Many members of the European Union are adapting to the new changes brought by the pandemic and have started creating new laws to cope with remote work.
In July, the Dutch parliament established work from home as a legal right, making the Netherlands one of the first countries to develop remote work as law. Other European countries have followed through and have made remote work a priority.
European Countries with Remote Work Laws
Many EU member states have adapted existing legislation or created new laws supporting remote work. Here are four of the latest countries in doing so:
1. Ireland: Right to Request Remote Work
This year, Ireland´s government drafted the bill for the right to request remote work. Public consultation was undertaken with significant engagement for both employer and employee representative groups. Currently, the legislation is under revision.
2. Spain: Royal Decree-Law on Remote Work
This recent Spanish law establishes that an employee outside the workplace carries out remote work, and it represents at least 30% of the working day, carried out over a period of at least 3 months.
The decree also established that remote work should be voluntary for both employee and employer.
3. Hungary: Home Office Law Package
The Hungarian Parliament adopted a bill that amends its Labor Code, Labor Protection Act, and Personal Income Tax Act to reflect remote work. Updated rules on remote working in the Labor Code will cover full-time and part-time work from home.
A regular home office will require the parties to create a “telework contract,” In the case of teleworking, employees can work 30% of their working days in the office.
4. Italy: Italian National Procotol on Remote Working
The Italian government further defined remote or “smart working.” It consists in the absence of set working times, although parties may agree on specific availability slots.
Additionally, the right to disconnect must also be granted, and employees are free to choose where they will work remotely from. However, collective agreements may establish places that are inadequate to work remotely.
