Working from home and medical certificates – What employers need to know

Working from home has become the norm in many companies. But employers are increasingly demanding employees spend more time working on site. This sometimes encounters resistance. It can become tricky for employers when employees present a medical certificate recommending that they work from home for health reasons. Do employers have to accept it? What rights and obligations exist? This article outlines the labour law framework.

 

Home office certificate

A home office certificate differs from a classic certificate of incapacity for work. It doesn’t certify that the employee is incapable of working, but that the employee can only work from home for health reasons.

It’s not a regular certificate of incapacity to work, so the AU guidelines don’t apply. There’s no standardised format for home office certificates, so they’re issued on forms for prescriptions or in letter form, and in other ways.

Employers have the right to check the certificate and it’s advisable to consult a company doctor if necessary. It’s important that the certificate clearly states the reasons why it’s unreasonable to expect the employee to work in the office. The employer should also check how long the assessment has been made for and what working conditions have been assumed. Due to medical confidentiality, the certificates don’t have to include a specific diagnosis. In addition, it has to be checked whether these are purely precautionary recommendations.

 

Is there a legal entitlement to work from home?

In Germany, there’s generally no legal entitlement to work from home. But this entitlement can arise from employment contracts, company agreements or collective agreements. Since the end of the pandemic-related special regulations, the decision to allow employees to work from home has been returned to the employer.

A medical certificate alone doesn't automatically entitle an employee to work from home.

But employers should take the medical statements into account when using their discretion to determine the place of work.

An employee might have a right to work from home, if working in the office would pose an unreasonable health risk and working from home would be a reasonable alternative. For example, this may be the case with chronic or mental illnesses or for people with physical limitations. Employers should pay particular attention to the General Equal Treatment Law and disability law. If a severely disabled or equivalently disabled employee cannot reasonably be expected to work in the office, the employer must find an appropriate solution. Refusing to allow someone to work from home could be considered discrimination.

 

Rejecting a home office certificate

Employers aren’t automatically obliged to allow employees to work from home. The deciding point is whether there are operational reasons for rejecting a request. Reasons for a refusal could be that the work is tied to the workplace or that data protection or security requirements preclude working from home. But employers have to assess each case individually. A blanket refusal without objective justification can be problematic under labour law.

 

Recommendations for action for employers

Employers should take a look at the certificates submitted and clarify any open questions if necessary. If the duration for which the assessment was made and the working conditions on which it was based were not stated, the employer can assert a right to information against the issuing doctor. The employer could also have a conversation with the employee to find a compromise and, if necessary, redesign the existing workplace as an alternative measure.

If no agreement can be reached and the issuing doctor's assessment isn’t comprehensible or accurate, a medical examination by the company doctor can help to better assess the situation. The final decision regarding the employee's place of work must be made by the employer at their reasonable discretion. This decision should be justified in detail and documented. If the employee fails to comply with an effective instruction to return to the office to fulfil their work obligations, employers can also impose sanctions such as issuing a written warning. If the employee refuses several times, a dismissal for behavioural reasons should also be considered.

 

Conclusion

A home office certificate doesn’t automatically entitle an employee to work from home. But it’s a serious indication of an employee's health restriction. Employers should carefully review and document the situation before making a decision about the employee's future place of work.