Croatia has five key points for an employment contract, and Germany has tools to check what employees do when they work from home

29.01.2021

Working hours; machines, tools and equipment for performing tasks that the employer is obliged to procure, install and maintain; use of workers own machines, tools and other equipment and reimbursement of costs for the same; compensation of other costs to the employee related to the performance of work and the manner of training and professional development of employees - that is how far Croatia has come in terms of working from home, apropos regulating the relationship between employer and employee.

Germany is fighting quite differently in this field. They are at the level of 'worker supervision', for whom the home is also a workspace, so they can check official emails, internet usage history and even keyboard entries and mouse movements at any time.

They can also monitor employees using a computer camera. They only use this tool if there is a suspicion that employees are cheating when it comes to working hours. Secret surveillance is also possible, but they need to have special permits and reasons for that.

When it comes to tracking e-mails, there is a condition, and that is that it can only be monitored if the official mail is used exclusively for official purposes. If it is also used privately, then I can only view official emails. In Germany, it is possible to ban the use of the Internet for private purposes even if you work from home.

If he also wrote this in the employment contract, then the employer can use the Internet history as evidence in case of dismissal if this paragraph of the employment contract has been violated. Keylogger software is used to monitor keyboard input and mouse movements, but it is only allowed if there is a suspicion of a criminal offense or a particularly serious breach of duty.

What is allowed in Germany and what is not at work from home was also explained by the German consumer organization and foundation (Stiftung Warentest), which is engaged in impartial research and comparison of goods and services.

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