Back to school: what does the law say about teleworking in a company?

Carole Ferry 12:55 p.m., August 24, 2021

September is fast approaching and many employees have already returned from their vacation to return to work.

But, in many companies, a question remains: should we privilege the distance to the face-to-face?

Europe 1 takes stock of the rules currently in force in the field of teleworking.

DECRYPTION

Will the recovery be face-to-face or telework?

For many employees, the question hovers a few days before returning from vacation.

This year, the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the establishment of remote work in private companies as well as in the public service.

But today, what does the law say on the subject?

Europe 1 deciphers the rules of teleworking for you.

"The impatience of employees to switch to this new organizational model"

In the public or in the private sector, the rules concerning teleworking differ.

Civil servants are obliged to stay at least two days teleworking per week and not more than three days face-to-face.

In the private sector, there are no longer any rules, the government has given back control to businesses.

And most are getting organized: nearly 20,000 teleworking agreements have been signed in recent months.

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"Under the law, nothing obliges a company to decide whether or not to set up teleworking", confirms Benoît Serre, vice-president of the National Association of HRDs.

Some companies then decide not to plan for teleworking at all.

But for Benoît Serre, it is then necessary that they justify it "not on a legal level, but simply so that the employees accept it".

"There is a kind of impatience of employees to switch to this new model of work organization. It is not necessarily compatible with the constraints of organization, even sometimes the convictions of certain leaders on teleworking", continues the vice-president of the National Association of HRDs.

Heterogeneous models in the private sector

So how have large French companies chosen to organize themselves?

All cases are present.

At Total Energy, three days of teleworking per week are currently required, for example, but the special Covid-19 unit must meet this week to prepare for the start of the school year.

Axa employees have been required to return since July 1, two or three days a week, in the form of rotation, with red teams and blue teams.

The idea is never to have more than 50% of the workforce on site at the same time.

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This gauge has been abolished, on the other hand at L'Oréal: the workforce at 100% is authorized.

Teleworking is done on a voluntary basis, with the manager's agreement.

In the BNP Paribas bank, a new agreement will instead test totally flexible teleworking from October 1.

Fifty days of telecommuting per semester will be used at the discretion of the employees.

A meeting in Matignon in early September

For national harmonization, a meeting is planned with the social partners in Matignon on September 1 and 2.

The issue of teleworking will obviously be on the agenda.

And the new rules will of course depend on the health situation.