Stakeholder Interests and Regulations for Working from Home During the Pandemic—A Slightly Jaundiced Review

Triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence of full or partial working from home (WFH) has increased considerably. Workers benefit from a better work-life balance, less commuting time, and more flexibility, but also experience a deterioration in social relations and higher stress levels. It is therefore recommended that establishment-level agreements be negotiated between works councils and management in order to avoid a weakening of occupational health and safety standards and to ensure compliance with legal requirements or sectoral agreements between the social partners on adequate infrastructure and working time. The aim is to find arrangements primarily at the establishment level to facilitate access to full or partial work from home and to protect workers’ health and safety in accordance with legislation, as well as to avoid disadvantages for business. Our paper highlights the role of differences in organisational working culture and the nature of industrial relations. Finally, we discuss the necessity of a Decent Work approach to WFH to enable better implementation of rules compared with the often unregulated concepts of New Work.