21 July 2020
The Greek government is expected to imminently table a bill in Parliament that revises the legal framework surrounding remote working. The Labour Ministry presented the main thrusts of the bill including full compliance by employers as regards the number of working hours, respect for the private lives of those working remotely, reimbursement by employers for the costs of equipment, and the banning of camera use, but with the potential for implementing control provisions in so far as they comply with the...
15 July 2020
Since the start of the Covid-19 health crisis, Italy’s Conte government has recommended and facilitated smart working, including via derogations from Law No. 81 /2019 (c.f. article No. 10206) which regulates this form of working arrangement. A new step was taken in May when a recognised right to agile working was instituted for some employees, under the proviso that their tasks do not require their presence in the workplace. However, the lack of clearly defined implementation rules has fuelled litigation cases,...
14 July 2020
The consultation was launched by the Irish Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation on 9 July and will run until 7 August in order to inform an update to guidance on remote working for both employers and employees. The most recent guidance on remote working was published in December last year. However, the department says, “much has changed since the publication of the report” and although a new guide for remote working was published specifically to address the exceptional situation created by the...
2 July 2020
While in neighbouring Argentina, legislation regulating remote working is currently under parliamentary examination (Congress adopted the bill on 25 June), Chile’s law regulating this form of work, which was adopted in March (c.f. article No.11782) came into force on 01 July. Below we detail various aspects including compliance with and derogation from the rules on working time, the right to disconnect from work, and payment for expenses.
25 June 2020
Already in the European Parliament pipeline since the end of 2019, the right to disconnect (from work) has received an additional fillip amid the coronavirus pandemic. On 22 June, the social partners adopted a framework agreement on digitalization, which refers in broad terms to ‘arrangements for connection and disconnection’ (c.f. article No. 12016). However for the trade unions, the EU needs to go further and adopt new rules. The European Parliament is expected to adopt a non-legislative resolution on the...
24 June 2020
Once drafted by the Congress Labor Committee, the text (the necessity for which both government and opposition parties agree) could be examined during the next parliamentary session (still to be set). This initiative has government support and has seen its scheduling being fast-tracked due to the coronavirus crisis. As such the parliamentary committee has organized several hearings with the social partners to exchange on arrangements for framing this form of professional activity (working) and with the hope of...
8 June 2020
On 6 June, Spain’s ministry of labour launched a consultation ahead of the drafting of two bills. The consultation forms part of preparatory work for legislation on new forms of work that are currently subject to limited regulation. The consultation is open to public participation and can be accessed via a portal set up by the ministry. Open until 22 June, it will gather input from stakeholders in the area, from individuals to the organisations and associations that are most representative of the people whose...
8 June 2020
Following for calls from several trade union organisations for a review of the standards governing remote working, in order to draw lessons from this unprecedented period and improve the conditions for those who work remotely, employers have agreed to engage in discussions. The first meeting took place on 5 June (by videoconference) and resulted in a schedule for talks. Three new dates were set: 19 June, 2 July and 2 September. A fourth meeting is expected to take place in September. What are the prospects? There...
28 May 2020
A bill on the right to digital disconnection and respect for the boundaries between work and personal life was tabled this week in Colombia’s House of Representatives. The legislation provides that every company, regardless of size, must implement a policy on disconnection, ‘in agreement with the workers,’ which must define how this right is to be exercised and guaranteed, and provide for a digital disconnection protocol regarding ICT use in the workplace that respects working time | rest time boundaries,...
15 May 2020
Yolanda Diaz, Spain’s labour minister, has announced the upcoming presentation of a legislative framework to govern the practice of remote working, setting out how working time can be monitored, rest conditions, as well as the right to work-life balance and to disconnect. According to the labour minister, the aim is to ratify ILO Convention 177 and to amend article 13 of the Spanish workers’ statute, in order to provide a better framework for working conditions and guarantee employee rights.
