Leading French union CGT has urged the government and business chiefs to monitor the effects of working from home in order to avert a health crisis among millions of employees.
Before the coronavirus took hold in January 2020, only 4 percent of employees regularly worked from home.
But in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, President Emmanuel Macron’s administration ordered national lockdowns which forced millions of office workers to remain at home.
The CGT’s call comes following a survey of more than 15,000 employees ranging from executives and managers downwards.
Asked if they wanted to continue to work from home, 98 percent of them said they wanted to do so for one or two days a week.
Respondents said working from home aided their work-life balance and reduced the drudge of commuting.
Changes
“Telework is a happy revolution that has allowed me to get away from my toxic colleagues and live in the countryside,” said one participant in the survey.
Another said he felt less stress when teleworking adding: “I can organise my working time as I see fit without being watched.”
Others claimed they felt more efficient and had proved to their bosses that working from home did not correspond to idleness.
However, two out of three employees admitted they felt isolated when teleworking and rued the loss of office banter. There were complaints too of poorly run video meetings.
Reform
Sophie Binet, the joint secretary general of the CGT for managers and intermediate professions, said: "These aspirations show, in a way, the deterioration of working conditions in many places such as the development of open-space and “flex offices” where workers do not have fixed spots in the building.
“Employees can no longer work without being interrupted at their place of work but at home they can find a more peaceful place, with less pressure,” Binet added.
More than 115,000 people have died in France since the start of the pandemic in January 2020.
But as the number of people with double vaccinations increases, companies have begun to demand employees return to the office for a couple of days a week even though there is no proof of greater productivity on site.
The survey also highlighted a lack of technical support for working from home: only 10 percent of the employees questioned owned ergonomic work equipment such as chairs or footrests.
And just under half complained of musculoskeletal disorders or ocular migraines.
In terms of mental health, 19 percent had a depressive symptom according to the scale defined by the World Health Organisation.
"We want to tell the government and employers that we can't go on like this," added Binet.
"If we leave things as they are, it means that we are accepting that poor conditions for teleworking will become the new norm. It's a time bomb.
"We need to get round the table and regulate telework, starting with the obligation to sign an agreement in each company to introduce telework so that there is a negotiated framework. In this way, employees who wish to telework can do so without constraint.”
