Although, without any doubt, many sectors in the Serbian economy will return to the usual way of doing business when the pandemic passes, the phenomenon of working from home has come to stay. Unlike the current situation in which work from home is forced by a pandemic and is primarily a matter of the health response of the company, in the future it will be a matter of agreement between the employer and the worker.
Although in our Labor Law there is a defined work at a distance and work from home, these are only indications and not clear solutions of how that work should be regulated.
Working from home contributes to the loss of the balance between private and business, which results in longer work than the one legally prescribed and non-existent working hours.
Such organization of work endangers the right of the worker to privacy, i.e. regulation when the worker does not have to respond to the requests of the employer (outside working hours).
In the practice so far, it has been noticed that workers are insufficiently prepared for this type of work, either because they lack motivation, or are not able to organize work from home without constant instructions from the employer on every step they need to take in the work process. work or enough discipline and responsibility.
Also, workers are not digitally literate enough, ie they are not able to use all the tools available to them in teleworking.
At the same time, companies are insufficiently prepared for such a transition not only to organize work from home but the entire process of digital transformation.
Working from home in such conditions increased the gender gap between women and men because women were given more duties (to take care of hygiene measures, take full care of children who study online) and at the same time they had to do their job.
Work from home is insufficiently legally defined
The legal framework for organizing work is also insufficiently clear when it comes to the need to issue annexes to employment contracts or collective agreements that would regulate this area.
Bearing in mind that in some sectors, work from home cannot be organized, the introduction of work from home as a mass option will lead to divisions between sectors and workers, given their technological capabilities to organize work from home.
Good sides of working from home
However, at the time of the pandemic, when most companies organized their resources so that as few people as possible were exposed to the risk of infection, working from home showed its good sides.
A large number of workers have recognized working from home as great for raising efficiency because there is no wasting time on unnecessary things. Working from home reduces the number of hours lost on the journey from home to work and back.
In Serbia, it is necessary to regulate the area of work from home by law
Although so far it has not been a common practice in Serbia for workers to work from home, the business world has quickly adapted to the new conditions. Workers in Serbia are ready for combined work.
The conference "The Future of Work - The Seductive World of Telework" offered clear recommendations on the necessary public policies that are relevant to the regulation of work from home through labor law and respect for the principles of decent work.
First of all, we should focus on education, ie training of workers for teleworking (adoption of digital skills, both through state programs and trainings organized at the company level).
Clear definition of employment contract rights related to work from home (division of labor costs from home, for example, investments in equipment, internet, hot meal).
Improving the gender balance in work from home by creating services that would relieve women of unpaid housework.
As in other areas, the public sector has adapted more slowly than work from home, while private companies have been faster in adapting. This is especially the case with large companies while smaller ones found it difficult to adapt. Therefore, there is a need primarily for investing in smaller companies and their training for the introduction of digital solutions that will enable work from home.
In accordance with the Labor Law, one of the essential components of the employment contract is the place of work, and in the employment relationship, the employer and the employee are obliged to comply with the provisions of the contract and comply with the provisions of the Labor Law and other employment regulations. changed circumstances, which could not have been foreseen or prevented in advance, and what the situation was in the conditions of epidemic and pandemic spread of COVID - 19 disease, the employer and the worker could change the provisions of the employment contract for a certain period of time. development of such an emergency situation, the employer, acting in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Act, could determine the place and manner of work in a space that is not the employer's space, but another place, but only as long as the circumstances. There would be an obligation of the employer to provide such a worker with working conditions, to take care of the organization of work and safety of workers, equipment needed to perform work and working hours and vacations that he is obliged to provide in accordance with the law. Equally, there would be an obligation for workers to respect and perform their employment obligations with due care, while taking care of their safety and health protection, as well as the safety and health protection of other workers.