#213 Switching to Remote Work｜French Business Phrases

There are situations where you may need to switch from working at the office to working from home at short notice, due to health issues, personal matters, or transportation problems.

In such cases, it is important to explain your reason clearly while also reassuring others that your work will not be affected.

In this section, I will explain useful French expressions for informing others that you are switching to remote work, following the flow of a typical conversation.

Dialogue

A

Bonjour, je voulais vous informer que je vais travailler depuis chez moi aujourd’hui.
（Hello, I wanted to inform you that I will be working from home today.）

B

D’accord. Est-ce qu’il y a un problème particulier ?
（I see. Is there any particular issue?）

A

Oui, j’ai un léger problème de santé, mais je peux travailler normalement à distance.
（Yes, I have a slight health issue, but I can work normally from home.）

B

Parfait, bon rétablissement.
（That’s fine. I hope you feel better soon.）

A

Merci beaucoup.
（Thank you very much.）

1. Informing Others That You Will Work from Home

When you switch to remote work, you can inform the other person as follows.

At the beginning of the sentence, “Je voulais” is the imperfect form of “vouloir ”(to want). Literally, it means “I wanted,” but in this context, I use it as a softening expression to make the statement more polite.

Next, “vous informer que” follows the structure “informer quelqu’un que ～” (to inform someone that ～).

By placing the content after “que,” you can clearly indicate what you want to communicate, which makes this structure especially useful in business situations.

In addition, “je vais travailler” uses the near future (aller + infinitive), which expresses a planned or imminent action.

In this case, it conveys that you are going to work from home today based on your current situation.

2. Explaining the Reason

When you change your work arrangement, you should also explain the reason behind it.

Here, “J’ai …” (from “avoir”) is used to describe a condition or state, which is common in French when talking about health or situations.

The phrase “un léger problème” includes the adjective léger (slight), which softens the statement.

In French, it is common to soften expressions to avoid causing unnecessary concern. Words like “léger” are very useful for this purpose.

Other similar expressions include:

3. Reassuring That You Can Still Work

When informing others that you are switching to remote work, it is not enough to give only the reason. I recommend clearly stating that your work will not be affected.

Here, “peux” is the present form of “pouvoir” (can), and “pouvoir + infinitive” means “to be able to do something.”

The adverb “normalement” means “as usual” or “without disruption.” By including this word, the sentence conveys not just “I can work,” but “I can work as usual.”

Finally, “à distance” means “remotely.” While it literally means “at a distance,” it is commonly used in business contexts to refer to remote work or online activities.

Summary