Employer may not force home office

Labor law is not really my core area, even though every lawyer has to deal with it in the state exams. Personally, I only really encounter it myself as a company and in matters of player contracts for Esport teams. The present decision of October 10, Ref. 17 Sa 562/18), however, also concerns IT law in the broader sense.

For Esport teams and other smaller companies that work a lot with home offices or remote workplaces, a recent decision by the Berlin Regional Labor Court could therefore be relevant and, under certain circumstances, make changes to player contracts seem sensible.

The latter ruled that despite the fact that many employees very much want to take advantage of home office, an employer’s right to issue instructions would not go so far as to force an employee, whose employment contract does not specify any particular provisions, to work from home.

The LAG considered a dismissal on the basis of an employee’s refusal to be invalid. Of course, this can also affect many startups, Esport teams, smaller agencies and the like. For those, it could be significantly more difficult to give up a location or require home offices at all. The exact activities and the manner should therefore be clarified in advance and changes to this, if permissible, should be contractually regulated.