The new Teleworking Act in a nutshell

• Flexible work locations: In the future, the law will not only regulate working from home or from the homes of close relatives, but it will also regulate working from holiday homes, coworking spaces or other locations, such as hotels, cafés, swimming pools and parks. This flexibility enables "working from anywhere".
• Cross-border working: The new Teleworking Act also simplifies working abroad. However, companies need to be particularly careful in this regard. If the place of work is abroad, this can lead to unwanted tax liability in another country or a change in social security. Performing work abroad can also result in the applicability of foreign employment law. Therefore, if you want to implement a cross-border teleworking concept, you should clarify the employment, tax and social security implications before introducing it.
• Consent requirement: Teleworking may not be implemented unilaterally; it needs to be agreed in writing between the company and the employee. This means that the specific work locations and any country from which teleworking is to be carried out must be mutually agreed. 
• Work equipment and reimbursement of costs: If teleworking is agreed, the company is obliged to provide the necessary digital work equipment (IT hardware and software, internet connection and company mobile phone); alternatively, the company must reimburse the costs. A lump sum of up to EUR 3.00 per exclusive teleworking day for a maximum of 100 teleworking days per year remains tax-free. The tax exemption is therefore limited to EUR 300.00 per year. What's new is that only teleworking days that are stated on the annual pay slip justify the tax exemption.
• Data protection: Due to the possibility of working from anywhere, internal data protection guidelines should be updated, and employees should be trained in data protection risks due to changes in location.
• Accident insurance cover: In the future, accident insurance cover will differentiate between teleworking in the narrow sense and teleworking in the broader sense. Teleworking in the narrow sense includes the home office (the main and secondary residence of employees) as well as the homes of close relatives and coworking spaces in the area close to the home or the office. Teleworking in the broader sense includes all other locations. Accident insurance cover exists for teleworking in the narrow and broader sense. However, commuting accidents are only covered for teleworking in the narrow sense.       

Recommendation

We recommend developing a concept for "working from anywhere" tailored to your needs and challenges. This requires adapting a clear framework on applicable terms and conditions and adapting existing agreements. In any case, you should be conscious about guaranteeing flexibility as well as (data) security and compliance with foreign employment, tax and social security regulations. This will keep you not only competitive as an employer, but also future-orientated and attractive to the best talent.    

Click here to read the German version.