A quickie in the home office? That’s what legal experts say

A statement from a German labor lawyer is currently causing a stir in the business and etiquette world. Arndt Kempgens is said to have explained in a BILD article that “Quickies” in Homeoffice are permissible under labor law as long as the work is not impaired. He compared them to coffee or cigarette breaks.

His argument for the short fling in the home office: The brain releases dopamine and oxytocin, hormones that can reduce stress and even promote concentration in the short term.

In an Instagram post he also takes Austrian Trade Union Confederation (ÖGB) has a clear position on this: “Working time is working time – even in the home office.” However, this statement is followed by a but.

Not quite that easy

“At the same time, short private interruptions in everyday working life are nothing unusual,” writes the ÖGB. It is crucial that contractual obligations are fulfilled and that the agreed work performance does not suffer as a result. In her opinion, short breaks in the home office remain a private matter in Austria: “What matters is not what they are used for, but that the work is done properly.”

This also switches on here Template portal for labor law and payroll accounting (VP) a. According to VP, the issue is not that simple under Austrian labor law. “The employer is entitled to the agreed working hours being used to provide the work owed. Whether and to what extent private interruptions are tolerated is decided by the employer and not the employee.”