Portugal is not far behind. From Al Jazeera English. In Portugal, out-of-office means off-limits Pandemic-era employees the world over have gotten used to work invading their home lives. But Portugal has put forward a radical plan to keep bosses out of the bedroom.
The ruling Socialist Party recently amended Portugal’s labor law with a set of changes designed to regulate remote work and promote a healthier work-life balance. These proposals had been in the works since before the pandemic, but according to the Socialist Party, they have become even more necessary in an age of mandatory remote work. “Some workers complained they couldn’t simply take a break because they were constantly under pressure to answer work-related matters. There was this idea that because people were forced to stay at home, they were always available to work,” says Ana Catarina Mendes, the party’s parliamentary leader. For violating the new law, employers could be fined up to $11,000. Transforming remote work The change that elicited the biggest response has to do with the so-called “right to disconnect” – legislation that now makes it illegal for employers to contact workers outside of office hours by phone, text message or email. But the legislation also suggests a deeper concern for employees’ economic well-being and mental health. From now on, workers in Portugal can be reimbursed for increases in electricity, gas and internet bills, which will be considered business expenses. Additionally, companies are expected to organize face-to-face office gatherings at least every two months – a measure implemented to “tackle loneliness.” The parents of young children – up to age 8 – are also entitled to work from home without having to notify their employers in advance. The law went into effect on November 25. Enforcing the changes While these benefits seem generous, experts worry that implementing them will be tricky. “The law states that workers have the right to disconnect, but that employers can invoke a ‘higher motive’ to contact them,” says António Garcia Pereira, a labor attorney in Portugal. What counts as “higher motive” is anyone’s guess, especially in a culture in which “the good worker is the last one to leave the office.” It’s up to workers to prove their employer is breaking the law, and they must do so at their own expense. Garcia Pereira says that “for business owners, it’s cheap to go against the law.” The new laws also don’t apply to public sector workers or companies with fewer than 10 employees – which collectively employ the majority of Portugal’s working population. The future that workers want For now, these arguments don’t concern Mendes. “I don’t believe we should focus on potential violations. We wanted to regulate ways of working to guarantee employee rights, but also to reflect on the future of work: How can we take advantage of the digital and green transitions to create a better world? In Portugal, we work practically the same number of hours that we used to 20 years ago – isn't it time something is done to change that?” The same week the labor law was being discussed in Parliament, Portugal’s Minister of Labor and Social Security pitched the country at a tech conference in Lisbon. “We consider Portugal one of the best places in the world for digital nomads and remote workers,” Ana Mendes Godinho told Web Summit attendees. “We want to attract them.” But Mendes rejects the idea that the new regulations are just designed to attract outsiders. “It is true that given Portugal’s demographic and aging problem, we need to attract foreigners,” she concedes. “But these changes to the labor law are meant to protect those who chose to work from home.” Remote working was mandatory in Portugal until last August, when the pandemic slowed down. As new cases surge – despite the country’s 86 percent vaccination rate – officials are discussing whether it’s time to send people home again. Regardless of the outcome, the pandemic has already revolutionized workers’ feelings about their jobs. Like workers all over the world, Portuguese employees would prefer to have the option to go into the office on a part-time basis – or not at all. However difficult the law may be to implement, it does have one big advantage – it’s designed to accommodate a future that many workers want. — Catarina Fernandes Martins, reporting from Lisbon Roland Francis 416-453-3371 > On Dec 2, 2021, at 10:42 AM, Roland Francis <roland.fran...@gmail.com> wrote: > > A new labour law has been passed in Ontario that prohibits employers from > contacting their employees after working hours by email or phone, in the > interest of work-life balance. > > Here is what it looks like. > > Ontario’s ‘right to disconnect’ law has just been passed — so do you actually > have the right to disconnect? | The Star > https://www.thestar.com/business/2021/12/02/what-does-the-right-to-disconnect-look-like-ontarios-about-to-find-out.html > > Roland. > Toronto. >
