A telework employee -

Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS

  • Since the re-containment, telework should be applied wherever possible.

  • Except that many companies do not necessarily play the game as told by employees interviewed by

    20 Minutes.

  • But the law works for business leaders who do not have the legal obligation to telework their employees, even during a period of confinement.

Everyone agrees that this second confinement seems much less strict than the first.

On the roads and in city centers, we meet many more people than last March.

While many people now work from home, others continue to come to the office anyway.

Elisabeth Borne, Minister in charge of labor, however declared it last Thursday: “Teleworking is not an option”.

A message addressed to all companies which can put their employees in telework.

According to Olivier Véran, Minister of Health, interviewed this Tuesday on

BFM

"The teleworking figures attest that companies are playing the game".

"We are threatened with half a word not to pay us 100% if we ask for telework"

But in reality, it is much more complex, because not all business leaders play the game fairly.

Questioned on the subject via the 20 Minutes Lille Facebook page, several Internet users testified about their situation.

Secretary in a law firm in the Lille metropolitan area, Laurence * must continue to go to the office every morning.

“As the courts are open, our employers do not telework us.

While our work can be done 100% remotely.

On the other hand, the great chefs are absent for teleworking.

We are threatened with half a word not to pay ourselves 100% if we ask for telework and that inevitably it will be paid.

In these conditions we politely shut our mouths!

“Says this very angry employee.

"I wanted to negotiate for just one day a week at work but my boss didn't want to because he wants team cohesion"

For her part, Emilie works in a recruitment firm in the Lille region.

When the reconfinement was announced, his boss asked him to come to the office four times a week and to work from home for a day.

Too little for the employee worried about her health.

“I told my employer that I was scared to go back to the company premises.

He then asked me to come two days a week.

I wanted to bargain for just one day a week at work but he wouldn't.

He wants team cohesion and believes that the visios are not enough to ensure that the team is united ”.

"We were just asked if we wanted to work remotely or come to the site"

In other regional companies, if no one comes to the office, teleworking is not encouraged either.

Example with Philippe, employed in a company with 100 employees.

“While 80% of employees can perform their tasks remotely, we were just asked if we wanted to be telework or come on site.

As a result, around 20% accepted remote work.

Knowing that our employer proposes to provide us with a PC and a screen but no telephone or Internet connection, ”regrets the employee.

Same story in this large Lille-based tertiary company where everyone does little or almost what they want.

“I would like to do 100% telework, but I am told that it would still be good if I came to work once a week,” says Patrick.

"We don't impose anything on you.

You can be 100% teleworking but it is you who are outside the collective framework in this case, ”continues Richard, an employee in the same company.

"The only solution is to leave the choice to the business leaders so that it goes well", estimates the MEDEF

Whether it is one, two or even five days a week at the office, teleworking is therefore far from being applied everywhere in the companies in the region that can do it.

We are far from the government's recommendations.

What does not seem to bother the regional MEDEF too much through the voice of its president Patrice Pennel

“I find that the Minister of Labor took a bit of a stretch when she said that teleworking was not an option.

On a daily basis, business leaders run their businesses as they think they should.

All barrier measures have been put in place.

Those who want to be teleworked are, but there are also those who cannot stand working from home.

And letting these employees work at home can also put them at psychosocial risks.

There are other risks than the Covid.

The only solution is to leave the choice to the business leaders so that it goes well.

The only reality today is that the economy must continue to turn ”, estimates the president of MEDEF Hauts-de-France.

The law does not oblige companies to telework their employees

For him, priority must be given to dialogue between the business manager and his employees in order to find the most suitable solution.

Except that in reality, this dialogue is often biased, with a very vague regulatory framework.


"My boss told me that he would wait for government announcements to increase or reduce the number of days in the office," says Fanny, a private employee.

"Mine replied that teleworking was not compulsory", continues Laurence.

Indeed, nothing in the law nothing obliges a company manager to put his employees in telework.

Even in times of confinement.

“There is no obligation.

It is not written into the law.

It's just a strong recommendation made to employers who may prefer teleworking.

But a priori, there are no penalties for those who refuse to do so, ”we recognize from the Lille labor inspectorate.

Between official speeches and the reality on the ground, teleworking still remains for some ... an option

*

All first names have been changed

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  • Covid 19

  • Employment

  • Confinement

  • Economy

  • Coronavirus

  • Teleworking

  • Business

  • Employees

  • Lille