Changes to working from home: Adoption of the Teleworking Act

At a glance

• The new Teleworking Act (Act) will come into force on 1 January 2025.
• The Act replaces the term 'home office' with 'teleworking'.
• Unlike the 'home office', teleworking not only includes working from home, but from any location outside the company.

On 19 July 2024, the Teleworking Act was published. It will come into force on 1 January 2025. The Act is intended to improve the legal framework for the provision of teleworking services. Therefore, the 'home office' is to be extended to include additional teleworking activities. In addition to labour law regulations, it also contains adjustments to the social insurance and tax law framework for teleworking.

The most important changes to labour law are as follows:

• Home office becomes teleworking: Until now, according to the legal definition, home office was defined as when an employee regularly performs work at home, whereas the term home includes both the main residence and any secondary residence as well as the home of close relatives and cohabitants. The term ‘home office’ is replaced by ‘teleworking’. An adjustment of the terminology in existing home office agreements is not mandatory.
• Extension of the locations for the performance of teleworking: It is no longer necessary for the employee to perform the work exclusively at home, as was previously the case. Teleworking is deemed to exist if the employee regularly performs the work (using the necessary information and communication technology) in their own home or in another location not belonging to the company. Therefore, the law provides for working outside of the employee’s home,  for example in co-working spaces, libraries or in a coffee house.
• Written agreement: Teleworking and the location where the work is to be performed must be agreed in writing between the employee and the employer and cannot be enforced unilaterally, neither by employees nor by employers.
• Costs: In general, employers are also still obliged to provide the necessary digital work equipment. This can be deviated by agreement and in this case, employers are required to provide appropriate and necessary reimbursement. A lump-sum payment of the costs is permitted.