New Home Office Regulations Approved
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New Home Office Regulations Approved

Photo by:   Carl Heyerdahl, Unsplash
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Sofía Hanna By Sofía Hanna | Journalist and Industry Analyst - Thu, 01/14/2021 - 14:19

Home office began as the only viable way for companies to keep working once the pandemic started. Now that the benefits of working in such a way have been exposed, it seems this new scheme is here to stay. If this will be a new reality for most businesses, some rules had to be taken into consideration.

Starting on Jan. 12, new additions will be made to the Federal Labor Law that will benefit employees working remotely, as well as new responsibilities that employees will have to respect. An important consideration is that working from home must be voluntary and established in writing, according to Forbes

The new rules for companies are: 

  • Providing and giving maintenance and support to the equipment needed to work, like printers, computers and ergonomic chairs. 
  • Paying expenses that have to do with the job, like internet services and the proportional part of electricity consumption.
  • Giving the correct training to new and old employees so they can adapt, learn and use new technologies. 
  • Respecting working and leisure hours. There will be a right to disconnect and shut down the computer. 

 

The new employee responsibilities are: 

  • Taking care of the equipment being given to them. Should the equipment be needed back, it should be in the same state as when the employee received it.
  • Informing the company of the accurate amount being paid for electricity and internet services. 
  • Using mechanisms and operating systems needed to supervise their activities. 

 

"Parties will have the right to reverse to the face-to-face modality, for which they may agree on the mechanisms, processes and times necessary to make valid their will to return to said modality," specified in the Federal Labor Law . Having this option is relevant because studies prove that only 31 percent of employees are productive while working from home. Even though this modality sounds comfortable and easy, it has its challenges and not everyone's personality and job is fit for home office, according to El Economista

In the same article, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) highlighted that now, HR must consider if the employee is fit to do their job from home and if the job itself can be done this way. "There are more and more jobs that can be effectively performed from home,” said Johnny Taylor, President of SHRM. He adds it is important to give employees the choice of trying home office and if do not get used to it, to change back.

 

A previous MBN article mentioned that 95 percent of companies surveyed by Runa plan to develop a fully remote work scheme or a mixed-office work scheme following the pandemic. Out of those companies, more than 59 percent of companies interviewed are offering remote work benefits. Approximately 51 percent are contributing to electricity or internet bills, 38 percent share the costs of a home office setup and 31 percent are donating to employee healthcare expenses. 

Photo by:   Carl Heyerdahl, Unsplash

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