Recently, the Law for the Regulation of Telecommuting was approved by the Congress in second debate, so we wanted to highlight some important aspects that should be known.

What is telecommuting?

For those who are not familiar with the term, telecommuting is considered a remote way of working. That is, from a place other than where the employer is located, so it allows you to perform tasks that do not require the physical presence of the worker in the company. And although it had been developing in Costa Rica for some years, it did not have a regulation that offered legal certainty to both employees and employers.

Therefore, on August 29th, the Congress unanimously approved, in a second debate, the bill that defines that telecommuting will be voluntary for both the worker and the employer and can be agreed on from the beginning of the employment relationship or during its development. This must be established, with the signature of both parties, in an agreement to telecommute.

What implications does the implementation of this new law have?

Telecommuters will have the same salary and must meet the same obligations as employees who work on-site for companies, for this the employer can exercise the same powers of supervision and management that they have for on-site workers.

Possible sanctions

For this reason, if the worker is not available during the workday, this could result in a penalty, as it is considered as abandonment of work, in accordance with article 72 C of ​​the Labor Code.

Flexible schedules.

However, the schedule of a telecommuter may be flexible, provided that it is previously agreed with the employer and does not affect the normal development of work activities and processes. In addition to adhering to the provisions of the Labor Code.

It is important to highlight that, if the agreement for the telecommuting condition was made since the beginning of the employment relationship, the telecommuter may not subsequently request to perform their work in the physical facilities of the employer, unless both parties agree to modify what was previously agreed on.

Work risks.

Regarding work risks, the same applies to the provisions for workers who perform their work on-site. So, the policies provided for on-site work will be applied and will be governed by the provisions of the Labor Code, Law No. 2 of August 26, 1943.

Employer Responsibilities.

However, it will be the duty of the employer to ensure conditions for his employee in order to perform his duties, including equipment, connections, programs and the electricity bill. Likewise, the displacements that must be made for labor matters must be determined in the contract.

Benefits for the Telecommuter.

• Decrease travel times; save costs.
• Greater balance of personal life-family life.
• Improvement in health by reducing the stress arising from displacement and associated expenses.
• Telecommuting is voluntary.

Benefits for the Employer

There are many benefits that come with the use and application of teleworking for companies, among them are:

• Increase in individual productivity of teleworkers and positive influence on overall productivity
• Savings on infrastructure costs (physical space, energy consumption).
• Reduction of absenteeism, reduction of personnel replacement costs
• Optimize production processes and maximize worker efficiency
• It is an ally of the environment, because it contributes to the decongestion of urban centers.
• It favors the inclusion for people with functional diversity, different potentialities, difficulty moving physically to their work area or residing in other countries.
• It allows recruiting and retaining the best talents, giving them greater flexibility.
• Improvement of the quality and quantity of work.

Environmental and economic benefits.

It should be noted that with the implementation of the new law, it is expected that there will be a reduction of 60 tons of carbon-dioxide per year, only in the public sector. Likewise, it is believed that, if telecommuting can be implemented for at least half of the workers who have a profile to do so, the flow in the Greater Metropolitan Area could be reduced by 24,000 vehicles per day and the amount of fuel consumed in 48 million liters per year.

In ERP Lawyers we have a team of professionals in Labor Law, willing to provide the advice and support required for the adaptation of these new regulations in your company.

Contact us today to receive ethical and responsible advice on labor law.