A set of laws passed in Portugal on Friday 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.
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 8.
Ana Mendes Godinho, Portugal’s minister of labor, 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.
Portugal’s employment numbers have recovered to pre-pandemic levels, and in July, the country reached the highest number of people employed since 1998, according to official numbers. However, up until midyear, 80 percent of new workers were considered “precarious,” employed under...
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