The statement came as a surprise; the words were both an offer and a call to action, but that doesn’t mean everything just fell into place afterward. On the contrary. “Roland Busch, our CEO, said in an interview that he could well imagine giving Siemens employees the option to work remotely even after the pandemic—he had seen that it worked well. That was in mid-2020,” says Tobias Bäumler. “We did have an agreement in place before that,” says the deputy chairman of the General Works Council. “However, it only provided for the possibility of 20 percent remote work.”
Now, following the initiative by the Siemens CEO, the works council was tasked with developing a framework. They took on this task and, together with the employer, developed a policy that gives Siemens employees the option to continue working from home on a larger scale on a voluntary basis even after the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, it stipulates that the office remains the primary workplace.
Working from Home on a Voluntary Basis
“It was important to us to make it clear in the agreement that there is absolutely no obligation to work from home,” says Tobias Bäumler. “Furthermore, it was not intended to be a cost-cutting measure; rather, the arrangement was meant to give employees a genuine choice and contribute to greater self-determination.” With the company-wide agreement “Mobile Working in the New Normal,” the Siemens General Works Council has succeeded in doing just that.
The path to signing the agreement was an intense, sometimes grueling one. “We first set up a project group,” explains Tobias Bäumler. The group included the chair of the Group Works Council, the representative for employees with severe disabilities, and colleagues from the General Works Council at the branches, plants, and headquarters. Initially, discussions were initiated with the employer, and the employer’s ideas regarding the new normal were presented.
Works Council Organizes Broad Participation
At the same time, individual works council members conducted employee surveys at their respective locations. “Involving employees early on was very important and helpful,” says Tobias Bäumler. “This gave the project group detailed insights and an understanding of what our colleagues want.” The project group then presented to the General Works Council the company’s proposed policies regarding remote work and asked for additional key topics or alternative ideas for the negotiations.
To this end, the project group also utilized digital media, such as digital bulletin boards and online meetings, to gather as many opinions, ideas, and suggestions as possible from General Works Council members despite the pandemic. “With all these participatory tools, we created a broad foundation for the discussion with the employer and, through the survey results, received many ideas and suggestions from the employees.” The negotiation process finally began in July 2020; a good half a year later, in February 2021, the most important issues had been resolved and the agreement was signed.
Reaching Joint Agreements
“Voluntary participation and flexibility are central aspects of the agreement,” says Tobias Bäumler. Nevertheless, they have laid out some specific points. For example, employees should be able to work from home an average of 2 to 3 days per week, but in principle no more than an average of 50 percent of their regular individual working hours. It is also stipulated that a workspace at the company must continue to be available for all employees. Remote work is and will always remain voluntary for both sides and can be discontinued at any time. “Employees discuss this with their managers and reach an agreement. The managers then make a decision. However, they are tasked with enabling all colleagues to work remotely if and to the extent that the nature of their work allows for it,” says Tobias Bäumler.
The company-wide agreement also includes an important mandate for Siemens management: “We have included a provision in the agreement stating that opportunities for flexibility must be created even for employees who, due to the nature of their work, cannot easily work remotely. Possible approaches include, for example, giving employees more autonomy in shift scheduling or organizing work tasks in such a way that remote work becomes possible on certain days after all.”
Gaining Experience and Further Development
The 42-year-old is certain that, based on the experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, managers will find it difficult to come up with valid operational reasons that would no longer allow remote work after the pandemic. “I believe we can no longer turn back from the path we’ve taken. We will continue down this path; we now want to gain experience together. And we will make adjustments if and where necessary.”
Employees can count on this: The General Works Council and the employer have agreed to evaluate their agreement, to jointly address sticking points and make adjustments as needed, and to hold discussions at the end of each quarter to review this. “If the agreement doesn’t align with the reality on the ground, then it must be adjusted,” says Tobias Bäumler. “That’s fundamental for us.”
