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You are probably entitled to less than you think when your employer requires you to work from home to prevent the spread of infection during a coronary pandemic.
The corona pandemic has given rise to new ways of working. When Norway “closed” on March 12, everyone who could work from home was asked to do just that.
Many have sat in hard kitchen chairs at a slightly too high, dimly lit dining table, a laptop with no external display, keyboard, and mouse. Also, it may increase electricity costs, and you have to use private internet with different stability and speed.
What can you really demand of your employer when you have to work from home? However, according to Norwegian experts, it is not easy to give a clear answer about what rights you have in your home office in the middle of a crisis.
A “legal minefield” is what the editor and columnist Pilata Clark calls it in the Financial Times, and addresses the issue in a comment.
– It may be a violation of the Work Environment Law
Thea Larsen Normann, Associate Attorney at the Norwegian Bar Association, says that in each individual case should be considered what the employer should cover when working from home.
– The employer has a duty to take care of the work environment and ensure that it is fully justifiable, and that always applies. But the law doesn’t say what you’re entitled to, so it’s hard to give clear answers, he says.
Also read: Alarms about the home office: – I’m worried
But can you sue for the employer to cover everything you need at the head office?
– If you need to buy equipment so that you can do your job, I basically think the employer should cover it. If they don’t, it may be a violation of the Work Environment Law, but it must be considered in each individual case, Normann says.
EVALUATION: Thea Larsen Normann, Associate Attorney at the Norwegian Bar Association, says it is up to the employer to evaluate what equipment they get for the home office.
Photo: Juristforbundet
She says the employer is responsible for making sure you have the work equipment you need to get the job done.
– But you have to consider what you need. We are in a completely new situation, so we should talk together and find a solution. Flexibility also goes both ways, he notes.
Also read: Home office increases risk: 300,000 Norwegians scammed in a year
If you need an office chair or desk, or an additional screen, keyboard, and mouse, there is something the employer needs to do in the home office.
– One possibility is to borrow office equipment, but not everyone has space for it at home, and then the dilemma is what to do. Maybe it could be an opportunity to be in the office, he says.
– You shouldn’t get sick from the home office, Normann notes.
If it is not possible to be in the office, and you experience having a poor ergonomic workplace at home, a solution may also be for the employer to offer to pay for a physical therapist or similar to avoid permanent ailments.
Also read: How to avoid back and neck problems in the home office (+)
Avoid taxes
Even Bolstad, Director of HR Norway, a professional organization that focuses on personnel policy and management, finds that employers are good at making it easy for employees to have what they need in their head office.
– Employers love employees well. This is also a way to prepare for future crises, he says.
Bolstad says employees bring things home from the office, the employer buys new ones and lends them, or you cover the purchase of equipment yourself.
– The Work Environment Law applies independently, and is a 2002 regulation. But beyond this, you don’t have many rights. But we see that the vast majority of workplaces have found solutions that everyone is happy with, says Bolstad.
If you cover the costs of new equipment, you won’t have to pay out-of-pocket taxes, right now during the corona pandemic. The Tax Administration writes on its website:
Temporary and proportionate measures taken to limit coronavirus infection and to maintain employer operations (for example, through a home office), as a clear starting point, will not create tax liability for employees. Therefore, there will be no obligation to inform or to contribute from the employer in these cases.
Bolstad says that you actually get the gear to share and own unless otherwise agreed. And if you have a room that you can only use for work, and not a combined room / office, you can set up an entire office and get a tax deduction.
– If you use the room for something other than an office, this option expires.
AVOID TAXES: You don’t have to tax the equipment you buy and the employer covers it for the home office, says Even Bolstad, Norwegian HR director.
Photo: Nina Lorvik (Mediehuset Nettavisen)
Can’t cover internet
Ergonomics and additional equipment costs are one thing, while other expenses, such as the Internet, are another.
– We have received many questions about whether you are eligible for broadband coverage. Many people already have the Internet covered by the employer, but those who do not have such an agreement basically cannot claim it, says Normann.
Although the Internet is largely necessary for home office workers to do work, and the employer must pay for it, it cannot actually require it. The same does not necessarily apply if you need to increase the speed of your broadband.
– You are suffering an economic loss, so it can be assessed if there is a sufficient basis to demand coverage. But electricity can be worse, as it can be difficult to assess how many additional costs you get as a result of a home office, he says.
Therefore, how good finances and a decent employer you have can be decisive for how you feel at home.
– You can give reason for termination
But what rights do you really have as an employee? There is a big difference between living in a large house with a lot of space and living in a small 30 square meter apartment. There is also a big difference between those who live with someone and those who walk home alone all day.
Although the Work Environment Law applies regardless of whether you are physically at work or have a home office, you unfortunately do not have many rights when deciding where you want to work.
– It’s probably within the employer’s right to control the imposition of a home office for a temporary period when there is a valid reason for it, says Normann.
This is also pointed out by Bolstad in HR Norway.
– In an extraordinary situation like this, the employer can demand a lot, says Bolstad.
Also read: Six singles on the crown crisis: – If the earth sinks, then you want to share it with someone
If the employer has good reasons for not physically coming to work, and you are not willing to let yourself be managed to have a home office, the job is not done. So it can have consequences.
– In the extreme case, you can give objective reasons for dismissal or termination, says Bolstad.
Now there are many that have opened up for you to be physically at work 30 to 50 percent of the time, and some employers have introduced recommendations or bans on public transportation to work.
In fact, only 30 percent of the population has a home office during the corona pandemic, Bolstad says.
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