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LISBON. – Portugal means business when it comes to ensuring that its citizens get the rest they need when they clock off from work.
A set of laws passed in Portugal yesterday prohibits employers from contacting remote workers after hours — except under extenuating circumstances — in an effort to promote work-life balance in an era of burgeoning remote work set off by the coronavirus pandemic, and to attract “digital nomads” from around the world.
The new rules, which impose fines on violators, apply to companies with more than 10 employees.
They also mandate that employers pay staff for work-related expenses incurred while working at home, such as electricity or Internet costs, and that employees and superiors meet in person every two months to avoid isolation, the Associated Press reported.
The laws also establish that in jobs where remote work is possible, parents can choose to work remotely, without making prior arrangements, up until their child is eight years old.
Ana Mendes Godinho, Portugal’s minister of labour, said at the Web Summit tech conference in Lisbon that this is a “crucial moment” to establish new rules. The pandemic “accelerated the need to regulate what needs to be regulated,” she said, according to Euronews.
Not all the proposed changes made it through the legislature. The legal right to turn off work devices after the workday is over, called the “right to disconnect,” didn’t get final approval from lawmakers.
Remote workers will, however, be required to meet with their bosses at least every two months.
Portugal has reviewed its labour laws after scores of people started working from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Social media users have praised Portugal for protecting remote workers. Some Twitter users joked that having more than one Zoom meeting a month should also be banned. Others suggested that “reply to all” email threads should also be given the boot.
“It’s like they want us to move there,” one Twitter user teased.
“That’s a fantastic move. The intrusion of constantly dealing with work & not being able to switch off from work is detrimental to family life and emotional well-being,” another Twitter commented
But not everyone thinks the new labour laws will work. One man says the laws are “extreme” and don’t “account for flexible work schedules and different timezones.
The efforts by Portugal’s ruling Socialist Party to regulate the new reality of remote work, accelerated by the pandemic, come as other countries also consider initiatives to improve work-life balance.
Spain and Japan recently unveiled plans to experiment with a four-day work week.
A ground-breaking study in Iceland found that a four-day work week was an “overwhelming success,” both in employee satisfaction and productivity.
Other countries see remote work as an opportunity to attract itinerant digital workers — and collect more revenue. In mid-2020, Barbados launched a programme that allowed visitors to stay for up to a year on the Caribbean island visa-free.
Now Barbados might have some competition.
“We consider Portugal one of the best places in the world for these digital nomads and remote workers to choose to live in; we want to attract them to Portugal,” the country’s labour minister said at the web summit. — Agencies.
Online Reporter