TELEWORK. Made compulsory for several weeks, teleworking is no longer the norm since Wednesday, February 2, 2022. Here are the new rules.
[Mis à jour le 2 février 2022 à 11h07] Telecommuting is no longer the norm. Since this Wednesday February 2, 2022, the three days of telework imposed in companies that can apply it are no longer in force, in accordance with what Jean Castex announced on January 20. If until now, sanctions could be pronounced if it was not established, teleworking is now only “recommended” by the government. Companies are free to organize their schedule with their employees. However, the mass return to offices should not be for now. The health protocol provides that it is only from this Wednesday that “employers set, within the framework of local social dialogue, the methods of using telework”.
If the reduction of telework is recorded, other constraints still remain relevant, such as those on the wearing of masks, physical distancing, ventilation and disinfection of premises have not been modified. A notable change should nevertheless be highlighted with a modification of the protocol concerning contact cases. The isolation of a contact employee now only applies in two cases:
- people with “symptoms suggestive of Covid-19” such as cough, sore throat or fever.
- people who do not have a complete vaccination schedule (two doses + booster dose included) and who have not contracted Covid-19 for less than two months.
If the contact case employee has a full vaccination schedule and is not immunocompromised, they are not required to self-isolate at home and self-isolate. Here too, teleworking remains to be preferred and barrier gestures to be applied strictly.
The latest version of the Covid protocol in companies on teleworkingavailable on the website of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Integration, dates from January 25, 2022 and specifies the various rules.
There are always instructions concerning the wearing of the mask “systematic within companies in all closed collective places”. The mask must therefore be worn at all times when several people occupy an office. The mask can be surgical or for the general public called “category 1” but with a filtration greater than 90%. The physical distance between two people must be at least one meter, and accompanied by barrier gestures, cleaning, ventilation and aeration of the premises and a policy for managing the flow of people.
When the mask cannot be worn (for example in collective catering spaces), the physical distance must be increased to 2 meters, unless a wall (such as a plexiglass plate) provides physical separation. Employees should not be face to face. Moments of conviviality such as farewell drinks or seminars “remain suspended”.
Today, in addition to company protocol, it is the Labor Code that sets the rules for teleworking (articles L1222-9 to L1222-11 of the Labor Code). Whether occasional or regular, the latter must be decided via a “collective agreement” or “as part of a charter drawn up by the employer, after consulting the CSE”. In the absence of such an agreement, the employee and the employer may formalize an agreement by any means. The employer can refuse to grant teleworking to an employee but must justify his response.
An employer can therefore today completely refuse a request for telework from an employee. In a document broadcast at the time of the dieconfinement, the Ministry of Labor nevertheless specified that this refusal must be “motivated”. The employer must demonstrate that presence in the workplace is essential for the operation of the activity”, then indicated the sheet. The employer must also guarantee since the deconfinement that “the conditions for resuming activity comply with the health instructions” in the workplace.
The employer can impose it on his employees. This is particularly possible, according to the Labor Code, in the event of “exceptional circumstances”. A reason that can easily be invoked for the coronavirus and containment. Article L. 1222-11 of the Labor Code also explicitly mentions the “epidemic risk” among the reasons that may justify the use of telework. And this without even the consent of the employee.
In addition, article L4121-1 of the Labor Code requires the employer to take “the necessary measures to protect the health of its employees
”. This can involve teleworking, the provision of masks and gel, the closure of the cafeteria, a shift in working hours, etc. formal notice may be imposed on the employer, who
is called upon to apply telework. If he does not, he risks a penalty.