The Minister of Labor Élisabeth Borne indicated Thursday that the dialogue must now take place within companies to decide on the rules for telework, while since Wednesday it is no longer imposed but only recommended. “We are giving back to businesses,” she said on RMC-BFMTV. On Wednesday, France began to lift restrictions linked to Covid-19, including teleworking, which is no longer imposed but only recommended.
“Many companies have signed agreements, now is the time to apply them,” said the minister, encouraging “perhaps to go a little further (than these chords) because the epidemic is not behind us”. “I want this to be discussed within companies to find the right balance,” said Elisabeth Borne.
No company sanctioned
The minister, who had recently called for strengthening telework to curb the epidemic, said she had been heard. According to the latest survey, “on average 65% of employees who can telecommute have done so, 75% in Île-de-France, it is 5 points more than at the beginning of January”, she rejoiced. So far, no company has been fined, she added.
Asked also about the idea of establishing a four-day week, which is particularly favorable to Yannick Jadot, the presidential candidate environmentalist, Ms. Borne does not intend to encourage him. “I think it’s a choice of companies, it can be discussed” within certain companies but “I do not recommend at all” this measure for everyone, she said.
The leader of the oil giant Patrick Pouyanné said he was “ready to look closely” at the subject, in an interview at the Echoes at the end of January.