Have you ever had a boss who won’t stop texting you even after you’ve left work or logged off? Portugal prohibits this kind of activity. In Portugal, bosses now cannot contact employees by phone, message, or email outside of their regular working hours.
When work from home became the norm during the coronavirus pandemic, work-life balance took a hit. In an effort to combat work-from-home blues, the Portuguese parliament recently established new labor regulations. They made it unlawful for bosses to contact their employees outside of working hours.
In Portugal, bosses will be accountable if they contact employees outside of working hours.
“The employer must respect the privacy of the worker”
The Portuguese government is also going to enact regulations prohibiting employers from monitoring their employees at home and requiring workers to meet with their boss every two months to avoid isolation.
“The employer must respect the privacy of the worker,” including periods of rest and family time, the new law stipulates.
“The pandemic has accelerated the need to regulate what needs to be regulated,” said Portugal’s Minister of Labour and Social Security Ana Mendes Godinho. She further noted that telework has the potential to be a ‘game changer’.
She also added that this law could play a role in attracting ‘digital nomads’ to Portugal. “We consider Portugal one of the best places in the world for these digital nomads and remote workers to choose to live in. We want to attract them to Portugal,” Godinho said.
Meanwhile, a Deloitte Global survey took place earlier this year. It revealed that working from home has a significant impact on working women. Nearly 82 percent of the women polled claimed the pandemic had harmed their lives.
“Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve all had to adapt our daily lives. However, women are being impacted in profound ways, facing tremendous challenges and commonly taking on expanded duties at home while continuing to juggle their careers,” says Emma Codd, Deloitte Global Inclusion Leader.