The rules of telecommuting are not always clear to employers and employees. If we accept the fact that the number of people working in the home office before the declaration of the state of emergency will increase according to the mutual, well-understood interests of the two parties, then all participants must contribute to making the changed state legal. In other words, it must also be made clear to the parties from the labor side that the employee also performs his duties from home.
Occupational health and safety issues
If they have agreed on the labor issues and the terms of this, the occupational safety issues can follow. Creating conditions for safe and health-free work pursuant to Section 2 (2) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the employer is also responsible for remote work, which is not affected by the occupational health and safety obligations of employees. The Occupational Safety and Health Act also stipulates what can be considered a workplace: any free or closed space where employees stay for the purpose of or in connection with work is considered a workplace.
In the case of working from home, this changes to the extent that the entire apartment is not considered a workplace, but only the approx. 2-4 m2- area, where the work table, work chair, computer, filing cabinet, etc. is placed. The workplaces created in the apartment, similarly to the normal office environment, must meet the conditions of safe and health-free work. Establishing this can also be an employer's issue, but the Occupational Safety and Health Act 86/A. According to § (2), it is also an employee task. The two parties must agree on this during their negotiations.
Ensuring adequate occupational health and safety conditions
Also in this paragraph, but already in paragraph (4), the legislators defined as an employer's obligation that, even in the case of remote work, he must regularly make sure that the working conditions meet the occupational health and safety requirements, and that the employee knows and observes the relevant provisions .
86/A of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Section (7) authorizes the authority to, on the basis of prior information, and exclusively on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., you can check the remote work site. In other words, it can be stated that a set of rules must be applied by the parties during their agreement, however, it must be emphasized that determining the adequacy of the workplace is a labor protection issue a task requiring qualification.
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