"The employer must organize an annual interview on teleworking"

Particularly used during the health crisis, teleworking has experienced an unprecedented boom in just over a year.

But while a good number of companies now plan to perpetuate this hybrid mode of organization, it is still necessary to proceed in the rules.

However, the regulations

resulting from the Macron orders of 2017 is not always well known to employers.

In particular, the annual follow-up maintenance is often overlooked.

Muriel Besnard, legal consultant at ADP, a company offering human capital management solutions, explains the importance of this meeting.

What are the objectives of this interview?

Article L1222-10 of the Labor Code does not give many details on the matter. It simply indicates that this interview “relates in particular to the employee's working conditions and his workload”. It is therefore a question of exchanging with his manager on the practical modalities of teleworking and on the feelings of the worker. We can therefore start by evoking the material conditions in which these hours are carried out, if the employee has the necessary equipment, a quiet office ... And why not provide for the intervention of an ergonomist if necessary to ensure that everything is optimal.

But it is above all the question of the workload that must be at the heart of the employer's concerns.

In teleworking, it is indeed much more difficult to realize all the small daily tasks which do not appear in the schedules and which can end up overloading the employees.

This follow-up interview then takes on its full meaning.

In what context is this meeting obligatory?

The Labor Code is content to indicate that the employer is required to “organize each year” this interview with each teleworking employee.

In the absence of more precision, it is therefore necessary to consider that this follow-up appointment is mandatory regardless of the number of days spent remotely, and regardless of the size of the company.

It is also a great minimum.

As soon as an employee does two to three fixed days of telework per week, it is essential to make more regular points, especially at the beginning, in order to ensure that the collaborator has a workload that is quite achievable. in the allotted time.

Beyond the law, what are the challenges of this interview?

This annual interview is part of the general necessary organization, as soon as a company plans to authorize regular teleworking.

It is indeed essential to ensure that remote work is both efficient in terms of production, but also that it preserves a good quality of professional life and allows it to be reconciled with the private life of the employee.

By evaluating the workload, this meeting thus contributes to the implementation of the right to disconnect workers aimed at guaranteeing respect for their rest periods.

The 2020 national inter-professional agreement proposing a guide to good practices in teleworking has also reaffirmed the importance of this annual interview in this context.

Are there penalties for non-compliance?

The Labor Code does not provide for anything in terms of penalties if the employer does not respect its obligation to carry out an annual interview with each teleworker.

But if he does not make sure that his employees live their work remotely, he is exposed to an increase in sick leaves.

However, these are effects that can only be assessed over time.

That said, there has been a real craze for teleworking and the current trend is clearly towards the development of a hybrid form combining face-to-face and remote work.

In this context, employers therefore have every interest in favoring consultation and ensuring regular monitoring so that this new organization runs as smoothly as possible.

Moreover, even if it is possible to resort to a simple informal agreement between the employer and the employee to set up teleworking, it is obviously preferable to go through a collective agreement or a charter drawn up after consultation of the Social Committee. and economical (CSE) to avoid any further concerns.

Economy

Telecommuting: For pets, a boon (which has its limits)

Economy

Teleworking: Which expense reports can be reimbursed?

What about the “real” annual maintenance?

The telework interview has nothing to do with the annual assessment interview, offered in many companies, or even with the professional interview, which must be carried out every two years, since their respective objectives are completely different.

• Business

• Teleworking

• Labor Code

• Interview