Can my employer reverse my telecommuting days? Lawyer’s answers

Gone are the days of running back and forth between video chat and pitching machines. Extend the weekend with a day of remote work at your country house? The question seems to be on the minds of some employees who are worried about the decision of companies like Amazon to simply end remote work. French video game giant Ubisoft, in turn, ordered its 18,000 employees back to the office three days a week, launching a three-day strike in October.

Three years after the Covid-19 pandemic, which made remote work common in a country where it was still underutilized, French companies seem to be taking stock. So this is the declared end of telecommuting. Not so sure, explains Maître Diane Buisson, lawyer at the Paris Bar, partner at Redlink and specialist in social law.

Madame Figaro. – What texts regulate remote work within the company?
Mr. Buison. – In the past, employers most often added a separate clause to the employment contract. This is the most protective form because, as a general rule, the employee must agree to any changes. After its generalization with the pandemic, telework may be governed by a collective agreement negotiated with staff representatives. This text may provide for cases of reversibility, that is, situations, individual or collective, in which it does not apply, for example, in the case of an employee who is not highly autonomous due to remote work or economic difficulties. It is also possible that a collective agreement was signed for a period of three years, the end of which we are reaching. Finally, there is a third option. the charter, drawn up by the company unilaterally, after consultation with the Social and Economic Committee (CSE), which the employer can quite easily denounce. All he has to do is respect the notice period.

So could we lose our right to telecommute just as easily?
Theoretically, but there are several disadvantages. Termination of the company’s contract implies, for example, signing a new contract within 15 months. For the employer, this means tedious and time-consuming procedures. Especially since, in general, he should justify his decision based on the interests of the company. Then, and above all, the case law protects the employee and provides that teleworking cannot be abolished if it causes too much damage to their personal and family life. If we know very well that the employee lives far from the office, or has even moved, and that the entire organization of his personal life is based on remote work, then its completion makes his life extremely difficult in the eyes of the judge. These decisions were also made in the case of regular remote work without written consent.

Therefore, can the employee challenge his employer’s decision with valid arguments?
Yes, but if the company decides to change the rules by reducing the number of days or banning telecommuting from their second home or abroad, for example, and the employee refuses to comply, the employee can be fired for serious misconduct. Then, even if it means challenging the reason for the dismissal. But, once again, the trend doesn’t seem to be down at all. Employers know this. they need to offer remote work if they want to recruit, or even retain their teams.