Between
Technische Universität Braunschweig
represented by the President
and the
Staff Council of Technische Universität Braunschweig
represented by the Chairperson
the following TU Braunschweig/Staff Council Agreement, hereinafter also referred to as staff council agreement, is concluded in accordance with § 78 NPersVG (Niedersächsisches Personalvertretungsgesetz [Lower Saxony Staff Representation Act]) in conjunction with the agreement pursuant to § 81 NPersVG on teleworking and remote working in the Lower Saxony state administration of May 18, 2021:
TU Braunschweig and the staff council want to use telecommuting to increase the attractiveness of TU Braunschweig as an employer in recruiting young talent and new staff by making working hours and locations more flexible, thereby helping employees to balance their professional or academic careers with family life and contributing to climate protection by reducing commuter traffic.
The “Agreement pursuant to § 81 NPersVG on teleworking and remote working in the Lower Saxony state administration” is hereby supplemented in the area of telecommuting specifically for the situation at TU Braunschweig.
These specifications are intended to facilitate the practical implementation of telecommuting at TU Braunschweig.
When setting up a workplace at home, both in terms of the workroom itself and the technical equipment, the principles of economy and thrift apply.
This staff council agreement applies to all employees of TU Braunschweig who meet the requirements listed below. In accordance with Section 2 (2) of the “Agreement pursuant to § 81 NPersVG on teleworking and remote work in the Lower Saxony state administration,” employees in training (trainees, student assistants, and interns) are excluded from the scope of this staff council agreement.
Telework is offered at TU Braunschweig in the form of telecommuting, whereby individual regular working hours are spent partly at home (teleworking station) and partly at the workplace at TU Braunschweig, using IT equipment provided by TU Braunschweig. The teleworking station is connected online to TU Braunschweig.
(1) Participation in telework is voluntary. The agreement to implement telework is made at the request of an employee within the framework of an individual agreement between the Personnel Department and the employee. There is no legal claim to participate in telework.
(2) All regulations of TU Braunschweig also apply unchanged to telecommuting, unless expressly agreed otherwise in this staff council agreement.
(3) Employees must not suffer any professional disadvantages as a result of practicing telecommuting. The integration of teleworkers into the workplace, in particular their participation in staff meetings, etc., as well as the internal flow of information necessary for work purposes, have to be ensured by both supervisors (leadership) and teleworkers and guaranteed by appropriate arrangements.
(4) Employees have to ensure that they can be reached while teleworking (in particular by forwarding their telephone calls, checking their emails, and regularly emptying their work mailbox). Details regarding availability have to be agreed upon between employees and their supervisors. In exceptional cases, deviations from the agreed teleworking days and availability times are also possible by prior agreement between the supervisor and the employee.
(5) Official appointments or events requiring the presence of employees always take precedence. In the event of urgent work requirements, employees have to be available at the original workplace at the request of their supervisor, even on agreed teleworking days, and may only refuse to do so if they have a valid reason. In such cases, the rejection must not result in any consequences under labor/civil servants’ law.
(6) Teleworking must not lead to an additional burden on other employees in the institution.
Participation in teleworking requires that
a) the activity is suitable for this purpose:
Activities/tasks that meet the following criteria are eligible for teleworking:
b) there are no conflicting workrelated issues in the opinion of the supervisor. Work operations must remain unaffected.
c) the home environment is suitable for setting up a teleworking workplace in accord-ance with general requirements regarding ergonomics, occupational safety, data protection, and information security.
d) where necessary, employees allow access to their private sphere (home workplace) by TU Braunschweig staff, members of the staff council, the occupational safety specialist, the representative for severely disabled persons, the data protection officer, and the information security officer after prior consultation,
e) employees have received instruction on occupational health and safety (§12 ArbSchG) before starting teleworking, and
f) the institution can provide the necessary work equipment from its material resources budget (see § 6).
(1) Employees can apply to participate in teleworking by submitting a written request to the Personnel Department using the application form published on the Information Portal (in accordance with Appendix 1 of this agreement) with the approval of their supervisor. Upon request, the Staff Council will provide advice and support to employees who are unable to reach an agreement with their supervisor regarding the organization of telework.
(2) The suitability of the tasks and the workplace, as well as compliance with data protection and information security requirements, have to be checked by the responsible supervisor and confirmed in writing on the request form or rejects it in writing, stating the reasons.
(3) The Personnel Department approves the application to participate in telecommuting for a limited period in writing or rejects it in writing, stating the reasons.
(4) If telecommuting is approved, the Personnel Department will conclude a written agreement with the employee regarding the implementation of telecommuting.
(5) If there are changes to the scope of work or working hours/days that require adjustments to telecommuting, a new application in general has to be submitted.
(6) The Personnel Department will inform the Staff Council, the Equal Opportunities Officer, and, if applicable, the Representative for Persons with Disabilities about the approval of requests for participation in telecommuting.
(7) The rejection of the application by the Personnel Department requires the approval of the Staff Council.
(1) Before telecommuting begins, the workplace in the private sphere is inspected by the Occupational Safety Section to ensure compliance with ergonomic and safety requirements, preferably on the basis of information provided by the employees themselves (see checklist on occupational safety, information security, and data protection – Appendix 2 to this agreement). The Occupational Safety Section determines the need for necessary work equipment in accordance with the requirements of the work-place ordinance. The necessary work equipment is provided by the respective institution from its material resources budget or, in the case of the central administration, by Division 3. An inventory list (see Appendix 3 of this agreement) has to be created for the work equipment provided. At the request of employees, their own furniture may also be used. The right of the Staff Council pursuant to Section 5.6 (3) of the “Agreement pursuant to § 81 NPersVG on teleworking and remote working in the Lower Saxony state administration” and the protocol note thereto remains unaffected.
(2) Employees will be provided with the necessary information and communication technology to access work-related data (including network storage, email, and electronic files). The technical equipment is checked and implemented in accordance with the requirements of the workplace, in research institutions by the decentralized IT coordinators in consultation with and, if necessary, with the support of the GITZ (Gauß-IT-Zentrum) and in the central administration, in central facilities, and in dedicated offices by the GITZ. The technical connection is established via VPN access, which employees are required to use. The security requirements must be strictly observed. The IT security regulations of TU Braunschweig also apply to the private use of the technical work equipment provided.
(3) In accordance with Section 5.6 (2) of the “Agreement pursuant to § 81 NPersVG on teleworking and remote working in the Lower Saxony state administration,” employees will provide suitable Internet access at their own expense. The same applies to a telephone connection, unless it is provided for official purposes for other reasons (e.g., official cell phone). Rent, heating, electricity, and other ancillary costs, as well as on-going telecommunications costs, are not reimbursed.
(1) The provisions of the staff council agreement on working time apply.
(2) The division of working hours between the workplace at TU Braunschweig and the workplace at home will be determined individually between the employee and the responsible supervisor.
(3) Working hours will be recorded in a timesheet in accordance with the regulations applicable in the respective institution.
(4) Travel time between the workplace at TU Braunschweig and the workplace at home is not considered work-related and is not counted as working time.
(5) In the event of technical malfunctions at the home workplace, employees immediately have to report the malfunction to the responsible supervisors or, in their absence, to their deputies, and agree on how to proceed. If the malfunction prevents work from being performed at the telecommuting location, the supervisor may require the employee to return to the workplace at TU Braunschweig.
(1) Telecommuting is approved for a limited period. The duration of the requested telecommuting arrangement has to be agreed on individually between the employee and the responsible supervisor and should be a minimum of one year and a maximum of three years. For an extension or if the cases of § 5 (5) of this agreement apply, a new request is required. In principle a new request also has to be submitted in the event of a change in the area of activity or working hours or days.
(2) The Personnel Department may revoke approval for telecommuting for good cause in writing, giving reasonable notice. The Staff Council, the Equal Opportunities Officer, and, if applicable, the Representative for Disabled Employees will be consulted. The revocation of approved teleworking is subject to co-determination in accordance with § 65 NPersVG.
(3) Once teleworking has ended, the work equipment has to be returned immediately in consultation between the employees and the Personnel Department and the institutions responsible for the work equipment (e.g., institute, Division 3, GITZ). The equipment provided for telecommuting has to be returned to TU Braunschweig when telecommuting ends. In principle, the transport of items provided has to be carried out by TU Braunschweig. Smaller items can be returned by employees themselves.
(1) Employees have to ensure compliance with data protection and information security regulations. These regulations also apply without restriction to work carried out at home.
(2) Particular attention has to be paid to data protection and information security vis-à-vis third parties, including family members and other persons living in the household, when working outside the official workplace. Confidential data and information, such as personal and work-related data as well as data subject to official secrecy, have to be protected by employees in such a way that third parties cannot view or access them.
(1) Accidents at the home workplace as well as commuting accidents, are subject to the statutory accident insurance regulations.
(2) In the event of damage, loss, or theft of the work equipment provided, including the loss of data or files, the respective statutory, collective agreement, and civil servants’ regulations will apply. Employees are only liable for damages in cases of intentional or grossly negligent breach of their duties.
(3) Employees are advised to ensure that they have adequate liability or property insurance coverage when participating in telework.
(1) Before starting telecommuting, employees and their supervisors will be informed in an appropriate manner about this form of work. Even after telecommuting has been started, training courses will continue to be offered on the topics of leadership and cooperation, self-organization, information security and data protection, as well as on the assessment of teleworkers.
(2) In addition, telecommuters should be given the opportunity to exchange experiences within the TU and, if necessary, throughout Lower Saxony.
The regulations governing telecommuting at TU Braunschweig are to be reviewed regularly and the number of teleworking positions and organizational units affected are to be evaluated. If necessary, specific topics related to telecommuting should be discussed in a steering committee and proposals for future development should be drawn up. The steering committee is chaired by the head of Division 1 (responsible for human resources, legal services and student services) or, in absence, by the head of Department 12 – Personnel – and is composed as follows:
The steering committee should meet at least once a year to discuss the status of telecommuting and work with the TU management and Staff Council to further develop the existing regulations.
Should one or more provisions of this staff council agreement be invalid, the remaining provisions will remain in force. The negotiating parties will immediately agree on a date to renegotiate the invalid passage.
(1) This staff council agreement will enter into force on October 1, 2022. At the same time, Staff Council Agreement No. 31 dated July 16, 2014, ceases to be in force.
(2) This staff council agreement may be supplemented and amended at any time by mutual agreement. Supplements and amendments have to be made in writing.
(3) The agreement may be terminated with four months' notice to the end of the year, at the earliest on December 31, 2023.
(4) The telecommuting positions approved under the scope of the previous staff council agreement No. 31 of July 16, 2014 will remain valid until their individual expiry dates. Insofar as the provisions of this staff council agreement are more favorable in individual cases, this staff council agreement may be applied upon request.
Braunschweig, September 21, 2022
Technische Universität Braunschweig
The President
Staff Council of Technische Universität Braunschweig
The Chairperson
Note:
The current forms for applying for telecommuting can be found on the Information Portal (https://informationsportal.tu-braunschweig.de).
Richtlinie Telearbeit und mobiles Arbeiten (Guidelines on telecommuting and Mobile Work)