A look at the teleworking rules in the Big Four, major employers and companies who'd already set up the practice reveals collective agreements, flexible guidelines and sometimes the possibility of working from one's holiday location.
From 1 July, unlimited teleworking for border workers will be a thing of the past. The French will need to limit themselves to 29 days per year, the Belgians to 34 and the Germans to 19, that is if they do not want to pay income tax in their country of residence. The agreements freezing these quotas because of the crisis--regularly renewed since March 2020--will no longer be renewed after 30 June, announced the finance ministry.
Meanwhile an EU regulation limits cross-border workers' teleworking to 25% of their working time. Otherwise, they fall back on the social security system of their country of residence. This quota was also frozen during the health crisis and expires on 30 June, although there will be a transition period until the end of the year.
Delano's sister publication Paperjam got in touch with the country's ten largest employers, the Big Four firms, as well as some companies that had indicated that they would not consider returning to the pre-crisis mode of working, to find out what rules will apply to their employees from 1 July. At the time of speaking to Paperjam, most employers were not yet aware of the tolerance that was applied with regard to social security.
Between zero and two days for the 10 largest employers
Post (4,620 employees)
Post has included in an amendment to its collective labour agreement the possibility for people whose job allows them to do so (about 50% of the workforce) to work from home up to 20% of their time which represents one day a week. This means that cross-border commuters can exceed their tax quota if they wish. However, the measure does not allow them to take all their days at once, although arrangements can be made in agreement with their manager.
The company has set up a “system that allows quotas to be monitored in real time and alerts to be sent at different thresholds to enable employees and their manager to avoid being backed into a corner,” explains Isabelle Faber, director of human resources.
In terms of covering costs, Post points to computer equipment. The rest (electricity, connectivity, etc.) is paid for by the employee.
Regarding distance, telework is possible “at the employee's home or at a private place which is within a short distance, i.e. a maximum of 3 hours' travel time from the employee's usual place of work”. This private place must be in the person's country of residence, whether the person is a Luxembourg resident or a cross-border commuter.
CFL (4,580 employees)
Only 400-500 jobs allow telework at CFL where post-covid remote working rules have been in place, with some interruptions, since October 2021. It has been in place again since 1 April 2022. Employees are entitled to two days of telework per five-day week. This quota is reduced to one day for part-time workers, who work four days a week. Those working only three days a week must work entirely at the company's premises.
Two days a week is well beyond the tax and social security quotas for cross-border workers. “They are free to go beyond the tax limit,” says Yves Baden, head of human resources. However, they must limit themselves to the 25% social security limit. Otherwise, this would lead to additional costs for them and their employer.
Employees can request their teleworking days on a specific software. The software reminds them how many days they have already taken, which allows them to keep track of their quotas, although no alert system has been set up yet.
The costs of teleworking are borne by the employee. As regards distance, “we had a discussion with the Accident Insurance”, explains Baden. As a result, an accident while teleworking could be classified as an accident at work. The CFL therefore sticks to this rule.
Cactus (4,460 employees)
, Cactus took a decision not to allow telework out of solidarity for the large part of its workforce whose jobs require a presence in the field. “Our position on teleworking remains unchanged,” stated the supermarket chain.
Dussmann (4,390 employees)
Dussmann did not respond to requests from Paperjam.
BGL BNP Paribas (4,050 employees)
BGL BNP Paribas has established a "framework agreement" in accord with its social partners. The rule applies to employees whose position allows it and is fixed at a maximum of two days of telework per week. On the other hand, cross-border workers must respect the tax thresholds of their country of residence.
The application on which employees register their working time has been adapted so that they can add their teleworking days. The connection and communication costs related to teleworking are covered by the bank via a monthly flat rate.
Teleworking is only possible from “the home address declared by the employee, within a perimeter limited to border countries”.
ArcelorMittal (3,660 employees)
At ArcelorMittal, an agreement signed with social partners in November 2021 provides for a maximum of two days per week at home for the 1,000 or so jobs eligible for telework, for residents and cross-border commuters alike, who are responsible if they want to exceed their tax limits.
It can only be done “from one's home declared as official residence”. Exceptions are possible with the agreement the employee's manager, but only from another place of residence in Belgium, France, Germany or Luxembourg, and on condition that the precise address is given.
All telework requests are entered into an HR system and submitted to the manager for approval. The agreement also provides for compensation for the costs per day at home, the amount of which is not disclosed.
Goodyear (3,570 employees)
The company remains very vague, but assures that it offers its employees whose position allows it the “possibility of working in a hybrid manner (home office and face-to-face) on the basis of a written agreement and in application of the Luxembourg legislation in force”.
Amazon (3,280 employees)
Amazon did not respond to requests from Paperjam.
PwC (2,980 employees)
At PwC, “from 1 July, our employees will have to work at least one day a week from one of our offices”. Non-residents will have to “respect the social security and tax rules of their country of residence, which means that they will have to work four days a week from Luxembourg”, the auditing firm said. “We have expanded our satellite offices. We have already opened one in Mondorf and are ready to open two more in July. One in Dudelange, mainly for French residents, and one in Petange for Belgian and French residents.” Regarding the modalities, employees must “obtain the oral approval of the team leader to ensure a good organisation of the work”. A flat-rate allowance will be introduced from 1 July to compensate for part of the costs of teleworking.
The firm also foresees the possibility of teleworking from one's place of residence abroad between 1 July and 30 September, provided that the type of work and the connection on site allow it, that the employee respects the tax and social security rules and that they have received prior authorisation from their teams (human resources, team leader). “Our employees have to declare where they work and the dates involved.” This summer teleworking is limited to one week for non-residents and two weeks for residents.
Luxair (2,840 employees)
Like Cactus, Luxair has a zero telework policy. “Only a minority of our staff would be eligible. As an airline, we favour physical presence and require that our meetings with external parties and suppliers take place as much as possible on our premises or on theirs,” adds CEO .
Flexible arrangements in some Big Four
Deloitte (2,180 employees)
There is no “one size fits all model” at Deloitte, which wants to offer all its employees a “fair balance between being present at the client's premises, being present in the office and working remotely”, with no inflexible rules, “apart from the limits set by the jurisdictions in which our employees reside and the constraints applicable to social security”.
KPMG (1,750 employees)
KPMG relies on two to three days in the office per week. This is not a rule either, but a “guideline”, says managing partner . "Each leader organises the team according to needs. Perhaps in some business lines I will be told that more is needed and in others that one day's attendance is enough.” The guideline will apply when the cross-border working agreements end, until then “we are [at] more like 50%” of telework.”
In the long term, border workers will only be limited by the 25% social security rate. However, there is an option for those who would like to telework more: resign and work as a freelancer. “I am not promoting this, but it may meet the needs of some. I want to offer the widest possible range.”
Employees also have the option of working abroad, for example from their holiday destination. There is also no limit to the number of consecutive days of teleworking. “Some groups will need to be in the office more at one time and at home more at another,” depending on the project. Regardless of the amount of time spent teleworking, since last October KPMG has been offering its employees (but not partners) a flat rate of 25 euros per month to help with expenses, calculated on the basis of a bank agreement.
The company would also like to open satellite offices near the borders with France, Belgium and Germany by October.
EY (1,460 employees)
The post-covid telework rules at EY are still being worked out.
Promises that seem to be kept
BIL (1,890 employees)
In 2020, BIL promised not to “return to an old normal” after the crisis. Its post-covid telework policy provides for “a quota of 45 days (pro rata to working time) for each eligible employee”.
This quota cannot be taken in one go, but is limited to two days per week. Telework can only be carried out “from the main residence, located in the greater region”.
Société Générale (1,200 employees)
Société Générale had already announced the signature of an agreement for two days of telework per week for its resident employees last October. Belgian and German border workers can go up to the 25% allowed by the social security agreements. French cross-border workers must currently limit themselves to 29 days, due to their country's withholding tax, which has an “extraterritorial scope” and would therefore constitute an additional workload for the company if they exceeded this limit. However, the bank says it is closely monitoring developments in this area.
Telework requests are made via an internal tool. Telework is carried out from the place of residence. Exceptions are possible with the agreement of the manager, while remaining within the country of fiscal residence. The quota cannot be taken in one go.
Société Générale, like KPMG, refers to the collective agreement for banks for the payment of telework expenses, which amounts to precisely €26.31 per month.
ING (890 employees)
The bank also promised in 2020 that it would develop teleworking after the crisis. Its employees will be entitled to a maximum of “two days per week, which cannot be accumulated or carried forward, within the limits of tax and social security restrictions for our non-resident employees”.
Requests are made by team via a working time management system. In addition to computer equipment, a monthly telework allowance will be offered to all employees once the post-covid telework policy is in place. Teleworking is only done from one's main residence.
CTG IT Solutions (165 employees)
Last September, the IT company said it was in favour of one day of teleworking per week . “We have two categories of people,” says its human resources director, Stéphanie Hayart, "consultants who are seconded to the client and who, unfortunately, have no choice but to follow the client's instructions. For the others, we allow teleworking up to the social security limit.” The company has set the bar slightly lower, at 45 days, to avoid problems if it is exceeded unintentionally.
An online tool allows employees to enter their teleworking days electronically. There is nothing to prevent an employee from taking a full week of telework or doing it from his or her holiday location, as long as it is in Europe. Outside Europe, the company's IT system does not work.
Omnitrust (+/- 20 employees)
In 2020, Omnitrust was planning “one day a week” of teleworking in a post-crisis policy. "In the end, few people made the request. So we are more on a case-by-case basis," explains its director, Aurore Calvi. The days are taken in agreement with the manager. “We are in the process of putting in place a procedure that takes up the legislative obligations in terms of telework.”
There are no geographical limits: “For some employees who visited their families and took leave at the same time, we agreed that they could arrange their working hours by teleworking and everything went very well,” she says. “We are very flexible.”
This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.