WeCount Team
29 July 2021
After the pandemic crisis of Covid-19 in Morocco, many companies encouraged their employees to switch to home office and perform their duties from home.
This mode of work becomes by necessity more and more used, many are unaware of the legal specifications of home office as well as the good practices to be implemented in order not to lose efficiency and productivity.
In the current context, marked by a global health crisis, more and more companies are asking their employees to work remotely.
Home office is an excellent approach to encourage insofar as, not only, it contributes to limit the propagation of the coronavirus in the country, but also, it rhymes with flexibility, saves time, and sometimes increase the employees motivation. But sometimes, it is not that easy.
But what is home office?
As its name indicates, home office allows the employee to work elsewhere than in his employer's premises. The employee can work either at home or in another place different from his usual workplace.
Home office requires a certain level of organization to enable employees to carry out their activities outside the business premises due to information and communication technologies.
You should know that the choice of home office can emanate from the employer and the employee. In both cases, the choice must have a valid and a legal reason.
In other words, if the employer refuses or grants home office to an employee in a qualifying position, the employer must provide a reason.
Suppose the employer decides to give a favorable answer, or he chooses to make the decision himself. In that case, the standard procedure is that he notifies the employee concerned of an assignment order mentioning the obligation to stay and work at home, listing the equipment and documents entrusted in this context.
But before taking this decision, the employer must first consult the employee representatives and the union representatives when they exist.
It may happen that everything does not go as planned. For example, suppose the employer encounters difficulties in obtaining this agreement from the representative professional bodies. In that case, he must do everything possible to justify the relevance of the measure he wishes to take to the staff representatives.
You should note here that refusal to accept a teleworker position is not a reason for the termination of the employment contract.
If the decision is ratified, the employer must also inform the employee of any restrictions on using computer equipment or tools or electronic communication services and the penalties for non-compliance.
In addition to this, the employee is obliged to hold an annual interview which covers, among other things, the employee's working conditions and workload.
Considered as all of the other employees of the company, the teleworker has the same individual and collective rights as all employees of the company: namely health and safety at work, privacy, access to training, and the company's social activities, union information, and social benefits.
You should note that not all employees are eligible for home office, mainly employees in the heavy industry sector where the physical presence of employees is often necessary.
And so, for this category of companies obliged to maintain the work on-site, there is also a procedure to allow the employees to move, especially in times of crisis like the Covid-19 crisis.
First, the employer must give a certificate to the employees to specify the reason for maintaining the activity.
In a second place, the employee is also obliged to get a certificate of derogatory displacement from the competent authorities.
Increased flexibility of human resources, increased motivation, and competitiveness... The advantages of the home office for the employer are numerous. To this list, we must add the reduction of absenteeism and delays, especially in big cities with traffic jams, strikes, a decrease of overheads and expenses, and better management of moves and transfers of activity.
The home office also allows better integration of disabled employees in companies and employees with essential family constraints. If this way of working has advantages for the companies, it is also a good opportunity for them.
The trend of working "without a fixed office" is attracting more and more employees. With more flexible working hours that provides more time in the employee's day and week, the home office is a great way to avoid traffic jams for an employee.
In addition to increased autonomy and responsibility, telecommuting allows the telecommuter to organize their schedule, thus offering increased efficiency if the telecommuter is an organized person.
The home office also allows the employee to be free from noise pollution and stress caused by travel. Moreover, many companies are now opting for open-space workplaces, which means less noise in the employee's environment.
Finally, for the employer and the employee, the home office is full of advantages. Both parties manage to agree on an effective system in all disciplines. In other words, this corporate culture is not all good.
This can be seen with call centers that have deployed home office and will have to expect to be accountable to telephone operators and the National Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (ANRT) If VOIP traffic is detected on the personal connections of employees working from home.
You should note that the use of VOIP for commercial purposes to call abroad, a technique that allows voice transmission over wired or wireless IP networks, is prohibited.
Worse still, telecommuting can put the employer in a delicate situation that prevents him from adequately monitoring his employees and their work output. All communications between the company and the employee in-home office mode are generally made via the Internet.
The employer needs to verify if the employee is working or if they have problems completing their tasks. It is the same for the quality of the service or product provided.
The other disadvantage is that the employee confined to his home, often alone in front of his computer, will miss an essential element of his work, namely team spirit and communication with his colleagues.
But that's not all. It doesn't happen to everyone, but working remotely from home can be a source of boredom for someone used to the atmosphere of his colleagues at the office.
And as a result, it can lead to a lack of confidence and loss of interest in one's work, knowing that the most significant disadvantage of doing home office is the lack of interaction. Bright minds, one might say, don't like to get used to the routine. But that's exactly what home office offers for those who can't get accustomed to isolation.
In times of crisis such as the Covid-19 crisis, the ability for your staff to work from home could save your company and ensure business continuity.
But how do you get your team to adopt this way of working effectively? And what are the key considerations when your business moves to the home office model?
From a study, more than 40% of multinational companies had a home office policy for their staff during the Covid-19 crisis. But for remote work to be practical, your company needs to think hard about the infrastructure, security, and culture surrounding the home office.
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