Abstract:

In the proposed paper, the authors deal with selected aspects of home office in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Slovak Republic, the current legislation in force distinguishes between home office and telework. Based on the Labour Code as amended, while telework means working from home on a permanent basis, home office is applied occasionally or under specific circumstances in the employee’s household or other specified place with the employer’s consent. The basic precondition is that it is following the employees’ job description and the character of their work.

From the aspect of the application of the COVID Automat and its alert system – based on a government regulation and the directive of the Chief Hygienist – in the case of a state of emergency, in the so-called red regions, employers had no choice, they could not opt for not allowing home office despite the fact that there is no real barrier to performing a particular type of work from home – employers were obliged to order home-office for their employees.