After the lifting of the covid pandemic-related health restrictions, the question of how remote working will continue in companies has been a subject of much debate. To regulate the practice, social partners set up a specialised agreement as early as October 2020. That answered a number of legal questions such as the coverage of costs, supervision of workers and more.

In January 2021, the text was declared a general obligation by grand-ducal regulation and in February of that year to discuss remote working issues.

However, a few points still needed to be amended in the labour code. The unanimous vote by deputies on Wednesday in support of bill 7862 which “transposes into the labour code” the agreement reached on the framework of telework, does just that.

An agreement from 150 employees

More precisely, the text provides for an obligation for the head of a company with less than 150 employees to inform and consult the staff delegation on the introduction or modification of a specific remote working arrangement.

Companies with more than 150 employees have to reach a formal agreement with the delegation before introducing or modifying remote working policies. Although in all cases the agreement specifies that remote work is neither a right nor a duty for the employee and that it requires the agreement of both parties.

Without specifying the date of entry into force in the text, the amendments to the labour code should be applied according to the classic procedure: “Four days after publication in the official [parliamentary] journal,” said a spokeswoman for the Chamber of Deputies.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.