Many people have been rightfully confused by the new Portuguese law, called “Right to rest”, that bars employers from contacting their employees outside of working hours. What is the law, why was it implemented, and what can you expect? We’ll try to answer some of these questions in this article.
What is “right to rest”?
The new Portuguese law does a bit more than the name would suggest. The main point of the law was to make sure that employers would not try and contact their employees outside of their working hours, resulting in a better work-life balance for the employees. However, this law does not entail the so-called “right to disconnect”, which would make it a legal right to disengage from any means of communication with the employer outside of working hours.
Also, the “right to rest” only applies to people of firms that have more than ten employees.
The law also entails a few more exciting changes. Firstly, the employer has to partially cover some of the expenses that result from their employees working from homes, such as electricity and internet bills. However, this can be written off as a business expense. Secondly, companies must ensure that there is at least some face-to-face communication between their employees at least once every two months as a measure to battle loneliness. Lastly, companies aren’t allowed to monitor employees who work from home.
Why was the law implemented?
The law directly answers the challenges of working from home and remote working that have sharply risen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many employees have reported problems such as poor work-life balance and extensive monitoring from their employers when working from home, resulting in added stress.
These measures also make sense from an economic perspective.
The pandemic has made it clear that working from home is not just here to help us during the crisis but is here to stay, at least to some extent. The Portuguese government is enacting some of the changes which work best at ensuring worker happiness and a rise in productivity. Working from home, remote working, or even the home office can be great ways to increase productivity when done right, and the Portuguese government is taking steps towards ensuring it is done right.
What can you expect?
In practice, if you work for a larger company, your life might become a lot easier. You can kiss late-night messages and calls from your boss good night, and you can even enjoy a few financial benefits from your company when it comes to your internet and electricity bill. If you are a digital nomad or a remote worker, you will also enjoy the results of this law, as some parts of it were also created with this type of work in mind. Overall, Portugal has taken another step towards being the best place for digital nomads in Europe.
