Employers have to think about how to build a new workplace for the future. In doing so, they are facing with a lot of pressing questions, to which specialised lawyers have tried to give clear, simple and comprehensive answers. The wide-reaching project, covers the following countries all around the world: Argentina, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgiaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States and Venezuela. It explores key aspects of managing a more geographically disparate, often home-based workforce.  

Topics range from whether employers can refuse entry to the office for those unvaccinated to how to conduct an internal investigation remotely, from looking after remote employees’ physical and mental health to labour relations and expenses.

Here the main issues:

1. Vaccination and Testing: many employers are asking whether they can compel or incentivise their employees to be vaccinated. Is vaccination mandatory by law? If vaccination is compulsory for employees, can they object? Can employer provide an incentive for employees to vaccinate? This incentive could be considered as a discriminatory measure? Can employer compel employees to get tested or to vaccinate before entering the workplace? Can they dismiss employees for refusal to vaccinate? Are there official guidelines on personal data processing in relation to Covid-19? These and many other questions can be answered with reference to all the countries involved, simply by selecting the topic of interest.
2. Health and safety: it is important for employers to know exactly what their obligations in this area are. How to ensure the health & safety of remote workers? Do employers need to perform specific assessments for them and are they covered for accidents and injuries whilst working at home or elsewhere?
3. Working time: employers can find interesting information on how can and should working time of remote workers be monitored and what tools is it okay to use to monitor employers. For each country, experts also explain if there is a right for employees to disconnect from work once the working day is done.
4. Expenses: Must the employer reimburse costs and/or provide tools to employees working remotely? In an interesting map, employers, simply scrolling the mouse on the coloured countries, can find detailed information related to this specific aspect.

5. Labour relations: experts answer to hot debated questions. Do employers need to provide trade unions and representatives with a digital space on their extranet and collaboration tools to help them work? Should they provide the email addresses of employees? Do they need to inform and consult employee representatives? And do the representatives have the right to object to the employer’s plans?
6. Remote investigations: what are the rules around conducting internal investigations remotely?
7. Working abroad: is it necessary for the company to have a legal presence in the country in which the employee is based? Which countries have so-called ‘digital nomad visas’ to assist with the immigration aspects? And what of social security and tax? What is the risk that the presence of the employee will have the effect of creating a ‘permanent establishment’ of the business in the new country?
8. Ethical investments: what are the rules around making ethical investments that apply to pension scheme?

All these answers can help employers, also of multinational companies interested in a comparison of different legal systems, unravelling new laws, regulations and guidelines issued in an emergency to cope with new labour realities.