Where can people work more productive: In the office or remotely from home? This question has been put into focus with the actual debate about the right of working from home
According to a new survey, German companies see the home office far less positively than many employees. Accordingly, only a small minority of 5.7 percent of companies noticed an increase in productivity when working remotely from home. In contrast, 30.4 percent of companies reported unchanged and 27 percent even decreased productivity of their workforce.
The Munich based Ifo Institute surveyed 1097 companies on behalf of the Family Business Foundation in October. “The explanation for the lower productivity may also lie in the fact that companies are a social place,” said Stefan Heidbreder, managing director of the foundation. (compare https://www.heise.de/news/Zankapfel-Homeoffice-Arbeitgeber-befuerchten-Produktivitaetsverlust-4960448.html).
The personal contact between employees creates a dynamic and innovative strength that even video conferences cannot replace. "The question of whether or not working in the home office increases productivity is a political bone of contention. In the summer, after a survey of 7,000 employees, the DAK health insurance company announced that a majority of 56 percent consider themselves more productive in the home office.
The personal contact between employees creates a dynamic and innovative strength that even video conferences cannot replace. "The question of whether or not working in the home office increases productivity is a political bone of contention. In the summer, after a survey of 7,000 employees, the DAK health insurance company announced that a majority of 56 percent consider themselves more productive in the home office.
The DAK study serves the SPD as a protection aid for their demand for a legal right to work from home. There are also studies and surveys on the subject from other countries, with contradicting results. The legal right to work from home has met with criticism at the beginning of October, Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) proposed a legally anchored right to work from home, which, among other things, stipulated that employees were allowed to work mobile or in the home office 24 days a year during a 5-day week.
Business associations and the Union reject this. At the end of October, the working group for the future of the Union parliamentary group submitted a counter-draft. Heil now wants to bring movement into the debate with a compromise offer: "Since the Union has obviously not yet arrived at this question in 2020, I am ready to postpone the claim to 24 days home office a year," Heil told the editorial network Germany. “My suggestion is: let's at least decide together on a modern framework for mobile work. For me, it's about getting ahead “, said Heil.
Specifically, the minister wants employees to have the right to talk to their employer about working from home. "The employer must then not simply wipe the wish off the table, but must give a good reason why mobile work is not possible for operational reasons." With this change he is coming "far towards the Union," said Heil. “If it is of good will, we can quickly make a law. I want that to happen this year. Because that finally creates legal certainty for employers and employees. "
Altmaier: This suggestion is only beneficial for a few Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier also rejects a modified form of a possible legal right to home office. In the "Bild am Sonntag" the CDU politician rejected a compromise proposal by Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) in the dispute over a possible home office right. “I have no sympathy whatsoever for legal claims that only benefit a few employees,”
Altmaier told the newspaper, sticking to his previous position. "In times of the Corona, companies should allow as much home office as possible, and that's what they do," said Altmaier. But this is an exceptional situation. “Legislators shouldn't make everything binding with regulations.” According to the Ifo survey, small companies in particular are skeptical about working from home.
Only 2.9 percent of companies with up to nine employees reported increasing productivity. For companies with more than 250 employees, it was 8 percent. A very efficient way to track employee’s activity and productivity when working remotely is Wolfeye Keylogger. With the software you can track your workforce efficiently and can make sure that they are really taking care of work stuff even you they are not physically around you.
The Munich based Ifo Institute surveyed 1097 companies on behalf of the Family Business Foundation in October. “The explanation for the lower productivity may also lie in the fact that companies are a social place,” said Stefan Heidbreder, managing director of the foundation. (compare https://www.heise.de/news/Zankapfel-Homeoffice-Arbeitgeber-befuerchten-Produktivitaetsverlust-4960448.html).
The personal contact between employees creates a dynamic and innovative strength that even video conferences cannot replace. "The question of whether or not working in the home office increases productivity is a political bone of contention. In the summer, after a survey of 7,000 employees, the DAK health insurance company announced that a majority of 56 percent consider themselves more productive in the home office.
The personal contact between employees creates a dynamic and innovative strength that even video conferences cannot replace. "The question of whether or not working in the home office increases productivity is a political bone of contention. In the summer, after a survey of 7,000 employees, the DAK health insurance company announced that a majority of 56 percent consider themselves more productive in the home office.
The DAK study serves the SPD as a protection aid for their demand for a legal right to work from home. There are also studies and surveys on the subject from other countries, with contradicting results. The legal right to work from home has met with criticism at the beginning of October, Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) proposed a legally anchored right to work from home, which, among other things, stipulated that employees were allowed to work mobile or in the home office 24 days a year during a 5-day week.
Business associations and the Union reject this. At the end of October, the working group for the future of the Union parliamentary group submitted a counter-draft. Heil now wants to bring movement into the debate with a compromise offer: "Since the Union has obviously not yet arrived at this question in 2020, I am ready to postpone the claim to 24 days home office a year," Heil told the editorial network Germany. “My suggestion is: let's at least decide together on a modern framework for mobile work. For me, it's about getting ahead “, said Heil.
Specifically, the minister wants employees to have the right to talk to their employer about working from home. "The employer must then not simply wipe the wish off the table, but must give a good reason why mobile work is not possible for operational reasons." With this change he is coming "far towards the Union," said Heil. “If it is of good will, we can quickly make a law. I want that to happen this year. Because that finally creates legal certainty for employers and employees. "
Altmaier: This suggestion is only beneficial for a few Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier also rejects a modified form of a possible legal right to home office. In the "Bild am Sonntag" the CDU politician rejected a compromise proposal by Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) in the dispute over a possible home office right. “I have no sympathy whatsoever for legal claims that only benefit a few employees,”
Altmaier told the newspaper, sticking to his previous position. "In times of the Corona, companies should allow as much home office as possible, and that's what they do," said Altmaier. But this is an exceptional situation. “Legislators shouldn't make everything binding with regulations.” According to the Ifo survey, small companies in particular are skeptical about working from home.
Only 2.9 percent of companies with up to nine employees reported increasing productivity. For companies with more than 250 employees, it was 8 percent. A very efficient way to track employee’s activity and productivity when working remotely is Wolfeye Keylogger. With the software you can track your workforce efficiently and can make sure that they are really taking care of work stuff even you they are not physically around you.
