The situations in which the worker can opt for teleworking, regardless of agreement with the employer, should be broadened and cover the Public Administration, according to the Green Paper on the Future of Work, which the Government is now taking to Social Agreement.
In the 25-page document, to which Lusa had access, which will be the basis for the regulation of new forms of work, the authors argue that the legislation should “broaden the situations in which the worker has the right to telework independently in accordance with the employer, in the form of total or partial telework”.
This measure should take into account, in particular, situations "in the context of promoting the reconciliation of work and personal and family life" and "in the case of a worker with a disability or incapacity".
So far, the Government has not yet put forward proposals in this area, indicating that it will only do so after the presentation of the Green Book at the Social Concert, but in parliament the Left Bloc (BE) has already presented a project with a view to extending telework to those who have dependent children under 12 years.
According to the document sent to the partners, the regulation of telework must be, however, deepened “with the safeguarding of the basic principles of the agreement between employer and worker”.
It must also be ensured that “there is no increase in costs for workers” in teleworking, a guarantee also defended in parliament in the proposals of the BE and PCP, namely with regard to spending on telecommunications, water and energy.
The Green Paper also proposes a bet “on hybrid models of face-to-face and distance work from a perspective of balance in promoting opportunities and mitigating the risks of this modality”.
It is also defended to "enact and regulate the right to disconnection or disconnection for teleworkers" as well as "implement instruments to ensure that telework does not especially penalize women and that it does not aggravate asymmetries in the division of unpaid labor, nor does it compromise the equality of gender in the labor market”.
The telework regime should be applied to the Public Administration, and its potential should be used to “secure jobs outside large urban centers, namely in regions with less population density”, he says.
As for the regulation of work on digital platforms, such as Uber or Glovo, the authors propose that “a presumption of labor for these workers” should be created, as well as “a contributory and tax system adapted to this new reality”.
“Adjusting the Social Security system to new ways of providing work” is another of the main lines of reflection provided for in the Green Paper.
The authors stress that the fact that “the service provider uses its own work instruments, as well as the fact that it is exempt from complying with the duties of attendance, punctuality and non-competition, is not incompatible with the existence of a dependent employment relationship between the provider and the digital platform”.
Within the scope of inspection, it is important to “improve the legal regime with regard to the instruments that the Labor Inspectorate can use, in different aspects, particularly in the context of 'new' forms of work, such as teleworking or working on platforms”.
The document underlines that it is also necessary to extend the coverage of collective bargaining to new categories of workers, including workers under the outsourcing regime and economically dependent self-employed workers.
“Positioning Portugal as a country of excellence to attract digital nomads” is another proposal in the Green Paper, which suggests the creation of “a fiscal framework and a system of access to specific social protection for better integration” of these workers.
The Green Book on the Future of Work will be presented today by the minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Ana Mendes Godinho, and the Deputy Secretary of State for Labor and Vocational Training, Miguel Cabrita, at a meeting of the Social Concertation being held by videoconference due to the covid-19 pandemic.
The presentation of a version of the document for public consultation and for discussion in Social Concertation was initially scheduled for November 2020.
The Green Paper on the Future of Work has Teresa Coelho Moreira and Guilherme Dray as scientific coordinators.
Comments