Employees can either determine the places where they carry out their information-related activities themselves or they are specified by the employer. Mobile working also includes occasional working from home. Unlike telework, however, mobile working is often not contractually agreed. In contrast to teleworking ("Telearbeitsplatz"), mobile working is not subject to the Workplace Ordinance (cf. § 2 para. 7 ArbStättV), but is based on an agreement with the employer for a specific occasion. Mobile working must also be distinguished from working at mobile workplaces, e.g. in passenger or goods transport, as well as from working at changing locations without information-related activities, such as mobile care workers or workers in the skilled trades.

Hybrid, location-flexible, and multilocal working have already become established parts of many employees’ daily lives: Work tasks are carried out using various technologies in the most diverse working environments. At the same time, safety and health have to be ensured at work. The challenge here is to find the optimal match between work location, technical equipment, and task design, as shown by the discussion summarised in the baua: Focus Hybrid, Location-flexible, Multilocal Working? Science in Dialogue IV (in German only).

Recommendations for health-promoting design

In the following, three topics "digital work tools", "work locations" and "work organisation" are explained and design recommendations are given. It should be noted that the individual aspects are in part strongly interrelated and also mutually dependent. In addition, the design options differ within the respective areas. It is not possible to influence the design of the workplace and the working environment at all workplaces. Accordingly, no recommendations can be made here and working at these places should be limited in time.