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Labor requires that everyone who works from home receive an additional daily allowance.
The party’s proposal is part of a set of measures it is introducing in new legislation that would recognize the additional costs and difficulties associated with working outside the office.
The new bill also requires the “right to disconnect” so that workers are not constantly harassed.
Labor affairs spokeswoman Marie Sherlock said it is more important than ever during Covid that a labor rights bill like this is introduced.
There are typically around 200,000 people working from home at any given time, but this number soared to 900,000 during the height of the pandemic.
Ms. Sherlock said it should be “the employer and not the taxpayer” who pays the bill for the new proposed daily allowance.
She said: “The Labor Bill will require employers to provide a workstation, chair, and IT equipment and then requires employers to pay a flat fee.
“Currently, work-from-home-related payments are at the discretion of the employer and we cannot allow that to continue.”
Ms. Sherlock added: “Workers must be adequately provided when working from home with the right equipment, compensated for home office costs and have the right to disconnect.
“This bill provides the legal right to ‘disconnect’ from after-hours communications.
“Giving workers the right to disconnect will prevent the lines between work and home from blurring due to Covid-19.
(Image: Romy Arroyo Fernandez / NurPhoto)
“Our laws are out of date and the Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the urgent need for reform.
“Workers should not bear the many costs of working from home.
“We are one of the only EU countries without any modern protection in our labor legislation for remote work, whereas now there are four EU countries with the specific right to disconnect (France, Spain, Italy and Belgium).
“The right to ‘disconnect’ will mean that employers must clearly state their policy on after-hours communications in writing, and this would provide workers with access to the protections provided in the Work Time Organization Act.
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“Therefore, the bill establishes that an employee has the right not to participate in electronic communications outside of his normal work hours, but, if he chooses to do so, this will count as working time and will be subject to the law.
“Along with the shift to more flexible work, there must be protections for workers and that is why we want this to be implemented now. We must also establish the necessary provisions for those who work from home.
“At the beginning of this year, around 9% or just over 200,000 people were working from home, but at the height of the pandemic, this increased to almost 900,000 people.”
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