Portugal Makes it Illegal for Your Boss to Text You After Work

By Peyton Phillips November 9, 2021
The Portuguese parliament passed legislation to protect remote workers and attract more "digital nomads."

The Portuguese parliament has passed new legislation to give workers a healthier work-life balance in hopes more “digital nomads” will be attracted to the country.

Employers could now face penalties for contacting employees outside of work hours, per the new labor laws. This news comes after Portugal expanded home working policies after the coronavirus pandemic.

Under the legislation, employers will be forced to pay for increased expenses as a result of working from home — such as gas and electricity bills. Employers will be banned from monitoring their workers at home and ensuring workers must meet with their boss every two months to combat isolation.

“The pandemic has accelerated the need to regulate what needs to be regulated,” Portugal’s Minister of Labour and Social Security, Ana Mendes Godinho said during the Web Summit tech conference in Lisbon last week. “Telework can be a ‘game changer’ if we profit from the advantages and reduce the disadvantages. 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,” she said.

Image source: Euronews