Covid-19 in France: the government toughens its tone to impose teleworking on companies
French Labor Minister Elisabeth Borne leaves the weekly Council of Ministers at the Presidential Palace of the Elysee Palace in Paris on December 22, 2021. Ludovic MARIN / AFP AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
Faced with the health crisis, teleworking will become compulsory "
where possible
" for at least three days, the Prime Minister said on Monday evening (December 27th).
A fine for recalcitrant companies is said to be in preparation.
Companies are preparing for the return from work at home, with varying degrees of apprehension.
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The government wants to impose administrative fines on companies reluctant to set up teleworking, Labor Minister Elisabeth Borne announced to the social partners during a videoconference on Tuesday, December 28.
"
The minister announced to the social partners that she wished to propose an amendment to the bill to put in place more dissuasive and quicker sanctions (of an administrative nature)
", the minister's office informed at the end of the meeting. the meeting. Understand: fines for companies that are reluctant to set up telecommuting when possible.
"
Administrative fines for recalcitrant companies will be introduced by amendment into the bill
" which will transform the health pass into a vaccination pass, confirms Michel Beaugas, Confederal Secretary for the Labor Force.
Their amount was not specified, but according to Baptiste Talbot of the CGT, “
at one point there was a reference to an amount of
2,000 euros per employee, for similarity with other types of offense.
"
# COVID19 |
From Monday January 3, teleworking becomes compulsory for a minimum of 3 days per week, when possible.
More information on: https://t.co/SeQSsKcgnC pic.twitter.com/8vquv3u741
- Government (@gouvernementFR) December 27, 2021
"
The feedback from the Labor Inspectorate shows that some companies remain resistant
" to the implementation of teleworking according to the national company protocol (PNE), underlined the ministry. A new version of it will be published by Thursday, December 30, including an "
obligation to telework 3 days per week on average for positions that allow it, for three weeks, from January 3,
" as the 'Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Monday.
The fines will therefore be there to try to enforce these mandatory periods.
The Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CPME) denounced in a press release this proposed fine, seeing it as "
ineptitude while companies are fully aware of the issues and have had exemplary conduct since the start of the pandemic.
""
We are not at all adopting this method,
"its president François Asselin told AFP.
Efforts already made
Some companies have already put a lot of effort into adapting to telecommuting.
This measure is therefore rather well accepted, according to Audrey Richard, HRD of the Up group, and president of the National Association of HRDs, interviewed by
Agnieszka Kumor
, of the RFI Economy service.
“
We see that a certain number of companies had not yet set the right level on teleworking, so here the message is clear: it is mandatory.
Many agreements have been put in place in recent months and years, all sectors are concerned.
I think that we have all been obliged to take a step forward over the past two years, whether in France, in Europe or throughout the world.
"
The full reaction of Audrey Richard, president of the National Association of HRDs
In any case, for Audrey Richard, work totally on site had not really returned to normal for some of the workers.
“
We are talking more about hybrid work, which mixes work in a company and work at home, or even on other sites.
Companies are used to it, which will be really important, it will be to keep moments when we can meet on site, work together, collaborate together.
[...] We have trained a lot during these last two years, we have seen that there was really an evolution in the managerial style.
"
Even in the office, telecommuting is not always possible
In the Building and Public Works (BTP) sector, we are concerned about whether office workers will be affected by this obligation. This is the case at EDM, a Parisian marble factory present in eight different countries, notably in the Emirates and Gabon. Eduardo Soares, its managing director, is not sure that he can telework all the employees who work in his Paris offices. "
In our field, even if there are people who work all day in the office, such as designers for example, we do not have portable equipment powerful enough to make them work from home," he
explains to microphone by
Alexis Bédu
, from the Economics department of RFI
.
We are construction people, we need to walk around the building sites, answer the phone all the time.
We cannot multiply the workplaces by saying "home and work", it is not possible.
"
According to the Ministry of Labor, a consultation is "
planned in the coming days with the Ministry of the Economy on the aids that could be put in place for activities subject to restrictions.
"
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