Adopted with the aim of avoiding crowding in companies and offices during the most critical period of the Covid-19 pandemic, telework or home office – or hybrid work – may gain greater prominence in labor arrangements with the issuance of Provisional Measure 1108/22, published on Monday (28) in the Official Gazette of the Union.
Hybrid work
According to the Ministry of Labor, the regulation provides that the modality aims to “modernize the regulation existing in the Consolidation of Labor Laws (CLT)”, in addition to “correcting regulatory aspects that the massive use of telework during the Covid-19 pandemic brought to light. Such as increasing the possibilities of hybrid telework arrangements”.
According to the ministry, telework (or remote work) is characterized as “the provision of services outside the company’s premises, predominantly or in a hybrid manner, which, by its nature, cannot be characterized as external work”.
Output or task
Under the new rules, it is possible to hire for telework by working hours; by output; or by task, allowing, depending on the type of hiring, the control of working hours or flexibility in the performance of tasks.
“It will also be feasible for the telework contract to provide for regular attendance at the workplace for specific activities”, the Ministry of Labor details through its website.
The Provisional Measure provides that telework must be expressly stated in the individual employment contract, and that this contract may provide for the schedules and means of communication between employee and employer, provided that the legal rest periods are ensured.
The employer may, at its discretion, change the on-site work regime to telework or remote work. In addition to ordering the return to the on-site work regime, regardless of the existence of individual or collective agreements, without the need for prior registration of the change in the individual employment contract.
This change must be notified to the employee at least 48 hours in advance, “in writing or by electronic means”.
Equipment and infrastructure
The Provisional Measure adds that “provisions concerning responsibility for the acquisition, maintenance, or supply of the technological equipment and the infrastructure necessary and adequate for the provision of remote work. And the provisions concerning the reimbursement of expenses borne by the employee shall be set forth in a written contract, signed beforehand or within 30 days, counted from the date of the change in the work regime”.
Should the employee not have the equipment or infrastructure necessary for the provision of the service, the employer may supply the equipment under a “comodato regime” (free-of-charge loan) and bear the cost of the infrastructure services, “which shall not be characterized as remuneration of a salary nature”.
In addition, the period of the normal working day shall be counted as “time at the employer’s disposal”, where it is impossible to offer such conditions under a comodato regime.
The Provisional Measure clarifies that the time of use of technological equipment and necessary infrastructure, as well as of software, digital tools, or even internet applications used for remote work outside the employee’s normal working hours, “does not constitute time at the employer’s disposal, standby duty, or on-call duty, except where there is a provision in an individual agreement or in a collective bargaining agreement or convention”.
Finally, the Provisional Measure provides that the adoption of the telework regime may be extended to interns and apprentices.
Also read the content we made available in November 2021:
How to avoid labor risks when adopting a hybrid work model
Source: Agência Brasil
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