Portugal’s parliament has passed new labor laws that could see remote workers gain more rights and potentially achieve a better work-life balance.
According to the new rules, employers can be penalized and face fines for trying to contact workers outside of office hours. Even more, employers would be responsible for some remote working-related expenses, such as increased electricity and internet bills.
Additionally, business leaders would not be allowed to monitor employees working from home.
However, these laws will not apply to companies with less than ten employees, but still sets a significant precedent in the age of distributed and remote working.
“Telework can be a ‘game changer’ if we profit from the advantages and reduce the disadvantages,” said Ana Mendes Godinho, Minister of Labor and Social Security in 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.”
