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In a session of the seventh joint commissions of the Senate and the Chamber, the bill that regulates the modality of work at home is announced today, which arrives with an urgent message to the Congress of the Republic.
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“Work at home – affirms the Minister of Labor, Ángel Custodio Cabrera – is here to stay; That is why we saw the need to regulate this type of work, and as the National Government, through this ministry, we presented this bill to regulate it before Congress. We expect all the support to carry out this initiative, which benefits workers and employers, and helps protect employment in the midst of the pandemic.
According to Senator Carlos Fernando Motoa, rapporteur for the bill in the Senate, “the goal is to vote tomorrow to make it a law of the republic, taking into account a forthcoming summons to extra sessions; if the agenda is not enough, it will be voted on Friday, which means that it would become law in the next legislative period. “
The authors of this initiative have insisted on establishing that the proposed modality differs from telework, which has been regulated by law since 2008 and is a type of employment contract.
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“Telework always refers to that which is mediated by the use of information and communication technologies; working at home does not necessarily imply that the employee must be connected all day to produce or fulfill their work functions, ”explains Senator Motoa.
They also make it clear that work at home is a modality conceived to be implemented in exceptional situations, such as emergencies, contingencies and calamities: “The objective – Senator Motoa points out – is that labor relations are maintained and jobs are preserved . Once the law is issued, employers will only be able to send their employees to work at home for a maximum of three months, extendable for three more months ”.
If the company insists on keeping its employees in this mode after these six months, it must modify the employment contracts to adapt them to teleworking. As it is an exceptional and occasional measure, employers will be obliged to justify such force majeure.
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What do you propose?
The Minister of Labor points out that “adopting this modality requires coordination between employees and employers” so that it does not end up being an imposition on workers. The project even leaves open the possibility that the worker can assume his functions alternately (combining presence with remote work).
The project proposes, to begin with, that during the time that a company operates under this modality, the employee will continue to enjoy the same rights and guarantees that govern their employment relationship, that includes working hours, overtime, night work, Sunday and holidays and breaks.
Regarding the tools and supplies to be able to fulfill the work functions, the ministry clarifies that “in teleworking, employees can have their own equipment and other tools, as long as there is an agreement with the employer; if there is no agreement, the employer must supply the means of work, according to the available resources. Prior to the implementation of work at home, every company and public or private entity must have a procedure to protect this right ”.
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The initiative also clearly establishes that the worker can refrain from executing the personal provision of the service during their rest periods (that is, they have the right to disconnect from work); “In fact – warns Senator Motoa – what we evidenced during the pandemic is that there were abuses in this regard.” In the same way, the right of the employee not to work at home is protected if he has a medical disability.
It is also established as a duty of the employer to promote the training, training and development of digital skills of its workers.
A connectivity aid will also be recognized for people who earn up to two minimum monthly wages; In these cases, the resources that are used to pay your transportation subsidy are transformed for this destination.
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Finally, Carlos Fernando Motoa clarifies that the articles do not impose the obligation that there be an agreement between the employer and the worker on minimum conditions to be able to do work at home, “but it does establish rules and standards that will later have to be developed through regulations of the Ministry of the Job”.
Eye to mental health
Experts in occupational health issues are concerned that these work modalities end up becoming permanent.
Ivonne Valero Pacheco, professor of the health area of the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences of the Jorge Tadeo Lozano, thinks that “This project wants to remove, at this juncture, all the rigidity and bureaucratic procedures that companies that want to incorporate teleworking in Colombia must submit to; although there are some differences, working at home is very similar ”.
The expert asks about the vigilance and control that institutions such as the Ministry of Labor will carry out this modality: “How far will the worker be allowed to end up assuming everything, from the payment of public services and connectivity to the occupational and health risks? physical and mental health to which you are also exposed at home? ”.
He warns that it is not healthy for people to not be able to separate their work and professional space from their personal and family, or that they are subjected to permanent isolation and with minimal social interactions.
For Juan Vicente Conde, former president of the Colombian Society of Occupational Medicine, working at home is an interesting work option for many people, “but for others it is very difficult to harmonize work life with personal life, in the same space. In addition, the mental health of the worker is put at risk in large part because the importance of developing work tasks with the support of the group with which they work is being ignored ”.
He states that it is important for companies to find a way to monitor aspects such as physical health, “derived from poor postural hygiene and lack of ergonomics in the workplace.”
SONIA PERILLA SANTAMARÍA
Economy and business
TIME
On twitter: @soniaperilla
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