
German minister backs creating legal right to work from home - tareqak
https://apnews.com/44740743a698a80c058b75b8f8af3c8e
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IAmEveryone
As a point of comparison, Germany already has a right to work part-time: if
you've been with a company for more than 6 months and the company has more
than 15 employees, you can ask to reduce your hours and the burden of proof is
on the employer show that it cannot be accommodated if they want to deny it.

This seems similar, and it's probably far easier to organise. It's not for
everybody, obviously. But among my acquaintances, I'm getting the impression
that those who work at home usually do so for good reasons, such as childcare.

I do remember a few instances where people discovered they tended to slack off
or otherwise be unproductive. Every single one of them also became miserable
and decided to go back to the office.

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lykr0n
I hope to god WFH doesn't become the new hotness. A big part of going into an
office is the mental context switch for me. I have work time & place, and I
have not work time.

WFH has made it really hard to keep the boundaries separate. I've had
coworkers message me at 6/7pm at night expecting me to be there because they
know I'm in front of my computer.

~~~
Razengan
> _A big part of going into an office is the mental context switch for me._

Perhaps homes should start including a personal office as a standard feature
just like the kitchen and bathroom (which didn't always use to be a part of
houses.)

This could eventually let us reclaim the space currently taken up by all the
office towers, eliminating the upkeep of maintaining them, reduce daily
traffic and the associated noise, pollution, stress, improving overall public
health and leisure time, which in turn would improve the economy.

WFH becoming the norm is a win/win scenario, at the cost of a mere "mental
context switch" for a while before civilization adapts, just like it did when
the majority of humans started working inside buildings instead of farms and
fields and so on. :)

~~~
kayoone
A nice idea, but living space is limited and expensive in most major cities.

~~~
Razengan
With WFH (and even schooling from home if implemented well), you wouldn't
_have_ to live in expensive major cities.

~~~
kayoone
But what if I live in a major city not only for work reasons?

~~~
Razengan
Then you chose to live in an expensive city.

If WFH becomes the norm for the majority, companies may not want to maintain
expensive physical offices for people who can’t (or don’t want to) work from
home.

I assume even limited living spaces in major cities include a bed, desk or
couch, at least.

WFH doesn’t mean “only from home” anyway; you could work from any space you
have access to. Parks, restaurants, if they allow it, which I expect they
will, along with many other facilities popping up for remote work. It could
actually create an interesting new industry of third-party office providers.

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okr
I like it. The pilot sits at home using the joystick to control the jet. Or
many at once. In the end, that is, what the military already does. And when he
has to go to lunch, he just lets the jet fly idle in circles.

~~~
edoloughlin
Or hands over to someone else. Not such a crazy idea.

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john4532452
Another point in favor of remote work is trans people feel safe WFH .
[https://genevievefiles.blogspot.com/2019/06/remote-
work.html](https://genevievefiles.blogspot.com/2019/06/remote-work.html)

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foepys
Germany better fixes their insane taxation policy on home office matters. It
was improved a bit a few years back but it's still a mess.

A few years ago you needed to have a separate room (with a door!) without
_any_ personal items in it to be considered a home office for tax reasons.
Even a second chair was reason enough to make your tax report invalid (or
fraud, depending on the policy of the local tax office).

Nowadays it's gotten a bit better as a corner of the room can be considered an
office but there are still size restrictions and the computer can only be used
exclusively for work. It's still a mess that you have to fight your communal
tax office for and in the end comes down to the fact that the person
responsible to check your report has to believe you and it's way to easy for
them to say no.

~~~
Razengan
> _you needed to have a separate room (with a door!) without any personal
> items in it to be considered a home office ... and the computer can only be
> used exclusively for work._

I agree that that's how it should be, by default. See that other comment about
mental context switches.

Companies could provide specialized laptops for work.

It would help with privacy, focus and sensitive data being overseen by
kids/spouses/guests, until you can assure your employer that you can take care
of that on your own.

~~~
foepys
It's penalizing low income employees and only benefiting the rich. People
without the money to buy a house or large apartment will have to pay more.
Even if you were to have an extra room for work, what if you want a child?
Losing tax benefits is an extra cost you have to burden.

It's expensive to be poor, as always.

~~~
Razengan
Ah, didn't see it from that angle. Of course then there should be exceptions
for people who can't afford dedicated offices.

