Although teleworking in Costa Rica was regulated by law 9738, it was not until the appearance of the first cases of COVID-19 and the declaration of national emergency on March 16, 2020, that this work modality was implemented on a large scale in the country. The implementation of teleworking brought a change in the habits of thousands of people and, in general terms, how we develop our personal and work lives.
According to data from the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC), the employed population that teleworked during the third quarter of 2021 was 223,568 inhabitants. Of these, 142,472 were professional, or managerial workers, 41,703 technicians and mid-level professionals, 39 068 administrative support personnel, and 325 were from other sectors. Therefore, it is an important sector of the population.
In this sense, people who develop their working lives from their homes have seen their personal life mix with their professional life on various occasions, as they use their rest time to carry out office work or obtain better results at work.
This situation is not an isolated event or characteristic of the national culture since, in various legislations, the so-called right of disconnection has been regulated. The preceding refers to the right of the worker to not use any electronic device (either the computer or the cell phone) for work purposes during rest periods, outside the working day or vacations; it also includes turning off those tools after work hours are over.
In Spain, for example, this right was regulated by the Organic Law on Protection of Personal Data and guarantee of digital rights of December 5, 2018, which states in its ordinal 88:
"Right to digital disconnection in the workplace.
- 1. Public workers and employees shall have the right to digital disconnection in order to guarantee, outside of the legal or conventionally established working time, respect for their rest, leave, and vacation time, as well as their personal and family privacy.
- 2. The modalities of exercise of this right will attend to the nature and purpose of the labor relationship, will enhance the right to reconcile work activity and personal and family life, and will be subject to the provisions of collective bargaining or, in its defect, as agreed between the company and the workers' representatives.
- 3. The employer, after hearing the workers' representatives, will draw up an internal policy aimed at workers, including those in managerial positions, in which they will define the modalities for exercising the right to disconnection and the training and awareness-raising actions of the personnel on a reasonable use of the technological tools that avoid the risk of computer fatigue. In particular, the right to digital disconnection will be preserved in the cases of total or partial realization of remote work as well as in the domicile of the employee linked to the use of technological tools for employment purposes".
Currently, at a national level, there is a legislative proposal no. 22230, which through an amendment to the Law to Regulate Teleworking, seeks to guarantee the right to disconnection by establishing that:
In order to guarantee respect for their rest time, vacations, leave, and personal and family privacy, the teleworker will have the right to digital disconnection outside of the established day or time, except in the case of unforeseen and urgent situations.
In any case, it is essential not to lose sight of the fact that the current wording of the law to regulate teleworking (Article 6, subsection b) indicates that no agreement signed for teleworking may contravene the provisions of the Labor Code concerning the workday. Therefore, requesting the worker to attend meetings or "important" tasks outside of the ordinary working day may be the subject of a claim for overtime, coupled with the fact that disrespect for working hours can directly affect the increase in physical ailments and psychological in the employees.
Companies are recommended to adopt best practices in terms of communication with their employees and respect working hours so that the company is not exposed to overtime claims and workers find a balance in their family, personal and professional life.
At Bufete Godínez y Asociados, we specialize in counseling and advising employers in labor and employment law. If you need any additional information, do not hesitate to contact us by clicking here.
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