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When the home office package came into force in April 2021, working from home was mainly a phenomenon of the pandemic. For the first time, regulations for the agreement of working from home as well as labor and tax law provisions were laid down. The digital work equipment must be made available by the employer.
“Remote work” is now part of everyday life for many companies and has become indispensable for employees. This is shown by a study by the Ministry of Labor presented by Minister Martin Kocher on Monday. The aim was to evaluate the package and examine the home office practice. Around 1,500 employees and more than 500 companies were surveyed from November 2022 to June 2023. The use of home office among employees has increased from 16.3 percent before the pandemic to around 25 percent, putting Austria above the EU average. On average, people work from home one or two days a week, but the proportion is often much higher in the finance or IT sectors.
The biggest advantage, for both employees and employers, is the elimination of commuting times. Contrary to fears to the contrary, productivity has not deteriorated, said Kocher. According to the study, 60 percent of those surveyed with care responsibilities stated that they could work more hours by working from home. However, working from home also has its downsides: women with children in particular state that the boundaries between work and private life are blurring in the home office.
desire for further development
Around 58 percent of employees would like to work from somewhere other than where they live. Half of the employers also consider this flexibility to be desirable. However, the current legal regulations only provide for this to a very limited extent, and insurance and liability issues arise. Minister of Labor Kocher wants to discuss this at a meeting with the social partners this week and expand the possibilities for working from home.
Cross-border home office – for example working for an Upper Austrian company if you live in Germany – poses a challenge. An EU agreement has been in force since July 1 that allows employees to work up to 50 percent of their working hours in another in an EU country and continue to be insured in Austria. Of Austria’s neighboring countries, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Liechtenstein have so far joined the agreement.
Eight out of ten respondents appreciate the changes that the home office pact has brought. However, the ministry still sees a need for information: 90 percent of employers are aware of the content, but only slightly more than half of employees without employee representatives know about it.
Source: Nachrichten
