DGB: Working from home can cost women career opportunities
The DGB states that working from home should not replace childcare, responding to a Green politician who emphasized its importance, particularly for women.
There were plenty of unoccupied seats in open-plan offices during the pandemic.
(Image: DGB / dah)
The German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) has joined the debate on working from home that has been reignited by the Green Party. It disagrees with labor market politician Beate MĂĽller-Gemmeke, according to whom working from home is particularly important for women in order to reconcile family and career. "Working from home is no substitute for well-functioning childcare," emphasized DGB board member Anna Piel.
Women contribute more to the household and family than men, while men tend to work more overtime. "Working from home can therefore mean significant career disadvantages for women in particular," said Piel, according to a DGB press release. The unequal use of the home office could worsen the unfair distribution of unpaid care work in families, to the disadvantage of women.
DGB calls for more daycare centers and all-day schools
In principle, the option of working from home is maintaining the times and "makes sense, especially regarding long commutes, child and family care and also to strengthen voluntary work", Piel continued. If you want more equal families, you need more daycare centers, all-day schools and a fairer division of care work through legislation. This would help those who cannot work from home, such as carers or teachers.
In the Tagesspiegel, the Green Party's Müller-Gemmeke thus prodded Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil of the coalition partner SPD, from whom she is demanding a regulation for the right to work from home. So far, only the first non-binding recommendations on occupational health and safety for hybrid VDU work have been made. Also in the Tagesspiegel, FDP parliamentary group deputy leader Christoph Meyer said that the Greens' demands failed to address economic necessities. Julia Klöckner, economic policy spokesperson for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, sees more bureaucracy on the horizon.
The background to this is a debate about the return from the home office to the office in companies such as SAP or Deutsche Bank. The coalition agreement stipulates that employees should have the right to work from home in the future. However, this depends on the respective profession. This goal has not yet been implemented.
(anw)