Home office has been fully implement in the legal regime since 1 October.
The regulatory text foresees that from 1 October 2021 the authorities will sanction companies that do not comply with the conditions set out in the telework agreement with fines of up to 225,000 euros.
The home office agreement is a document that, according to the law, a company must negotiate, draw up and sign with its employees to set out the conditions of teleworking before the employee starts teleworking. This document must contain a series of minimum requirements, which, if not complied with, will be consider infringements of varying degrees, from minor to very serious, with different financial penalties.
Within this legal regime, employers who do not provide employees with the necessary materials and, therefore, do not comply with the regulation, will face a fine of up to 7,500 euros, as it is considered a serious sanction.
Depending on the degree of non-compliance with the contract, the sanction can also be consider minor or very serious, with the following amounts:
- Minor with fines of 70 to 150 euros in its minimum degree; in its medium degree, from 151 to 370 euros; and in its maximum degree, from 371 to 750 euros
- Serious with fines of between 751 and 1,500 euros in the minimum grade, between 1,501 and 3,750 euros in the medium grade, and between 3,751 and 7,500 euros in the maximum grade
- The very serious ones with fines from 7,501 to 30,000 euros; in the medium range from 30,001 to 120,005 euros; and in the maximum range from 120,006 euros to 225,018 euros.
According to the Remote Working Act, the teleworking agreement has to reflect at least the following conditions:
- Inventory of the means, equipment and tools required for the development of the agreed telework, including consumables and movable elements, as well as the useful life or maximum period for the renewal of these
- A list of the expenses that the employee may incur because of the provision of remote services. It must also include the way of quantifying the compensations that the company is obliged to pay and the time and form of payment, which will correspond, if it exists, to what is established in the collective bargaining agreement or agreement of application
- The employee is working hours and availability rules
- Percentage and distribution between face-to-face and remote work
- Work center of the company to which the remote employee is assign and where, if applicable, he/she will carry out the part of the face-to-face working day
- Place of telecommuting chosen by the employee to carry out the telecommuting work
- Duration of notice periods for the exercise of reversibility situations, if applicable
- Means of company control of the activity
- Procedure to be follow in the event of technical difficulties that prevent the normal performance of home office
- Instructions issued by the company, with the participation of the employees’ legal representatives, regarding data protection, specifically applicable to home office
- Duration of the home office agreement.
Inmaculada Pessini
