At least until 15.03. still applies by statutory ordinance: employers are obliged to*Inside, for which presence in the workplace is not required, offer home office. This is to avoid overcrowded offices and thus support the fight against the Corona pandemic.
Four out of five managers believe that home office will also be actively demanded in the future
It is already clear that the transformation of the world of work will continue even after the expiry of the regulation – if it is not extended anyway. According to a study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Labor Economics and Organization in 2020, 89 percent of the managers surveyed agree with the thesis that home office can also be implemented on a large scale without disadvantages for the company. Four out of five respondents also believe that their employees will in future more actively demand working in the home office and it will be harder for companies to reject this desire.
Data leaks threaten sensitive fines
A challenge that employers already now and in the future will probably have to face in the long term: secure the home office also in terms of data protection. This is because there are a number of pitfalls and sensitive negative consequences if sensitive data (can) get into the hands of third parties through security gaps. In the assessment of fines, the failure to take mitigation measures plays a decisive role!
For those in the law under Art. 83, par. 5 GDPR listed, particularly serious violations, the fine framework is up to 20 million euros. However, the catalogue of less serious infringements (Art. 83 para 4) also lists fines of up to EUR 10,000,000.
Lost customer trust and penalties
In addition to the extremely sensitive sanctions enshrined in the law, there are also potential contractual penalties and the loss of customer trust. The financial and of course also the negative extent of such consequences in terms of reputation, image and reputation has no upper limit.
