A survey on teleworking, carried out among 14,000 employees by the CGT, highlights the fears of employees and the consequences of teleworking on the conditions and pace of work but also on family life.
The dangers of teleworking on the health of employees, gender equality, the functioning of work collectives must encourage the State and companies to more regulations, claimed on Monday the Ugict-CGT, by publishing its second survey annual on the subject.
According to this survey carried out by interviewing 14,830 public and private employees online, “teleworking in degraded mode of the first confinement remains the norm”, writes the union of CGT executives, engineers and technicians. In 2021, time and workload increased for 47% of respondents; and 60% of employers have not implemented a mechanism to guarantee the right to disconnect (compared to 78% in 2020). 75% of them do not assess the workload or the working time of teleworking employees. The separation between professional and personal life is fading, with two thirds of respondents declaring that they receive requests during their periods of leave, including 10% systematically.
Eight out of 10 parents teleworked while looking after their children. Women are more concerned (25% say it was frequent, 20% of men), and 61% of women say they had to take on this responsibility alone against 31% of men. However, they have less latitude to adapt their schedules. “It’s the double penalty in terms of gender equality”, notes Sophie Binet, co-secretary general of Ugict.
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Health consequences
Companies still participate too little in the cost of equipment for their employees: only 10% of respondents have an ergonomic seat financed by the employer, 40% an adapted screen financed by the employer, if although 40% of those surveyed complain of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) or eye migraines.
Another victim of teleworking, the work collective: for more than half of the respondents, in particular the managers, the team spirit has deteriorated. Two-thirds say they have felt isolation while telecommuting. Almost one in five (19%) has a depressive symptom according to the scale defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). However, less than 2 out of 10 managers have had access to remote management training.
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The “instrumentalised” pandemic?
Almost 7 in 10 respondents say that their employer does not contribute, even partially, to the costs associated with teleworking, and 19% have lost the employer’s contribution to the costs of meals. At the same time, almost a third point out that their company has initiated a reorganization of workplaces (open space, flex office).
“In one year, a third of employers have had time to reorganize the premises to save money. We are in a form of telework shock strategy: even in the midst of Covid, the priority is still financial and the pandemic is being used to accelerate reorganizations, “lambasted Ms. Binet, also denouncing a” Wild West form of telework “.
The Ugict calls for compulsory collective bargaining before the implementation of teleworking, the maintenance of a principle of voluntary service and reversibility, the payment of all professional equipment and costs and a contribution to the employee’s rent, a right to disconnect and maintain a workstation for everyone. The Union also demands that teleworking does not exceed one half-time and that trade unions can inform employees via their professional messaging services.
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