Home Workers in the New Spain Need to be Protected from Exploitation

IN the New Spain, a huge number of workers will continue to be encouraged to work from home but the government recognises that it will have to introduce working regulations to ensure no diminution of employment rights.

For this reason, the Minister of Labour and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz has confirmed that her department will be closely examining the situation in order to ensure that those who volunteer to work from home are not discriminated against.

She intends to ensure that there is no loss of income or any rights that they would have expected if working in an office or similar location – this means no removal of the rights to claim expenses (if they previously existed), continued rights to promotion and professional training and the ability to belong to a trades union or similar organisation to represent the individual.

There will be a section which deals with working hours and the rights to enjoy rest periods during the day and employers will need to take into account the individual’s mental health, especially if there is an apparent feeling of isolation.

The employer may well benefit from a reduction in costs of housing its employees and should see less ‘sick days’ whilst the employee should be able to spend more time with the family as commuting time will be drastically cut and should save travel costs.

The downside is that a general time spirit amongst workers may be lost as they no longer physically meet and interact.