Due to the contingency by Covid-19, telework or home office has become the most used modality by companies and their respective collaborators in being able to perform the daily job functions, without having to expose themselves to possible contagions.
In March, Law No. 21.220 amending the Code of Labour on remote work was published in the Official Journal. Under this context, a distance work is referred to as the one in which the worker provides his services, in whole or in part, from his domicile or other place other than the establishments, facilities or works of the undertaking. On the other hand, it is considered as telework if the services are provided through the use of technological, computer or telecommunications means, or if such services must be reported by such means.
Under this legislation, the employer has a variety of obligations, such as providing the employee with all the materials necessary to perform his day-to-day tasks correctly, or ensuring that the worker performs his/her duties under appropriate health and safety standards.
But there are still many doubts about the regulations and requirements of the new Telework Law. That’s why Asimov Consultores – specialists in software development, mobile apps and data visualization – and AltLegal – experts in information technology law – developed the digital platform www.leydeteletrabajo.cl to inform and explain about the regulatory aspects of the new regulations in addition to giving some recommendations.
Implementation issues
A survey conducted by the consultancation everis Chile in June recorded that 28% of companies interested in maintaining telework are not known or found little and unprepared (2%) to comply with the rules of the telework law, especially transport and insurance, as well as companies with fewer than 500 employees.
Likewise, 40% of companies that want to keep the work remote recognizes being somewhat prepared and only 32% say they are very prepared.
Miguel Teixeira, CEO of everis Chile, warns that “since the future is seen with a hybrid operation (some remote and others in person) many of them are likely to allocate their old budgets for maintaining physical workspaces to invest in applications and collaborator tools that are simple and facilitate the performance of workers according to the nature of their position 51% of managers surveyed mentioned that they are considering vacating their offices,” he adds.
Company partners were also surveyed to discuss their experience of telework during this pandemic. This is how 44% of workers said they have a higher workload than in the office, as the working day is extended. Feeling that increases for people who are living the pandemic with under-18s at home.
In addition, while 58% of managers recognize that they have implemented emotional accompaniment initiatives for their employees during telework, only 23% of workers recognize them as such. Meanwhile, 42% of the employees surveyed would not like to maintain Telework once the pandemic emergency is over.
“This difference may be leveraged by the difficulty some organizations may have had in maintaining fluency in their communications and therefore the collaborator does not perceive it as such. However, most workers see them as necessary bodies to improve moods and to show that their employers care about their quality of life,” the report states.
The difficulties workers face with telework in the context of the pandemic lie in the loss of work ties and the increased wear and tear from work they must also do at home, especially for women and those who have experienced the emergency with children at home.
For other employees, it would be ideal to maintain a more flexible system, which allows to work both at home and in the office, an idea shared by 64% of managers who see an improvement in the quality of life of workers and, on the other hand, a reduction in costs.
“60% of employees recognize that teleworking allows them more time for personal and family development, and also represents savings andwith a mobilization,” says Teixeira.
“For a good development of telework, it is necessary to seek advice that allows to work on the necessary cultural change, that achieves that employees do not overload the property creating better conditions for productivity to be maintained. We also have to remember that the telework law requires a minimum disconnection of 12 hours,” says the CEO of everis Chile.
Workplace
It seems that it is not easy for employers to comply with each of the aspects demanded by the new Telework legislation, but there are currently other Home Office implementation services for employees to properly develop their work, which positively impacts both their quality of life as well as productivity levels.
One of the pioneers in this initiative is Pronto Business Center, business centers for the leasing of shared offices, which is part of a group of companies which has managed to implement telework for more than 60 employees and with all kinds of positions, executive flats and members of a support center, to name a few.
“The main objective of this initiative is to implement a quality service so that companies can outsource administrative and domestic issues and, on the other hand, to take care of everything necessary for employees to carry out their telework successfully, without the inconveniences that have arisen as a result of the rapid implementation that companies were forced to carry out as a result of the contingency” Maria Teresa Ondarza, general manager of the company, explains.
Among the main benefits of the home office implementation service at the home of the collaborators, the “on-site” advice of working conditions in terms of space, luminosity and optimal location through the visit of a risk preventionist stands out. “Added to the above is the lease of furniture-desk, ergonomic chairs, drawers, accessories such as lamps, notebook lift, keyboard and mouse- adapted to the actual availability of spaces. It also adds the lease of equipment such as notebooks, printers, IP landlines and software usually required to work,” says the professional.
Another important point is the management in offering high quality connectivity, which is an added value considering the various problems caused by collapses in internet networks. “We have specifically been concerned with a secure bandwidth and unlimited traffic (optional according to the requirements of each company). We also have remote IT software, focused on solving work problems and software for productivity monitoring”, concludes Ondarza.
