In the coming days, the deputies will analyze the reform to regulate the figure of the home office in the Federal Labor Law, which has already been approved by the Senate.
Without a doubt, the evolution of the world of work is aimed at being able to perform many tasks remotely, but that also brings risks, says federal deputy Manuel Baldenebro Arredondo. Some companies could use it as a pretext for not paying labor benefits, he warns.
On September 5, the Labor and Social Security Commission of the Chamber of Deputies received the bill from the Senate to regulate teleworking. On June 20, the senators modified article 311 of the Federal Labor Law and included a new chapter to that legislation to establish what the home office is and how it will be carried out.
The next step is for federal deputies to approve these changes. “I do not see this initiative badly,” says Manuel Baldenebro, president of the Lower House Labor Commission, in an interview. “There are more and more activities that can be done from home or almost anywhere else.”
This modality brings great benefits for employees, mainly for those who work in big cities, the legislator says. The transfer time to get to work centers is too much, it is also expensive and sometimes unsafe, he points out. “And if your tasks are done from a computer, you don’t have to move there every day.”
In this sense, he trusts that there will be no greater difficulty in issuing the minutes. But it will be necessary to take care that the law establishes a “vigilance regarding the payment of wages, or that it is not taken as a pretext not to respect benefits or social security”.
Pros and cons of home office
The LFT reform initiative seeks to establish that telework is the one that is carried out for an employer, in the worker’s home or in another place freely chosen by him. In other words, there is an employment relationship and obligations on the part of both employers and collaborators, it is not freelance work.
The home office, as stated in the minutes, is carried out “without supervision or immediate direction from whoever provides the work.” Information and communication technologies are the means of contact between the worker and the employer.
An advantage, says Baldenebro, is that those who work in this way can manage their time. “He works a few hours in the morning, others in the afternoon and then before bed. That allows him, for example, to be with his family, to take care of her. ”
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), teleworking “can improve the balance between work and personal life” and can even increase productivity. But “it can also lead to longer hours, greater work intensity and interference between work and home.”
In Mexico, this way of working is increasingly being used by large companies with flexible hours policies. However, according to specialists, most employers still have many questions about whether it might work for them.
Until now, states federal deputy Manuel Baldenebro, companies have not sent them negative comments about the reform. It seems, he indicates, that he will be able to advance without further problem.
Source: Revista idc
