The Parliament of Portugal approved on November 5 the new teleworking law that also regulates digital disconnection and prohibits employers from contacting employees outside of their working hours.
The rule does not refer to the “right to disconnect” on the part of the employee, but rather includes an article in which obliges the “duty to abstain from contact” on the part of the company, which in case of non-compliance will be a serious offense, according to the Portuguese Labor Code.
The law, approved with the votes in favor of the Socialist Party and Left Bloc and the abstention of the PSD (center-right), prohibits constant surveillance of the employer towards the worker, so it does not allow captures of images, sounds or texts.
The costs of the teleworking system in energy and telecommunications will be assumed by the company and the meal subsidy that the employee was receiving previously cannot be canceled with the new system and will be assumed by the employer. For the teleworking regime to exist, the two parties must reach an agreement and formalize it in writing.
Until now, the Portuguese labor law It authorized teleworking for parents with children up to three years of age without the need, according to the company. And with the new law approved today, this agreement is extended to parents with children up to eight years of age, as long as the activity is compatible with teleworking.
The only exception in this article is for small companies (less than ten workers), in which workers with children up to three years of age will not need prior agreement.
The law also provides for the option that telework is proposed unilaterally by the employer, where the employee may object without arguing any reason. In the event that teleworking is proposed by the employee, the employer must put forward arguments to reject it.
Temporary teleworking agreements between the two parties will have a maximum duration of six months, which it will be extended for the same periods, although it may be revoked by either of the two. Indefinite teleworking agreements can also be adopted which, likewise, may be canceled later.
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