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With the pandemic, telework has become widespread within companies. If it has its share of advantages, the practice also seems to have some disadvantages, pointed out by the Federation of Psychosocial Risk Stakeholders (FIRPS).
Telecommuting is on the rise. However, for the Federation of Psychosocial Risk Stakeholders (FIRPS), telework is also a provider of different “significant psychosocial risks“.
A guide for businesses
The FIRPS therefore took up the subject at the start of the new school year and published on September 14 a practical guide for better prevention of these risks, intended for 6,000 companies in the public and private sectors.
The objective: to prevent problems related to long-term telework. For the FIRPS, these are harmful effects that set in over time without the employee really realizing it. “But beware, this is not at all a plea against telework” recalls Isabelle Tarty, vice-president of the FIRPS and responsible for partnerships within the Institute for psychological support and resources (IAPR).
“We simply wish to emphasize that there are new vigilances to be had vis-à-vis this way of working”.
Difficulty of integration, severance of social ties…
In addition to the right to disconnect or the workload, two well-known problems in the world of work, the FIRPS underlines the appearance over time of other more insidious problems such as the brake on integration, for example, due to the fact the distance from the employee. Conflicts or tensions between colleagues can also be accentuated by dematerialized exchanges.
The pace of work can also be drastically changed and lead to exhaustion. “Before the pandemic, telework only existed at 3% in companies. Today, a salesperson, who made one or two professional appointments in physics per day, can chain five or six appointments in video. A rhythm that can gradually wear him out, without him realizing it” adds Isabelle Tarty.
An increased mental load for women
Finally, another negative aspect of teleworking, which affects women more this time: the mental burden that rests on mothers. For the FIRPS, telework “can also trap them by resting the entire family organization on their shoulders. They then find themselves prisoners of their home and their double working day, subject to an increased mental load..
For Isabelle Tarty, it is important that telework adapts to the profile of the employee: “Depending on whether it is a man or a woman, young or older, close to their business or not, living in a 25m² apartment or having an office at home, in charge of a family or not: the conditions are not the same and they must remain in line with the employee” she concludes.