South African legal experts are debating flexible work arrangements and whether employees have a right to them.
The work-from-home debate is not unique to South Africa; workers across the globe are seeking a new approach to how business is done.
Bloomberg reported that the Dutch parliament had approved legislation to establish work-from-home as a legal right, making the Netherlands one of the first countries to grant remote working flexibility by law.
The legislation was approved earlier this week; however, it still needs the go-ahead from the Dutch senate. The law forces employers to consider employee requests to work from home as long as it is operationally possible.
Speaking to CapeTalk, Hugo Pienaar, a director at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr’s employment law practice, said the practice is seeing a major shift in the number of queries around employers seeking advice on the work-from-home debate.
Pienaar said that the debate arose out of Covid-19 and through the shift toward the fourth industrial revolution. He added that South Africa differs from the Netherlands when it comes to the legislative background surrounding work.
In the current framework, when it comes to work-from-home as a legal right in South Africa, an employment contract’s terms and conditions take precedent, Pienaar said.
The starting point is the contract of employment that has been signed – it is not a question of whether or not it is reasonable for a person to work from home, he said.
“You have a contract...
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