Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-001836/2024
to the Commission
Rule 144
Pascal Arimont (PPE)
In accordance with its service agreement, a German health insurance fund with an office near the German-Belgian border allows all its employees, upon request, to telework part-time on a regular basis – provided that they meet certain criteria, which include residing in Germany.
As the health insurance fund only allows regular part-time teleworking from homes in Germany, one employee, a cross-border worker who is a Belgian national and resident, has had her teleworking request denied.
Although, as the employer, the health insurance fund acknowledges this unequal treatment of its employees, it justifies its decision by saying that the burden of the red tape and checks involved in connection with the possibly applicable legal provisions in force abroad – as well as the associated costs – would be disproportionate to the potentially small number of teleworking employees residing abroad.
- 1.Is this form of discrimination between resident and non-resident workers compatible with the principle of equal treatment in the workplace?
- 2.In the Commission’s view, does such discrimination against the cross-border workers of a health insurance fund constitute indirect discrimination on the grounds of nationality by that fund as the employer, given that cross-border workers are usually not from the local area?
Submitted: 26.9.2024