FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Corona

1. It is strongly recommended to keep a sufficient distance (at least 1.5 metres) from other people, especially indoors. Direct physical contact (e.g. shaking hands or hugging) should be avoided.
2. Keep as much distance as possible when coughing or sneezing. Cough and sneeze into the crook of your arm or into a paper handkerchief, which you dispose of afterwards.
3. Wash your hands regularly and thoroughly with soap and water for at least 30 seconds.
4. Keep your hands away from your face, avoid touching your mouth, eyes, or nose with your hands.
5. If possible, do not share items such as work materials with other people. For post processing etc. it is recommended to wear (disposable) gloves.
6. If possible, clean or disinfect your workplace, especially when you leave or when you start work if you have to share it with other people (e.g. keyboards). However, if possible, try to carry out your work exclusively at individual workplaces.
7. Rooms should be ventilated regularly (every 20 minutes, or more frequently depending on thesize of the window). Ventilation systems (RLT) should continue to be operated if they have suitable filters or supply a high proportion of fresh air, as the risk of virus transmission is consideredto be low. Air conditioning systems should not be switched off during operating or working hours, as this can lead to an increase in the concentration of viruses in the room air and thus to anincrease in the risk of infection. If air handling units are not operated permanently, their operatingtimes should be extended before and after the time the rooms are used.
8. Wear a medical mask or an FFP2 mask or a mask of equivalent standard (e. g. KN95 or N95) in publicly accessible premises where the minimum distance of 1.5 metres is not possible. Appropriate masks are provided to employees by the university.

Information and offers on special questions on the topic of coronavirus can be obtained from the hotline of the company medical service IAS Telephone: +49 371 53362-0 or via the Staff Office for Occupational Safety and Environmental Protection (BfAU).

The following offer is also available for employees:

In connection with the wearing of an FFP2 mask, employees can take advantage of a preventive medical check-up or a preventive medical check-up on offer at the company medical service. This screening usually consists of an intensive medical consultation. If necessary, employees can contact the BfAU. In consultation with the occupational health service, an appointment will then be made for preventive care on offer or on request.

The University Computer Centre (URZ) offers comprehensive information and work recommendations for users on its blog. There you will find, among other things, instructions for the digital access to the TU workstations as well as for accessing project directories from home, recommendations for secure connections via VPN as well as information on mobile communication and availability.

If you have questions or problems that you would like to send to the URZ, please use only the ticket function (send your request by e-mail to support@…) and include a short, concise keyword about your problem or question in the subject of the e-mail.

In order to be available via telephone at the mobile workplace, the VoIP system offers various solutions:

1. Call forwarding (German only)

   Call forwarding can be set up on the office telephone or in the IdM portal. (Please, add a “0” before!)

2. Parallel call (“Mobile Connect”) (German only)

   Requests for parallel calls can be made in the VoIP area of the IdM portal.

3. Use of the communication software Cisco Jabber (German only)
   • Use of the personal TU number for incoming and outgoing calls
   • Available for desktop systems and up-to-date, powerful mobile devices
   • Stable internet connection required
   • Due to the heterogeneous conditions only limited support by the URZ

   Requests can be made via e-mail to voip@….

Provided that the prerequisites for mobile work are generally met (see also Works Agreement Mobile Work; German only) and there are problems regarding telephone and/or Internet connection, a mobile connection may be provided for a limited period of time for the period of mobile work. Please contact section 3.2.1 - Procurement/CallCenter/IT via telephone (0371/531-12320) or e-mail.

If required and on request, employees receive a confirmation of the duration and performance of their mobile work from TU Chemnitz for the preparation of their tax return for the year 2022. The supervisor is entitled to issue the confirmation.

The confirmation shall be worded as follows:

“Confirmation on the duration and exercise of the activity in mobile work for Mr/Ms/Mrs …

From … to … [date] no workstation/no workstation on an average of … [number] days per week* was available to the employee at the premises of TU Chemnitz due to the protective measures to contain the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).”
* due to possible need for a differentiated assessment over time, please delete as appropriate

A copy of the confirmation should be sent to the Human Resources Department for the personal file.

The following requirements for the recognition of a home office must be observed:
The tax office recognises a home office in two cases:

• If no other workplace is available for the professional activity, costs for the home office can be assessed up to 1,250 EUR.
• If the home office is the centre of the entire professional activity, the expenses for the home office can be taken into account in unlimited amounts.

Spatial requirements:
It must be a separate room. Apartment and home office must be physically separated from each other. A desk in the bedroom or living room does not make these rooms into a home office in the fiscal sense. Even a room that serves as a guest room in addition to its function as a home office is not recognised by the tax office as a home office. The Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) decided in 2016 that expenses for “a room that is integrated into the domestic sphere and a not inconsiderable part of its area is also used privately” are not considered as business expenses or income-related expenses (Ref.: X R 32/11).

Requirements time-wise:

If the employee works exclusively from home and no other workplace is available to him at the employer's, this is the center of the professional activity. If the employee works qualitatively in the same way in the home office and in the employer's office, it is decisive for the tax assessment where the predominant working time is performed. If the employer and the employee have agreed that the employee will work in the home office on one or two days, the employee will quantitatively work predominantly in the employer's office. In this case, no unlimited deduction of the expenses for the home office attributable to the period of the agreement can be considered. Rather, the employee may claim a deduction of up to EUR 1,250 at the most if the employee does not have a workplace at the employer's for reasons of infection protection at least on the days concerned.

If these requirements are not met, a home office cannot be claimed under tax law. In these cases, the only option is to claim the new home office allowance. This was introduced with the Annual Tax Act 2020. This allows taxpayers to claim a home office even if they voluntarily decided to work from home during the Corona pandemic or did not visit the workplace for health protection reasons on the orders of their employer.

The home office per diem is explicitly available even if no separate workroom is available, but work is done from the kitchen or living room.

This covers the following costs:

• pro rata rental costs
• costs for water, electricity, and heating incurred as a result of the professional activity,
• pro rata cleaning costs,
• pro rata building depreciation (AfA), if applicable.

These costs are not covered by the home office flat rate, but can be additionally declared as income-related expenses in the tax return:

• Work equipment,
• Telecommunication expenses (work-related costs for landline telephone, cell phone/smartphone, Internet, fax, if applicable).

The home office allowance exists for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022 in the form that the tax office recognises a lump sum of five euros for each day on which work was exclusively done from home during the Corona pandemic. However, the amount is capped, i.e. more than 600 euros may not be entered.

From 2023, the so-called home office allowance is no longer limited in time and can be claimed up to € 1,230.00 (basic calculation: € 6 per day).

The University Library is open to users from Monday to Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to to 10:00 p.m (where on weekdays from 7:00 p.m. and on Saturdays from noon only the security staff is on site). Users are requested to observe the recommendations in the hygiene concept of Chemnitz University of Technology.

Users can independently search for free, unlocked workstations and use them during the building opening hours. The cleaning frequency of workstations has been increased; freshly cleaned workstations are marked accordingly. The free-hand stocks are also available. It is possible to borrow media independently via vending machines or via the counter on the first floor. The University Library is also open for loan and interlibrary loan of media (on advance order).

The URZ training pools are released at all known locations for independent use by students in compliance with the hygiene and protection regulations. No pre-registration is required for this. Independent compliance with the test recommendation and check-in via Corona-Warn-App are strongly recommended. The use of disposable gloves is also recommended. These will be provided.

In addition, laptops can be borrowed for a limited period of time (also outside the central examination period) for writing term papers, research papers and theses.

There will no longer be any restrictions on indoor university sports and health courses run by the Centre for Sports and Health Promotion (ZfSG) once normal operations resume in accordance with the 33rd Open Letter from the President regarding the Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) dated February 14, 2023.

For the use of the changing rooms, however, there is an urgent recommendation to wear a medical mask or FFP2 mask or a mask with a comparable standard according to the hygiene concept of the TU Chemnitz.

The outdoor sports facilities can be visited independently in the afternoons/evenings for individual sports by employees and students of Chemnitz University of Technology. Access is via the entrance to the sports hall (security guard).

Sports events on designated outdoor sports areas of Chemnitz University of Technology can be permitted by the ZfSG and the Department of Civil Engineering and Technology - provided that the areas are not occupied by courses, university sports courses, etc. - using the request form for rooms and areas.