most jobs you have to take care of furniture yourself.
It is always decisive whether it is mobile work or working in the home office.
Anyone who is really mobile, i.e. who is allowed to work from anywhere, cannot insist on office equipment.
For employers, a completely mobile workforce should also be cheaper than an employee in the home office, who has to be equipped.
Remote work: More freedom, but also more personal responsibility
However, the employer may only tolerate the use of operating resources that are safe and he must observe the health protection requirements.
What that means exactly depends on the individual case.
Under certain circumstances, employees can also request an office chair.
For example, if the screen explodes, the employer has a problem, according to Oberthür.
That is why the employer must carry out a risk assessment before approving work in the home office - for example, by having pictures of the workplace shown and checking the devices.
"However, he has no right to come by in the living room," says Oberthür.
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It becomes more complicated if the employment contract stipulates that the employee can really work from anywhere.
It is then impossible for the employer to make such an assessment of every potential place of work.
"In this case, employees have freedom - but also more personal responsibility," says Oberthür.
The most exciting topic is currently the question of accident insurance, says Oberthür.
Anyone injured in the office on the way to the coffee kitchen is covered by statutory accident insurance.
It's different in the home office.
“Normally, protection only begins when you have left your house and are on your way to work,” says the lawyer.
"In the home office, the work itself is also protected, but only in the rarest of cases is it also the journeys within the apartment."
Remote work: soft skills are crucial
But even if the legal issues have been resolved, employees are still faced with the question of how they can organize their work in a meaningful way.
Lasse Kroll recommends creating structures, such as firmly planned meetings with colleagues.
So the laptop shouldn't be opened up in bed and at home, too, should be clearly separated between work and leisure.
For example, Kroll's morning walk replaces the way to work.
“Working from home alone cannot be the long-term solution anyway,” says Angelina Ebeling.
With her start-up Acework, she advises employees and companies on how best to organize remote work.
Ebeling is in favor of a mixture.
“The meeting between people will always be very important,” she says.
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For Ebeling, so-called soft skills are particularly crucial in order to work successfully outside of the actual office.
"Among other things, it is important to have good time management and organizational skills, to be able to communicate well in writing and in a video conference, and to have a certain understanding of the whole program," she says.
But the consultant also sees the companies as having an obligation.
“During the lockdown, many companies simply tried to transfer their communication structures to digital, but that doesn't work,” she says.
The result is overcrowded e-mail boxes, several chat programs and one virtual conference after the other.
"In these moments it is the manager's job to keep things tidy, not that of the numerous employees."
If companies manage to organize this sensibly, employees would also have less to fear that their careers would stall.
“Companies have to think remote first,” she says.
If, for example, a conference is planned with six employees, four of whom are sitting together at a table and two are switched on, these two would have bigger problems.
"In such a case, everyone should go to their own laptop and hold the conference completely virtually."
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