Companies must pay overtime if the teleworker works during digital disconnection time

One week after the expiration of the adaptation period for companies to implement the new teleworking law, the National Superintendence of Labor Inspection (Sunafil) recalled that employers must respect the right to digital disconnectionwhich implies that teleworkers are not obliged to respond to communications, orders or other requirements, except for causes of force majeure or exceptional circumstances.

The entity explained that companies cannot force teleworkers to attend to work matters outside of their working hoursnor during rest periods, licenses, vacations and periods of suspension of the employment relationship.

In case the teleworker works during the time of digital disconnectionThis time will be considered as overtime. That is to say, “they must be recognized by the employer in accordance with the law”, affirms Sunafil.

Workers who are not subject to a maximum working day, such as those who hold a management position (managers), those who are not subject to immediate supervision (mostly positions of trust) and those who perform intermittent work (there are periods of inactivity in the execution of their work), they also have the right to digital disconnection.

In these cases, the employer must guarantee a minimum disconnection time of 12 continuous hours in a period of 24 hours. This minimum disconnection time also applies to those workers who, as part of teleworking and prior agreement with their boss, have distributed their work time workday.

According to Sunafil, not respecting the right to digital disconnection during hours that do not correspond to the working day is considered a very serious infraction, the sanction of which will depend on the type of company and the number of workers affected.