Teleworking: “For French employers, personal life must be subject to the demands of the company”

A little tune from the United States has crept into the corridors of French companies: "End of teleworking, group cohesion, productivity." But this refrain does not convince teleworkers, who veto it. In October 2024, Ubisoft, a video game publisher, experienced the first strike in its young history . Nearly a quarter of the workforce [between 700 and 1,000 employees out of the company's 4,000 in France] mobilized to protest against the forced return to the office.

On July 3, Société Générale was forced to face the "All on site!" operation, led by the CFDT-CFTC-CGT inter-union. This initiative led to the saturation of its premises. An absurd illustration of the employers' contradictions. Teleworkers were invited to join, in large numbers, the La Défense site in Hauts-Seine, which was unable to accommodate 100% of the workforce. The cause: the reduction in workspaces and rent, achieved... thanks to teleworking. In fact, since the health crisis, employees have adopted teleworking to better balance their professional and personal lives. More precisely: to adapt professional time to benefit their personal lives. A logic that company management had not anticipated and which they largely reject.

French employers remain committed to a corporate culture in which personal life must be subordinated to the demands of the company, and not the other way around. In November 2023, despite almost fourteen months of negotiations, the Medef (French employers' association), via Business Europe [a lobby representing employers' associations] , dashed hopes of obtaining a European directive on teleworking and the right to disconnect. The European text, although supported by public sector employers, contained several major advances, including collective bargaining with unions, guaranteeing the right to disconnect, and assessing the risks associated with teleworking.

You have 56.67% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.