Munich, Frankfurt The rapidly increasing number of coronavirus infections has prompted Allianz to resort to rigorous measures. On December 29, Europe’s largest insurer informed the workforce that the highest level in the in-house crisis plan was in effect again. Since then, the admission cards of all employees have been blocked as a matter of principle.
Only employees in so-called “operationally and business-critical functions” are allowed to work in the company. These include employees in information technology or building management. But even those who want to work in the office despite the Omikron will be admitted upon application.
Even if other banks and insurers in Germany do not have quite as strict rules, the large financial companies have sent the majority of their employees back to their home offices. However, the implementation of the statutory obligation to work from home differs significantly depending on the individual case – just like the logistical and financial support for the employees.
On the Allianz campus-like site in the Munich suburb of Unterföhring, where over 8,000 employees normally work, the attendance rate was just 14 percent. “It’s in the DNA of an insurer that we are very risk-aware,” says an Allianz spokeswoman.
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At the beginning of the pandemic almost two years ago, the group had sent up to 90 percent of its employees to work from home within a few days. Since then, the attendance rate in the office has depended on the current infection rate. In September, when the number of cases was manageable, a 50 percent utilization was still possible. After that it gradually went down.
The trend towards working from home also has an economic benefit for Allianz in the form of a significantly lower need for office space. As early as August 2020, the then Operations Director Christoph Mascher announced in the Handelsblatt that 40 percent of the employees should work from home in the long term. According to a works agreement, this quota could now even rise to as much as 49 percent. The strict corona rules of the insurer initially apply until March. The measures have proven effective, the number of infections among the approximately 45,000 German employees is still low, explains the spokeswoman.
The big banks in Frankfurt have called on their employees to stay in the home office if possible.
(Photo: SZ Photo)
Munich Re, whose corporate headquarters are only a few meters away from Allianz, chooses a similar approach when it comes to working from home, albeit without admission cards that are blocked as a matter of principle. Anyone who wants to come to the office for operational or private reasons despite the basic obligation to work from home must document this in writing.
The question of whether a company can actually refuse an employee access if he absolutely wants to work in the office goes into the subtleties of labor law: “In order not to have to work in the home office, it is generally considered sufficient if the employee gives the employer reports that there are reasons against working from home,” says lawyer Philipp Byers. A detailed justification does not have to be provided. The partner of the British law firm Watson, Farley & Williams (WFW) advises a number of large German corporations on employment law issues.
Fewer restrictions in Frankfurt
The big banks in Frankfurt tend to have somewhat softer rules: Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Deutsche Börse, DZ Bank, Deka and KfW have called on their employees to stay in their home office if possible. However, these requirements are enforced in a less restrictive manner.
At Deka, for example, there is an upper limit of 30 percent for the office – on a department basis. However, the 30 percent limit is far from exhausted: the current presence is ten to 15 percent, said a spokeswoman for the fund service provider of the savings banks. In principle, anyone who meets the 3G rules may come into the office. However, even vaccinated employees are recommended to carry out regular self-tests, which are made available free of charge.
Deutsche Börse has also introduced an occupancy limit of 30 percent for its German locations. Currently, between 20 and 25 percent are actually present. The state development bank KfW does not have fixed upper limits, “because in addition to activities that require full presence, there are also functions that require partial presence,” says a spokeswoman. The home office rate at KfW is 80 percent, just like at Deutsche Bank, beyond the branch structure.
At the top cooperative institute DZ Bank, the home office rate is currently around 85 percent. Employees who cannot work from home for family reasons, for example, must coordinate with their manager, who in turn must ensure that the hygiene and distance rules are observed in the teams.
Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Deutsche Börse, DZ Bank and KfW use their employees’ access cards to check their 3G status: employees who have voluntarily informed their employer that they have been vaccinated or have recovered have unlocked access cards. Everyone else’s maps were turned off; they have to go through the personal 3G checks at the entrance.
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Deutsche Bank has had positive experiences with this procedure: “It was well received. Many of our colleagues have reported back with their 2G status; they were informed via e-mail that their access cards are still activated,” said a spokeswoman.
Financial subsidies for office equipment are rare
A financial subsidy for working in the home office, for example for the purchase of screens or office chairs, is by no means available at every institute: A few institutions had transferred Corona one-off payments to their employees last year, very few have institutionalized flat-rate expenses for the home office: That’s why include Deutsche Bank and Dekabank, who want to pay 1,000 euros to employees who spend 40 percent of their working hours at their desks at home.
There is no such thing at Deutsche Börse, Commerzbank and DZ Bank. Commerzbank, where more than half of the employees across the group currently work from home, provides employees with “bank laptops to the extent available”, explained a spokesman.
At Deutsche Börse, employees were already equipped with tablets or laptops in 2019 “and our IT infrastructure was revised in such a way that working from home is easily possible,” said a spokesman. “Following consultation with management, employees were also able to take screens home from the office.”
At DZ Bank, employees have “since the beginning of the pandemic been able to independently equip themselves with hardware provided by the bank and retrofit it at any time,” explained a spokeswoman. These include docking stations, monitors, keyboards and mice. Most employees now have double equipment.
However, there is no legal right to do so. For a temporary home office during the pandemic, an employee does not have to be provided with complete office equipment, according to specialist lawyer Byers. “It just has to be ensured that the employee is able to work in the home office.”
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