In the deserted reception hall of the headquarters of INTM, a company specializing in consulting and digital services located in Levallois-Perret (Hauts-de-Seine), Christiane * comes forward, determined. Its dynamic tone contrasts with the calm of the place, still immersed in the languor of the lunch break. “Hello, it’s the labor inspectorate. Is it possible to speak with the general manager or the HRD?” she asks the receptionist, drawing her official card. Slight confusion on the other side of the counter. The switchboard operator types on her keyboard, tries one phone call, then two. “I’m trying to reach him. Did you have an appointment?”. The Inspector smiles behind his mask. “The labor inspectorate never makes an appointment,” she replies tit for tat. Christiane is used to it: after years of unannounced checks carried out for the Hauts-de-Seine departmental unit of the Regional Directorate for the Economy, Employment, Labor and Solidarity (Drieets), she admits having witnessed more than once the mess caused by his arrival. “The element of surprise plays a lot. You sometimes have unavailable bosses, HRDs who have to postpone an appointment to receive us… It’s normal.” In the majority of cases, the embarrassment does not last. After a few minutes of waiting, the communication officer of the INTM group finally descends from the upper floors.
“Welcome!” she exclaims warmly. Christiane tells him the reasons for her visit: in the midst of the Omicron wave, the health protocol concerning companies was again modified at the beginning of January, the Ministry of Labor advocating, among other rules, at least three days of teleworking per week. “I am here to check the implementation of the national protocol, and to take stock of the measures in force in the premises”, underlines the inspector. The communication officer, accompanied by the company’s Covid referent, agrees. The check can begin. “Only two by two in the elevators”, recall the two employees, pointing to the health protocol displayed on the adjacent wall. For Christiane, the visit starts well.
Georges Awad, president of the group, receives her in a perfectly tidy office – the window of the room was opened before our arrival, and a bottle of hydroalcoholic gel sits on the meeting table, immaculate. The inspector takes the time to settle down, notebook in hand: before checking the premises, she wants to talk to the boss. The questions fuse, precise. “What protocol have you put in place from the point of view of barrier gestures? Has a teleworking agreement been drawn up? What tools are available to employees to respect it?” Conscientiously, Georges Awad answers each question, supporting documents.
“I’m a bit of a bean”
Since the first confinement, telework has been offered to the 1,650 group employees whose profession allows it, and an agreement has actually been signed with the social partners. With each new wave of the pandemic or change in protocol, e-mails were sent to employees, recalling the instructions issued by the health authorities in terms of remote work and referring to the official government website. “I’m a bit of a bean, but you can look, we put the link in the middle of the email,” laughs Georges Awad. The man is relaxed: his company is a good student and applies the instructions of the authorities to the letter. Since January 3, its employees have been able to telecommute three to four days a week. “And some even work from home five days out of five,” says the director.
At INTM, barrier gestures are also rigorously respected: common surfaces, door handles and toilets are regularly disinfected, while a stock of at least 40,000 masks and 3,000 bottles of hydroalcoholic gel is permanently available for employees. . Two Covid referents have also been appointed within the company, and “each positive case has been followed very closely”. The CEO is pleased: so far, none of his employees have died from the virus, and very few have been infected at work. “As soon as a case was declared, we respected the protocol for isolating the employee and the people with whom he had been in contact”, he assures. Since the start of the pandemic, Georges Awad also indicates that only one employee has been the victim of long-term consequences of the virus. “She lost her voice, and can’t get it back.”
Christiane reacts immediately. “What has been planned for this person?” “She has carte blanche,” replies the entrepreneur. The young woman can telecommute whenever she wants, for as long as it takes. Question after question, Georges Awad ticks all the boxes. The annual event organized each year for employees and their families? Postponed. Computers made available to employees for teleworking? Purchased and distributed to all who needed it. Monitoring the evolution of health protocols? The new instructions were regularly printed and displayed throughout the premises, then sent by email to each employee. Remote meetings? Out of 2,600 recruitment candidates received in 2021, more than 70% were seen via the Teams video software. And the president himself completed a major financial operation remotely, on video and with an electronic signature. Respect for teleworking? “You will see for yourself. We are supposed to be between 130 and 140 people today, but the offices are almost empty. Whereas it is Monday, the day when we have the most meetings!”, concludes Georges Awad.
“Automatism”
Christiane gets up: her inspection of the land can finally begin. As predicted by the entrepreneur, his premises are practically empty. The few employees present work alone in the office – initially planned for two people -, mask on the nose and doors open to ventilate. “This observation is enough for me to understand that telework is respected. But if the offices were full, I would not have hesitated to question the employees and obtain myself the telework agreement put in place in the company”, says the inspector.
Her sharp eye misses no detail: passing through the corridors, she checks the hydroalcoholic gel reservoirs, examines the fire extinguishers and their expiry date, inspects the displays in the corridors. “It’s automatic, it’s the basics of our controls,” she slips. Adel, one of the company’s Covid referents, takes him to the room where INTM stores its masks, bottles of gel and surgical gloves: dozens of boxes are piling up, the contents of which are ready to be distributed to employees. . Since March 2020, Georges Awad claims to have invested between 175,000 and 180,000 euros in protection. Christiane leaves nothing to chance: do the employees come to serve themselves? How many masks per person, and who distributes this material? Is there sufficient ventilation in the room? Everything is in order, nothing to report.
The inspector insists on going upstairs, visiting every restaurant, several meeting rooms. “This place seems small to me for eating,” she notes, passing through a cramped office, where three tables have been put together to allow employees to have lunch. “Only a few people come here, there’s a bigger venue on the fifth floor,” Adel replies. Christiane goes up there directly, appreciates the much more spacious room presented to her. “There is no water dispenser? But I see bottles available, it’s good”, she remarks, underlining in passing the presence of gel, a microwave and wipes made available to employees. Opposite, the company’s gym – deserted – also seems perfectly cleaned. “The machines are disinfected there for each use”, assures the Covid referent, who looks for a bottle of gel for a few seconds. “It disappeared, it was there this morning. Someone must have taken it!”, He justifies. “We will have to think about putting it back on,” advises Christiane in a benevolent tone. The disappearance of the famous bottle will be the only and tiny negative detail of the afternoon.
“For others, it’s more complicated”
“Everything is in order. The labor inspectorate also knows how to tell when things are done well, and this is the case here”, concludes Christiane, more than an hour after her arrival. Smile from Georges Awad and his team, who appreciate the compliment. For INTM, there will be no letter of observation pointing out possible shortcomings, nor a counter-visit or formal notice from the employer. There will also be no reporting to the prosecution, as may be the case if the control results in serious errors on the part of the company. But the inspector is categorical: all the Covid checks carried out since the beginning of January are not going so well. “The majority of companies of a certain size respect the protocol. But for others, it is more complicated”, she assures, recounting having recently checked a company manufacturing hydroalcoholic gel … but which does not did not distribute it to its employees.
There are many examples: a fortnight ago, Christiane also inspected an IT services company whose employer refused telework to its staff. “However, during the check, he assured me that wearing a mask and working remotely were respected”, underlines Christiane. It was not until a few days later that the inspector was contacted by two employees, telling her anonymously that their colleagues were generally not masked out of control and that teleworking days were not always granted. “I went back there almost immediately and we managed, by discussing with the employer, to set up two days of teleworking for the staff”, explains the Drieets agent, who wishes to recall that her role is not is not only to punish. “It is also important to remember the rules in force and to support employers during this period.”
“We doubled our checks”
Since January 3, Christiane’s weeks have been busy: to frame her new protocol, the Minister of Labor Elisabeth Borne wanted to increase the visits carried out by the inspectors, going from 1,000 to 5,000 checks per month on the territory. “We have doubled our controls on the Covid theme since the beginning of the year”, confirms the inspector, who continues, in parallel, to manage her administrative files, conflicts between employees and employers or even cases of dismissal of employees . On its list are companies specializing in the service, but also construction sites, bakeries, beauty salons or VSEs… “They are sometimes checked after a report from users, employees or the employer himself. even, because they appear in our files, or quite simply because they are located in the sector that we will control that day, explains Christiane. But each time, the control is unexpected.
Sometimes, the element of surprise annoys business leaders, and the tone rises. “Some do not understand why they are wasting their time. In this case, we stay as much as possible in the discussion and in the exchange”, says the agent. When there are breaches of protocol, his interlocutors try here and there to justify themselves, telling him in good faith “that they did not know”. “I then redirect them to the texts, inviting them to find out. But given the number of existing channels to communicate on the Covid, I am a little intransigent on the excuse of “I did not know””, underlines- she. For employers who really do not play the game, the Minister of Labor recalled in mid-January that penalties of up to 500 euros can be put in place, within the limit of 50,000 euros per employee. “But we haven’t gone that far yet in my Hauts-de-Seine unit,” says the inspector before gathering her things. Other checks await: until February 2, companies must continue to offer at least three days of teleworking to their employees.
*Name has been changed.