Rights and duties in the home office still lack clear rules

​More expensive electricity bill, endless workday and future promotion difficulties for those who choose not to return to the office. Almost two years after the beginning of distancing measures and with companies trying to return to the face-to-face model, the home office still raises doubts among workers.

At the beginning of isolation measures in Brazil, in March 2020, the model closest to the new reality of workers was teleworking, regulated by the 2017 labor reform, and many employees and companies had to adhere to the home office for the first time.

During the health crisis, then, the government published a sequence of provisional measures and recommendations, such as MPs 927 and 936, which relaxed part of the rules provided for in the CLT.

The measures, however, were linked to the state of calamity due to the pandemic, and lost their validity before the health crisis ended.

In practice, with the advance of vaccination, flexibility and new waves of Covid-19, companies have organized themselves to decide on the supply of work equipment, the number of days away from the office and compensation for increased expenses or changes. in the contracts.

At the company owned by foreign trade specialist Cristiane Paulucci, 54, employees were able to get virtual classes in workplace gymnastics and online meditation. The teams also received office chairs and other support equipment at home.

She, who had a room in her apartment used to receive visitors, decided to hire an architect Fernanda Moreira and invest around R$13,000 to transform the space into an office and study room.

“When the office returns to normal, the idea is to go three times a week. On the one hand, I save about 1h20 in traffic every day, but I think it’s important and healthy to have contact with people and get out of the house. office twice a week would be ideal.”

Moreira says that the search for clients who started to work more time from home and needed to renovate or create an office was one of the main demands in recent years. The needs varied according to the function and the equipment provided by the companies.

But not all conflicts that came with working from home were resolved peacefully. Last year, for example, a labor judge in Rio de Janeiro ruled that Petrobras would be responsible for the monthly costs of employees at home, based on a collective action by the local Oil Workers’ Union.

The workers demanded that the oil company bear the costs of internet, electricity and be responsible for making the physical structure available for work at home. After resources, the company had to maintain only a support budget.

For labor law specialist Roberto Calcini, the pandemic requires more careful regulation of work from home.

“The relationship between employees and companies underwent an accommodation process due to the two years of pandemic, but without us having, so far, effective legal certainty on the subject.”

He believes that it is urgent to create new legislation that better details the rights and obligations of the worker, based on the demands created with the pandemic.

“The only normative guideline currently in force is that of telework in the CLT, from 2017, before, therefore, the beginning of the pandemic, and which does not specifically provide for the home office.”

In the first year of the health crisis, between March and August 2020, actions in the Labor Court involving home office increased by 270%, not least because of the novelty that this type of work brought to companies and employees.

The TST (Superior Labor Court) points out that the number of cases involving telework and home office reached 258 in 2021, up 263% compared to 2019, in the pre-pandemic period. At the São Paulo Regional Labor Court, ​155 cases were opened on related topics last year – in 2019, there were five.

Source: TST

According to lawyers, there are still gaps in legislation regarding working hours, overtime and privacy in computer use, for example.

In the case of cost aid, Calcini understands that the company is obliged to give, since the employee’s home became an extension of the office during the pandemic. “The workday must also be the same as before, with journey control.”

Specialists in labor legislation point out that the potential for growth in labor lawsuits may be greater, as many employees have failed to take legal action in order not to pay legal fees if they lose the case.

In October 2021, the STF (Superior Federal Court) understood that this charge imposed by the labor reform is unconstitutional, and the trend is for an increase in the number of cases related to the home office.

According to labor law specialist Denis Sarak, where there is legal uncertainty, there is conflict. “The gap in our legislation favors misinformation and consequently conflicts. We still don’t have specific legislation on home office, only bills.”

Home office can be a barrier to career advancement

A company employee in Rio Grande do Sul, Paloma Seixas, 28, had never imagined herself working from home. With the pandemic and the temporary closure of the office, she moved from Viamão, in Greater Porto Alegre, to Garopaba, on the coast of Santa Catarina, and does not think about returning.

“The routine here is much calmer, I feel as if we had lived here our whole lives. Part of the company is in a hybrid model [presencial e remoto] since the end of the year and they gave me the option to stay at home, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to grow in the company if I keep living far away.”

For professor Peter Cappelli, who directs the Human Resources Center at the Wharton School of Business, in the United States, Seixas’s concern is not an exaggeration, and it is almost certain that workers who do not want to return to the office will have difficulties in their careers.

“People who are in the office full-time, working alongside their bosses and other colleagues, will progress faster. All previous research on remote work has shown that.”

Cappelli, who is also the author of the book “The Future of the Office”, recalls that hybrid work was a reality for about 10% of Americans before the pandemic and probably more companies should adopt the model now. .

“Whatever the model combined between employees and companies, the big lesson that the pandemic has brought is that people really like to have control over their time. So, even if they go back to the office, they don’t want the company to control all the your steps.”

RIGHTS IN THE HOME OFFICE AND WHAT IS REQUIRED TO REGULATE

The company must provide a cost allowance, as the employee’s home became an extension of the office during the pandemic, assesses labor law specialist Ricardo Calcini

• Supply of work equipment

The MPT (Ministério Público do Trabalho) recommends that companies and employees observe ergonomic items (such as furniture and physical posture) and connection, so that the company provides adequate conditions

The workday at home must also be the same as at the office, with workday control done electronically

The worker’s right to periods when he can be disconnected and barring the exchange of messages outside working hours, to ensure the employee’s mental health, is one of the current gaps.

The right to image and privacy of workers and their families, especially with the increase in the number of meetings via video transmission, needs to be redefined

Sources: labor lawyers and MPT