Argentina: Teleworking Law Regulations
On January 20, 2021, the Decree 27/2021 (the “Decree”) regulating the Teleworking Law No. 27,555 (the “Teleworking Law”) was published.
The Decree provides that the Teleworking Law shall not apply when the work is performed at the clients’ establishments on a continuous or regular basis, or in cases where the work is performed from time to time and occasionally at the employee’s home, either at the employee’s request or due to some exceptional circumstance.
Regarding the employee´s right to disconnect, the Decree establishes that the employer may send work-related off-hours communications when the activity of the company is carried out in different time zones or in those cases when the communication is essential due to objective reasons. In all cases, the employee will not be required to answer until the beginning of his or her working day, except in those exceptional or urgent cases provided in Section 203 of the Employment Contract Law No. 20,744.
The Decree also sets forth that the employee who exercises the right to interrupt work during working hours to take care of certaindependents (minors under thirteen years of age, disabled persons or elderly people who live with the employee and require specific assistance), must communicate this circumstance virtually and precisely to the employer, specifying the time lapse during which the work will be interrupted. In case those caring duties do not allow the employee to comply with the legal or conventional working hours in force, parties may agree to reduce the working hours in accordance with the conditions established in the applicable collective bargaining agreement.
In regard to the employee´s right to revoke his or her consent to work remotely, the Decree provides that upon receipt of the employee’s request (that only requires reference to a reasonable and subsequent reason), the employer is obliged to provide the employee with a place of work at the employer´s office as soon as possible considering the particulars of the employer´s office at the time of the request, which in no case may exceed thirty days. The Decree also provides that in case the employer alleges that it is not feasible to comply with this obligation (in which case the Teleworking Law provides that the employer is not obliged to comply with such obligation), the time passed since the employee started working remotely will be specially considered. Employees who have agreed to work remotely from the beginning of the employment relationship are neither entitled to revoke their consent to work remotely nor to request to work at the employer´s offices, except as provided in the collective labour agreements or in the individual contracts.
The payment of expenses (even without receipts) and the provision of working tools to the employees are not considered salary and, consequently, shall not be included in the basis for calculating any item arising from the employment contract, or union or social security contributions. The parties may agree on the guidelines for the working tools to be provided in those cases in which the employment relationship is not included in a specific collective bargaining agreement.
Finally, the Ministry of Labour issue a resolution establishing that the Teleworking Law will enter into force next April 1, 2021.
For more information on these articles or any other issues involving labour and employment matters in Argentina, please contact Nicolás Grandi (Partner) of Allende & Brea at ngrandi@allende.com or visit www.allende.com.
