Teleworking has become quite common since the corona pandemic. Most (large) companies include teleworking in their employment contracts, including a comprehensive policy. But what are you obliged to do by law? Do you need to provide a second screen? What about an ergonomic chair? Or reimbursement?

This Q&A provides answers to the most frequently asked questions to help you understand what you need to provide your teleworking employees.

Teleworking means the employee works at a location other than the company’s main location. This is not automatically in the home, but an agreement can be made in the contract. Officially this is called “teleworking”.

Teleworking is allowed in an occasional or structural sense. In the latter case,
a written agreement between employer and employee is required.

Teleworking also has a voluntarily nature, and this applies to both the employer and employee. Simply put, it is not a legal right, nor can it be enforced. However,
if you choose to offer telework to employees, you must comply with certain legal requirements.

The basis of these provisions can be found in CAO 85 (structural teleworking) and on Federal Public Service Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue. (only available in Dutch and French)

As you read above: yes. A written agreement about structural teleworking must be drawn up for each employee. This could simply be an addendum to an existing employment contract.

The agreement must contain the following:

• The frequency of the teleworking and, if applicable, the days on which the teleworking will be carried out, as well as, if applicable, the days and/or hours the employee will actually be physically present in the organisation.
• When the teleworker must be reachable and by what means.
• When the teleworker can call on technical support.
• Which costs the employer will reimburse or pay, and the details thereof.
• Duration of the telework.
• How teleworking will be terminated.
• The location(s) the teleworker will perform his/her work.

Yes, just like any other employee, the teleworker is also subject to the welfare act. However, the environmental factors of the teleworking station differ per situation. They can often be found in private homes, over which you as an employer have no direct control. The employee does work under your authority though so, as the employer, you do have indirect responsibility for the area.

All workstations and screen workstations must meet comfort and health requirements. This must be checked at least every 5 years through a risk analysis, and appropriate preventive measures must be taken on that basis. This must be communicated to everyone, including teleworkers.

As the employer, you must also carry out a risk analysis of all home work stations, even though going on site to all teleworkers is not always possible. You can then include general recommendations and provisions in both the risk analysis and the teleworking policy within the organisation.

As an employer, you must inform the teleworker of the policy and the preventive measures it contains. Pay extra attention to, for example, screen positioning, working posture, sufficient rest breaks, sufficient exercise, etc. With your support, teleworkers can stay safe and healthy when working from home. In turn, the teleworker must comply with these instructions.

The employer’s authorised internal prevention service may gain access to the teleworker’s workplace. They can check whether the applicable safety and health regulations are being applied correctly by the teleworker. Such a visit must be agreed upon in advance, but is not obligatory. The employee can also request a visit.

The employer is required to ensure all assistance, resources and materials necessary for the execution of the work is made available. The welfare act also stipulates that you must ensure the work is adjusted to the person carrying out the work; this also applies to the design of the work station and the choice of work equipment. The employer must also provide adequate facilities for technical support. These principles also apply to employees who work from home.

Note: The welfare legislation does not state explicitly that the employer must purchase the actual physical equipment (screen, keyboard, office chair, etc.) for the teleworker’s workstation. The teleworker must be provided with the equipment. This may include, for example, material at the office that the teleworker can make use of.

A teleworker may also use his/her own equipment. As an employer, you can then agree on some form of reimbursement for the use of the employee’s own equipment:

• the employee has a second screen and keyboard, etc.: the employer can reimburse the employer’s use of his/her own material (which must comply with CAO 85),
• the employee has his/her own ergonomic office chair: reimbursement by employer is possible, but not obligatory.
• Costs related to the installation of computer programmes and the subsequent operation of said programmes are always the responsibility of the employer.

All costs for the employer are calculated before the start of teleworking on the basis of the telework performance or an agreed distribution key.
 

The welfare legislation defines several minimum requirements  concerning screens, keyboards, furniture and environmental factors. For example. a keyboard must be able to be placed at an angle and must not form a whole with the screen, and the screen must be freely and easily adjustable and tiltable. However, it does not say that a second screen or keyboard is automatically required. However, this may be necessary in order to carry out the work itself. This is determined in the risk analysis.

As stated in this Q&A, employees may also provide their own equipment. This must also meet the minimum requirements, as well as the provisions in the employer’s teleworking policy and risk analysis.

The minimum requirements defined in the legislation on display screens for a work chair are:

• it must be stable
• it must give the user freedom of movement and provide him/her with a comfortable working position.
• it must be adjustable in height.
• the height and angle of the backrest must be adjustable.

The employer must provide this unless the employee states that he/she will take care of it. In both cases, the work chair must comply with these regulations, which must be communicated in full to the employee.

The application of these principles to the teleworker’s home working situation is not obvious however. The employer must use the risk analysis to determine whether the employee’s home workstation meets the minimum requirements, unfortunately the the legislation on display screens (or collective labour agreement) does not expressly require the purchase of an ergonomic office chair for the teleworker’s home workstation. (this is also not the case in the collective labour agreements already mentioned).

In practice, the employer will often provide financial assistance through a flat-rate contribution or purchase discount, or, for example, make old office furniture (ergonomic chair and table) available.