One Country Just Made It a Lot Nicer to Work From Home

A series of laws was passed Friday in Portugal
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 8, 2021 1:46 PM CST
One Country Just Made It a Lot Nicer to Work From Home
   (Getty Images)

It sounds like a pretty good set-up: You work from home, your company has to pay for any increase in your electricity or internet bills incurred by your home office, and your boss can't text after-hours. That's now not just the situation in Portugal, but the law. The country’s parliament on Friday approved a series of labor laws focused on remote work, which the country's Socialist government said was done in response to the workplace changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, reports the AP. Maybe it's time for Lisbon to inch up from the 14th slot on this list of the best cities in the world for remote work.

Under the new regulations, companies may only contact workers outside of office hours under exceptional circumstances. They have to cover increased utilities costs with the exception of water, so those extra bathroom breaks won't be free. Workers are tasked with meeting with their higher-ups a minimum of once every two months to prevent isolation. And parents have the right to work from home until their child is 8 "without having to arrange it in advance with their employers," as Euronews puts it.

One caveat: The rules don't apply if your company is made up of fewer than 10 employees. The AP notes that parliament passed the legislation as one of its final actions before it is dissolved prior to January's snap election; workers' rights are expected to factor heavily into the election. (More remote working stories.)

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