It's illegal to monitor employees or text them outside work hours: Portugal's new remote work law 🚫

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It's illegal to monitor employees or text them outside work hours: Portugal's new remote work law 🚫 Articles

Hrishikesh Pardeshi | no comments

Hrishikesh Pardeshi

Remote Work Experience

I have worked remotely on and off. For some time, back in 2014, I was freelancing and taking up remote projects. During the first half of 2019, I was working as a remote co-founder.

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Portugal makes it illegal for bosses to text staff after work under new laws

The new rules approved by the country’s parliament on Friday are a response to the explosion of home working as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic

Quick summary of the new law in Portugal

• Companies can face fines for contacting employees outside of working hours.

• Employers are also not allowed to monitor employees while they work remotely.

• Companies also need to contribute to expenses incurred after switching to remote work eg. electricity, internet etc.

• Parents now have a legal right to work-from-home without needing employer permission till their child turns 8 years old

However, the proposal for a bill relating to "right to disconnect" (legal right to switch off work messages & devices outside work hours) was rejected by the Portugal Parliament.