Dilemma
Since the corona crisis, working from home has become more normal. Can you also do that from a warm foreign country? This will appeal to many knowledge workers, especially during the dark winter months. Do you have to approve this as an employer? And are there no legal risks?
Why not?
If you allow employees to work abroad for a few weeks or months, this will provide at least one clear advantage: greater job satisfaction. This is what professor of work and organizational psychology Toon Taris of Utrecht University says. “Employees feel more like their own boss and can organize their work a little more freely. On top of that, the change of scenery can be inspiring. Together, this can have a strong motivating effect.” In addition, ‘workations’ are seen by employees as an attractive additional fringe benefit. “It also gives status. People can say: ‘I’m in Hawaii this winter, that’s possible with us.’”
However, there are also risks associated with these types of constructions, Taris warns, even if someone can theoretically do their work remotely. The most important thing is that the employee becomes less involved in the organization. “You no longer meet your colleagues during informal contact moments. We also saw this effect among employees working from home during the corona crisis.” In addition, the risk of a poor work-life balance increases. “That applies exactly to normal working from home: it becomes more difficult to separate work and home.” However, employers do not have to worry that employees will cut corners: “Research among home workers shows that they generally adopt a very responsible attitude, also because they are assessed on the end result.”
Please pay attention to this
The most important advice from employment law lawyer Jan Dop of Russell Advocaten Amsterdam: “Limit remote If you work for a maximum period of six months, you as an employer will usually be spared a lot of arranging work.” This regulation falls within no fewer than four areas of law: tax law, social security law, immigration law and employment law. When an employee works abroad for more than six months, the law of that country may apply. This can have all kinds of consequences, such as tax liability abroad. “In social security law, that period is already after three months for some countries,” says his fellow lawyer Farhana Mahabali. “This applies, for example, to Greece, because that country has not signed the framework agreement on cross-border telework. In countries outside the EU, it is also relevant for employers to check whether social security treaties have been concluded.”
If you, as an employer, take these terms into account, remote working can be easily arranged, says Dop: “Most organizations nowadays have a work-from-home arrangement. You can make some additions in consultation with the works council, such as a maximum ‘workation’ duration. And you can also make individual agreements in an addendum to the employment contract, for example about the accessibility of employees.”
In addition, according to Dop, it is smart to make agreements with the Occupational Health and Safety Service about what should happen if an employee unexpectedly falls ill abroad, and you should take a closer look at the organization’s insurance policies, including absenteeism insurance. You also have to take the GDPR into account: you do not want privacy-sensitive information to leak out over a weak internet connection. A forward-looking employer could consider arranging these types of workations themselves, for example by hiring a specialized workation service agency, or renting a workation location themselves, says Dop: “Then you also have more control over the working conditions and ICT infrastructure.” If the ‘Work where you want law’ had not been rejected by the Senate this summer, employers would only have been allowed to refuse a workation if they judged that their interests outweighed those of the employee, says Dop.
Taris does recommend drawing up clear and fair rules about which job groups are allowed to go to workation under which conditions. “Employees who remain obediently in the Netherlands may otherwise feel disadvantaged. If it turns out that colleagues are allowed more than you, this can be demotivating. After all, there must always be a balance between what you as an employee invest in your work and what you get in return. And you don’t want your colleagues to be clearly better off than you in that respect.”
In addition, it is good to maintain regular contact with remote employees, without becoming controlling: “Otherwise it feels like a vote of no confidence.” To prevent crooked eyes, a team workation can be considered. Taris: “I remember a professor who went to a castle in the south of France for a week with a group of PhD students, ten years ago. They were able to work hard and undisturbed there, and it was also good for the team atmosphere.”
So
Allowing employees to temporarily work remotely from a warm foreign country can have a strong motivating effect. However, arrangements must be fair and transparent so that those left behind do not feel disadvantaged. Provided that a stay abroad does not exceed six months, the legal arrangements are also manageable.