The Portuguese Parliament has passed a new law dubbed the “right to rest” that has made it illegal for supervisors to contact employees after work hours, The Associated Press reported.
The legislation was passed to improve the work-life balance among employees.
Under the new rules, companies with more than 10 employees incur fines for emailing staff outside their contracted shift hours. In addition, they will also be made to pay for household utilities incurred while their employees work from home.
Employees with children will also have the option of working from home indefinitely without seeking prior approval from their employers until their child turns eight.
If working from home is not possible, measures such as staggered working hours should be implemented, according to AP.
The new rules approved Friday are in response to the burgeoning number of remote workers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Portugal’s ruling Socialist Party said.
Portugal’s Minister of Labor and Social Security, Ana Mendes Godinho, recently said in a conference in Lisbon that the government wants to make remote working as easy as possible and attract new remote workers to the European country.
“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,” she said.
The new rules will also tackle remote-worker “loneliness,” stating that employers should arrange face-to-face meetings with workers every two months.
Another proposal called the “right to disconnect” that would have allowed workers to switch off work-related messages and devices outside office hours was rejected.