An employee turns to the online community because his boss requires him to work on his laptop in the passenger seat during a car journey lasting several hours. The matter is legally settled.

“[My] boss wants me to work on my laptop in the passenger seat,” reads a man’s post on Reddit. He reports to his superior who demands exactly this from him.

The reason was that during the last few trips with his supervisor he was already doing something on the laptop every now and then. “My boss apparently took this as an opportunity so that I can now work on my laptop on long journeys,” writes the man.

The Reddit user finds the man’s request “impossible”. The car is a station wagon, not a bus or a similarly sized car. In addition, the employee gets sick if he looks at it for too long. Now he has to work like this for an impressive four hours.

The man also had safety concerns because the laptop was sitting unsecured on his lap. The boss’s car doesn’t have an airbag either, “he’s a great driver,” the man said in his text. The suggestion that people should take the train for such journeys was rejected.

However, the legal situation in this particular case appears to be clear. “KomNet” quotes the Workplace Ordinance (ArbStättV), according to which the interior of a car does not meet the criteria required for a computer workstation.

The possible danger posed by the laptop in the event of a sudden braking or accident is also addressed. According to Sections 22 and 23 of the Road Traffic Act (StVO), the driver is responsible for the road safety of the vehicle.

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