The impact of COVID-19 to the workplace’s regulations from EU’s perspective

Enik Pogace, Head of Employee Relations Division , Bank of Albania

It is worth noting that the current global pandemic is a socio-economic emergency that caught most institutions, oblivious in terms of moving quickly from an old-fashioned work culture and corporate structure to a predominantly remote workforce arrangement at best. It is clear that the impact from the pandemic may not be temporary, but will upset work related issues for the years to come, altering economic development and social cohesion. For companies and employers, this continuous state of uncertainty and crisis management, have placed additional stress on their organizational systems, impacting not only decisions concerning business strategy elements but people management as well. It is evident that there is a need to balance the burden from shareholders and those of employees in a pandemic that may last more and thus bring about modifications to the role of employees and the workplace culture. It is important to note that this paper examines precisely the opportunities that exist in an ‘involuntary change’ of workplace environment that may bring new ways on how companies operate from now on, as well as reshape the workplace in the near future. It is important to recognise that all these shifts may require massive legal and regulatory restructurings of the current employment and workplace regulatory frameworks, with a view to accommodate the new settings of the workplace, employment relations as well as work culture.