Information Letters from the Executive Board Regarding Mobile Working

2022

Information letter from 14 April 2022 - Details on the TU Berlin/Staff Council Agreement on Mobile Working

To

  • All staff

Subject: TU Berlin/Staff Council Agreement on Mobile Working

Dear Colleagues,

Working life changed fundamentally during the coronavirus pandemic. With the start of the first in-presence semester since the pandemic began, all staff at TU Berlin are now returning to work on campus. This also means you can use the option of mobile working for the first time. From 19 April, staff can work 40 percent of their hours per month remotely, in other words off campus.

This information letter provides a summary of the most important aspects and regulations for mobile working. You can read the full text of the TU Berlin/Staff Council agreement on mobile working here.

At a glance:

  • You can apply for mobile working from 19 April 2022 via your own TU Portal.
  • You can start working remotely as soon as your supervisor approves your application.
  • If you experience technical problems using the app, which can always happen with new systems, agreements made between you and your supervisor remain binding until they are able to reject or approve the application via the app.
  • If you experience any problems with the app in the TU Portal or if you have any questions, please contact mobilesarbeiten(at)tu-berlin.de.
  • Please also refer to the information on the mobile working website.

We would also like to inform you about the following:

Who is the agreement on mobile working for?

  • All staff including student assistants irrespective of their pay scale with the exception of trainees and apprentices.
     
  • Your duties must be compatible with mobile working:
    • Tasks which can be performed independently and without supervision,
    • which can be performed off campus without affecting operations,
    • and in compliance with data protection.
       
  • You must maintain proper contact to your place of work, in other words you must be contactable for your colleagues, other units, or students via appropriate technical means.
     
  • Working remotely may not lead to an excessive increase in the workload of other staff in your organizational unit.
     
  • Your place of work must continue to function fully, particularly regarding office hours.

How does mobile working function at TU Berlin?

  • Mobile working is on a voluntary basis. There is no obligation or legal right.
     
  • The only requirement is that your application is approved by your supervisor.
     
  • You can work a maximum of 40 percent of your contractual working time remotely. This is on a monthly basis.
     
  • You can work remotely for whole days or for a number of hours per day.
     
  • You can work remotely for more than one day in a row.
     
  • You can work remotely on a regular basis or just occasionally.
     
  • Staff are free to determine their working time within the flexitime framework according to the TU Berlin/Staff Council agreement DV Flex or the working time framework according to the TU Berlin/Staff Council agreement DV Arbeitszeit. Staff with fixed working hours may only work remotely within these hours.
     
  • Service and employment contracts remain unaffected in their existing form. The only difference is that staff are released from the obligation to be present at their respective place of work when working remotely. Please note that the contractually agreed place of employment is usually Berlin. Mobile working abroad requires a case-by-case assessment and is therefore generally not permitted for the time being. Additional information regarding this topic will be provided after a final assessment.
     
  • Travel between your regular place of work and the location where you will be working remotely is not reimbursable under travel expense regulations.
     
  • If travel in connection with mobile working is combined with official travel, only the additional costs incurred for completing official duties are reimbursed as travel expenses; daily and overnight allowances are granted for the duration of the period of official business as well as for additional travel time.
     
  • If you have any questions, please refer to the TU Berlin/Staff Council agreement on mobile working as well as details provided on the website. If you cannot find an answer to your question here, please write to: mobilesarbeiten(at)tu-berlin.de

What are the differences between mobile working and teleworking?

  • The difference is that mobile working is not restricted to a single location and the same fixed times. Mobile working time can be agreed on a flexible basis with your supervisor.
     
  • Teleworking can only be used after completing a minimum of 12 months of service and includes other conditions which you can find out about in the TU Berlin/Staff Council agreement on teleworking.
     
  • The requirements regarding where you work and your contactability are more extensive for teleworking.

Can I combine mobile working and teleworking?

  • Yes, you can combine these options to work a maximum of 50 percent of your hours away from your regular place of work.
     
  • You have to submit a separate application for teleworking.

How can I apply for mobile working?

  • The first step is to submit an application.
    • The application form is accessible via your TU Portal from 19 April 2022. You will find it via the "Mobiles Arbeiten" tile.
       
    • Please note: This app represents TU Berlin's first attempt to digitally depict its organizational structure.
       
    • It may happen that the app does not show the correct supervisor for you. If this is the case for you, please contact mobilesarbeiten(at)tu-berlin.de.
       
    • Individual agreements made between you and your supervisor are binding until such time as the app functions without error. This also applies if your supervisor is ill or on vacation and unable to respond via the TU Portal on 19 April or the days following 19 April. We recommend you keep a written record of any agreements or periods during which your supervisor is unable to process your request.
       
  • When applying, you must confirm that you have read and understood Annex 3 of the TU Berlin/Staff Council agreement on mobile working regarding occupational health and safety for mobile working as well as the fact sheet on data protection and IT security (Annex 4 of the agreement).
     
  • If your application is not approved by your supervisor, you should meet within four weeks to discuss a solution.
     
    • If you are unable to agree a solution, a decision will be made by Human Resources in consultation with the relevant staff representatives.
       
    • If your supervisor does not process your application by the deadline and the maximum deadline of three weeks has elapsed, your application will be initially approved. A final decision will be made by Human Resources in consultation with all parties concerned as well as the relevant staff representatives.
       
  • Once your application has been approved, you and your supervisor will draft a written agreement regarding mobile working including:
     
    • Details about the type of mobile working (regular/occasional) and the scope (proportion of working hours)
       
    • How you can be contacted when working remotely
       
    • The type and scope of tasks
       
    • If your agreement is not for regular working days, you should agree in writing (for example by email) at least one working day before the period of mobile working commences.

If you experience any problems with the app in the TU Portal or if you have any questions, please contact mobilesarbeiten(at)tu-berlin.de.

What are the procedures for terminating mobile working?

  • Members of staff:
    To stop using mobile working, you need to inform your supervisor and your Human Resources team in writing.
     
  • TU Berlin:
    With sufficient reason, the agreement can be revoked by your supervisor via Human Resources.
    Human Resources will decide or mediate in cases of conflict in consultation with the relevant staff representatives.

Mobile working represents an opportunity to establish a new (working) culture at TU Berlin. It is important to reconcile the different demands - the personal wishes of staff members on the one hand and the requirements of TU Berlin as the employer on the other. Mobile working means that communication and mutual understanding within teams will be more important than ever.

We look forward to finally meeting you on campus again in the new semester.

Prof. Dr. Geraldine Rauch
Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Stephan Völker
Christian Schröder
Professor Dr. Sophia Becker
Lars Oeverdieck

Information Letter from 14 April 2022 - Mobile working: applications from 19 April 2022

Information Letter from the Executive Board of TU Berlin
Berlin, 14 April 2022

To: All staff

Subject: Mobile working: applications from 19 April 2022

Dear Colleagues,

Our aim is for us all to work together on campus again from 19 April 2022. We look forward to everyone getting together again in research labs, lecture halls, and offices.

But as part of this, we also want to ensure that we meet your expectations regarding flexible working arrangements. To do so, a TU Berlin/Staff Council agreement on mobile working was passed in June 2021. This agreement also represents the first time that Human Resources provides a digital workflow for an application process.

This digital workflow and the app it uses present challenges and we need your support to help us deal with these. The app will be accessible via the TU Portal and represents the first time we will be testing out a digital organizational depiction of our university. Among other things, this includes information about who supervises whom. A correct depiction of such information is essential for many other functions and can only be tested under real conditions. Despite our best efforts over the past weeks, there will undoubtedly be some problems after the app goes live on 19 April 2022. We will inform you about further details shortly.

We have set up a central email address for all your feedback and questions: mobilesarbeiten(at)tu-berlin.de. We would like to apologize for the delayed go-live and for any errors that may occur.

It is important for us to state here that your options for making use of the TU Berlin/Staff Council agreement on mobile working should not be restricted as a result of technical difficulties.

We have full confidence that every unit at the University will act with due responsibility. Agreements made independently between supervisors and staff are also binding until the application process using the app functions without any problems.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your cooperation. Without your support, it would not be possible to meet the wishes of many of our students by offering an in-presence semester again this summer. This is important for our students and something they are entitled to.

Let us work together to forge a new working culture at TU Berlin based on open and respectful communication and a cooperation built on mutual trust.

You can find further information about mobile working on our website.

We look forward to seeing you all on campus!

Prof. Dr. Geraldine Rauch
Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Stephan Völker
Christian Schröder
Professor Dr. Sophia Becker
Lars Oeverdieck

 

2021

Information letter from 14 July 2021 - TU Berlin Introduces Mobile Working

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Staff,

Today, we would like to share with you that TU Berlin is officially introducing mobile working as one of its instruments for flexible working. A few weeks ago, the TU Berlin Executive Board and staff councils signed an agreement enabling University staff to continue working remotely long term following the pandemic.

After submitting a brief request via the TU portal, staff can work remotely from anywhere outside of the University for up to 40% of their working hours.

You can find the TU Berlin/Staff Council agreement on mobile working online (currently only in German).

Please discuss the individual details about how to implement mobile working with your supervisor or manager.

The reference value for the amount of time you are permitted to work remotely is one month. In agreement with your supervisor, you can choose to work remotely for individual hours or days, fixed days each week, or even one week per month, up to a maximum of 40 percent of your working hours. It is not possible to work remotely for 40 percent of your annual working hours at a single time.

When adopting mobile working in your unit, it is important that you consider the needs and interests of each individual, the team, as well as the University as a whole. This instrument aims to address employee requests for greater flexibility and allow for a better balance between all areas of life.

As communicated in the most recent information letter from the Crisis Committee, the University continues to prioritize working from home wherever possible. This means that the maximum limit to mobile working as laid out in the TU Berlin/Staff Council agreement (40%) does not yet apply.

In addition, it will not be possible to formally request mobile working until the TU portal is once again accessible. We will inform you as soon as this changes so you can submit your digital request. Until such time, the current regulations regarding working from home during the pandemic remain in effect.

Once the situation permits in-presence operations at TU Berlin long term and the IT attack has been adequately resolved, TU Berlin will no longer recommend staff work from home. The Crisis Committee will inform you accordingly in a separate information letter.

If you would like to continue to work remotely part time, please familiarize yourself with the TU Berlin/Staff Council agreement and submit a request once the portal is accessible.

We ask all supervisors to also consider how hybrid work with team members on and off campus can be best realized. Talk to your team and make a plan.

TU Berlin will continue to operate the previously established teleworking instrument in addition to the new mobile working instrument.

All relevant information has been summarized online.

The TU Berlin Executive Board, 14 July 2021

Prof. Dr. Christian Thomsen
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Christine Ahrend
Prof. Dr. Hans-Ulrich Heiß
Lars Oeverdieck

Statement by the TU Berlin President fro 14 July 2021

Dear TU Members,

In the past months, many of you indicated your interest in continuing to partially work from home or elsewhere outside of TU Berlin after the pandemic has ended. Your input encouraged us to move forward with negotiations with the staff councils regarding mobile working.

In late June 2021, we signed an agreement which allows you to work a maximum of 40 percent of your monthly working hours away from the University. The exisiting agreement regarding teleworking continues to apply.

This new agreement and how it is applied will change our entire working culture. It offers advantages to TU Berlin as an employer and significantly improves employees' flexibility in organizing their workday. In particular, this agreement will improve our profile as an employer. We all benefit when employees find greater satisfaction in their work here and strengthen their commitment to TU Berlin. Of course, you also personally benefit from the time gained by no longer needing to commute. You can spend your time more valuably instead of in a cramped train.

Mobile working also introduces many new challenges, such as team management. More than ever, communication and mutual understanding will be key to effective teamwork. It will be necessary to balance staff's personal wishes on the one hand as well as the requirements and demands of TU Berlin on the other. This is a learning process we must embrace.

I ask that you view this instrument as a promising opportunity for us all.

On this page we will provide general information about mobile working as well as regularly publish any updated information.

Professor Dr. Christian Thomsen
President of Technische Universität Berlin