Austria: Government will not create home office rules until March 2021

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On Friday, talks between the government and social partners about new rules for home office and mobile working officially began in Vienna. According to Labor Minister Christine Aschbacher, concrete solutions should be worked out in March or in the first quarter of next year. In view of the increasing number of infections, she again appealed to companies and employees to take responsibility for themselves.

40 percent during lockdown in the home office

Before the covid-19 pandemic, only ten percent of employees worked from home. During the lockdown it was 40 percent. Nothing was legally regulated. Criticism came from the AK. Breaks and working hours were often not precisely defined. The question of whether accidents in the household are counted as accidents at work was also not clear.

Labor Minister Christine Aschbacher would like to clarify these questions with the social partners. In general, a legal set of rules should be drawn up for the home office, and an "organizational manual" with best practice examples will be drawn up, Aschbacher announced at a joint press conference with Chamber of Labor President Renate Anderl, Chamber of Commerce Secretary Karlheinz Kopf and the President of the Federation of Industry (IV), Georg Knill, at.

But this will probably only be available in spring 2021. Working groups are now being formed. At a meeting in December, the state of affairs should be discussed and clarified which measures are needed for spring. A journalist asked at the press conference if these rules were not coming too late. Aschbacher said that one wanted to incorporate the experiences made over the winter into the process.

Many companies brought their employees back to the offices over the summer. Due to the now increasing numbers, however, employees are likely to switch back to the home office more often. Some have already drawn up company agreements regulating home office and mobile working.

Criticism from the Neos

For AK President Renate Anderl, however, many areas are still open, such as the protection of employees, codetermination and data security. She also referred to the accident insurance at home. The regulation made for the pandemic expires at the end of the year, said Anderl.

The Neos have already expressed criticism of the Minister of Labor's schedule: Aschbacher works under the motto: Speed ​​kills, etched MP Sepp Schellhorn on Twitter.

NEOS -Health and Social Spokesperson Gerald Loacker, it wasn't just yesterday that we knew that teleworking and home office play a bigger role in the pandemic. It is surprising that the government has not done anything here to this day - and it is shameful that it is not making it now either.

The night's sleep in particular will still be a big issue. In many areas it is not legally possible to work in the evening. More flexibility was requested from many sides.