Not only since the Flexible Working Act entered into force in
the Netherlands on January 1, 2016, working from a home office (or
according to the legislative term: telework) has become a much
discussed topic. Just recently, Annelie Buntenbach, board member of
the German Federation of Trade Unions, called for a legal claim to
the "location and time of working hours." To this end, a
new legal framework would be required, which would place
"strong guardrails" against an "increasing
dissolution of limits relating to working hours and availability
expectations by employers."
In fact, providing work in the form of a home office is
considered a key example of the working environment's
increasing dissolution of limits, which – unlike Annelie
Buntenbach's demand suggests – is not classified in the
negative sense as "degeneration" to employees'
detriment, but rather in the sense of flexibility with positive
effects for both employees and employers. The positive elements
