Returning from homeworking to the office: what employers need to know

During the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home was initially a temporary solution. Since then, however, it has become established in many companies, either as an alternative to office work or alongside it. Increasingly, employers now want to bring employees back from homeworking to the office – often referred to as “return to office”.

But what does employment law say?

How can homeworking be regulated?

There are various ways in which employers can allow employees to work from home or agree homeworking arrangements with them.

Regardless of the type of arrangement, the effect is the same: employees are not required to work at their usual place of work, such as the office, but may also perform their work duties from home.

But what specific options are available?

Homeworking based on the employer’s right to issue instructions

Under the employer’s right to issue instructions, also referred to as managerial prerogative, employers cannot unilaterally order employees to work from home, at least not on a permanent basis (Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Labour Court, 14 November 2018, 17 Sa 562/18).

It must therefore be assumed that a unilateral instruction to work from home is not possible. Even where an arrangement may appear to have been introduced unilaterally, strictly speaking, homeworking is generally based on an agreement between employer and employee. Such an agreement may be made orally, in writing or implied by conduct.

A practical difficulty arises where employment contracts contain a written form requirement for amendments to the contract. In that case, a change to the place of work would, in principle, have to be agreed in writing and signed by both parties. An exception may apply where the change has been individually negotiated between the parties – for example, where employer and employee agree on a specific homeworking arrangement in an individual case.

Tip: Conversely, employees do not have a general right to work from home. This also applies where the employer originally allowed homeworking by agreement with the employee.

Note 06/2026:
A decision of the Düsseldorf Labour Court (judgment of 11 February 2026, Case No. 3 Ca 6587/25) shows that employees do not have an automatic right to work from home. At the same time, employers cannot end homeworking arrangements arbitrarily. Any instruction requiring employees to return to workplace attendance must be justified by operational reasons and explained transparently as part of a proper balancing of interests.

Homeworking arrangements in the employment contract

For all parties involved, homeworking provisions in the employment contract are considerably clearer and more legally secure.

Such provisions have become increasingly common in recent years. For many employees, the possibility of working from home has become a decisive factor when choosing whether to accept a position at all. It is therefore only logical to include appropriate clauses in the employment contract. New contracts should include such provisions from the outset, while existing contracts can be supplemented by appropriate addenda.

Homeworking arrangements in works agreements or collective agreements

Finally, homeworking rules may also be included in works agreements or collective bargaining agreements. In practice, these will usually be limited to occupational groups for which working from home is actually possible.

Return to Office: how can employers bring employees back?

Whether and how employers can bring employees back from homeworking to the office or to company premises depends primarily on how the possibility of homeworking was originally agreed between employer and employee, and what exactly was agreed.

Return to office based on managerial prerogative

Where homeworking was based on an agreement between employer and employee – subject to the written form issue mentioned above – the question arises: can an employer, in certain circumstances, bring employees back from homeworking by issuing an instruction under its managerial prerogative and assign them a workplace “on site”? And what must be taken into account?

A case before the Cologne Higher Labour Court illustrates this point.

The case concerned an employee who, with the employer’s consent, worked from home 80 per cent of the time. The employer later revoked this permission and sought to deploy the employee on site at short notice, around 500 kilometres away.

The Cologne Higher Labour Court held that neither the revocation of the homeworking permission nor the change dismissal issued by the employer was effective. When exercising its right of revocation within the scope of managerial prerogative, the employer had failed to observe the limits of reasonable discretion (Cologne Higher Labour Court, judgment of 11 July 2024, Case No. 6 Sa 579/23). The change dismissal was also invalid because there was no urgent operational requirement for the employee to work “on site”.

This confirms that an employer’s wish to bring an employee back from homeworking is subject to legal limits and may be reviewed by the courts. Much depends on the circumstances of the individual case – in particular, whether the limits of reasonable discretion have been observed and whether returning the employee to an on-site workplace is genuinely necessary for operational reasons.

Return to office based on the employment contract or an addendum

If the homeworking arrangement is set out in the employment contract or in an addendum, it is more difficult to bring employees back to the office without their consent. In principle, this is only possible if the employees agree or if the employment contract or addendum contains a revocation clause.

If this is not the case, employers may have to issue a change dismissal. However, such a change dismissal will only be legally effective if the return to the office is necessary for urgent operational reasons.

A case before the Hamm Higher Labour Court provides an example.

In that case, employer and employee had entered into an addendum to the employment contract concerning homeworking. The addendum provided that the employer could terminate it subject to a notice period.

Although the employee disagreed, the court held that agreeing and exercising such a partial termination right was not objectionable under employment law. The reason was that the agreement merely regulated a mode of performance and did not unilaterally alter the employee’s main contractual duty (Hamm Higher Labour Court, judgment of 16 March 2023, Case No. 18 Sa 832/22).

Return to office based on collective agreements or works agreements

Employers are also generally bound by the provisions of collective agreements and works agreements and cannot unilaterally order a “return to office” in breach of those rules.

Collective arrangements can only be amended by agreement between the collective bargaining parties. Only where a collective agreement or works agreement expressly provides for unilateral discretion may employers regulate return to office arrangements – again through works agreements or employment contract provisions.

If no such scope exists and no agreement with the works council can be reached on adjusting the homeworking rules, proceedings before a conciliation committee may provide a solution. As a last resort, the works agreement may have to be terminated.

Conclusion: how employers should proceed

Employers wishing to amend existing homeworking rules and bring employees back to the workplace should plan carefully in advance. In most cases, a “return to office” cannot simply be ordered unilaterally.

It is therefore essential to review the applicable rules on workplace attendance and homeworking, whether in individual cases or more generally, in order to determine precisely what options are available and which legal requirements must be met before employees can be required to return to the office.