BRAZIL: A new Brazilian law allows workers to qualify for overtime pay if they answer work emails on their smartphones outside their shifts

Record ID: 799108

  • Title: BRAZIL: A new Brazilian law allows workers to qualify for overtime pay if they answer work emails on their smartphones outside their shifts
  • Date: 14th January 2012
  • Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (JANUARY 13, 2012) (REUTERS) SUGAR LOAF MOUNTAIN VARIOUS OF PEOPLE USING CELL PHONES ON THE STREET CLOSE OF WOMAN TALKING ON CELLPHONE CLOSE OF MAN READING E-MAILS ON HIS PHONE VARIOUS OF DENTIST MARIO FIGUEREDO USING HIS SMARTPHONE (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) DENTIST MARIO FIGUEREDO, SAYING: "I don't think it is correct (to file lawsuits agains
  • Embargoed: 29th January 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil, Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Business,Communications,Employment,Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVA70OPSE6WOBLUG0TF2MKEUM542
  • Story Text: Brazil recently approved a new law that will allow workers who check emails on their smartphones after work hours to get paid for overtime.
    The new bill, approved by President Dilma Rousseff last month, says emails sent by the company to its employees will be considered as orders given to the workers.
    This means workers will be able to file lawsuits against companies that deny overtime pay for workers who are answering emails outside their shifts.
    But most Brazilians see their smartphones more as an advantage than a burden.
    Dentist Mario Figueredo, for example, said smartphones only make it easier to deal with urgent matters outside his work area.
    "I don't think it is correct (to file lawsuits against companies). I do it (check emails after work) because I want to. I go downstairs and use it (smartphone), but I can do it later if it is not urgent," he said.
    Lawyer Maisa Carraqueira said her office does not oblige her to check her emails after work hours, but it makes her life easier.
    "If the company forces the employee to look at his emails outside working hours then it is wrong. But if the company doesn't do that and you only look at them if you want to. At the company I work for I only look (at emails) if I want to," she said.
    Brazil is known for having one of the world's most restrictive labour laws which makes it expensive for firms to hire. Experts say the legislation usually favours workers and penalizes employers.
    Labour attorney Rodrigo Senese said the new bill was created to adapt the current legislation to a world where workers can perform their jobs from virtually anywhere.
    "All types of smartphones are a reality nowadays. This allows companies to force their employees to answer emails at one in the morning, midnight, that is, outside the time period he spends inside the company's office. This law is simply bringing this new reality into the judicial system, by forcing companies to recognize that although the employee is not inside his work area, he is still working," he said.
    He also said the new law would encourage companies to advise their workers against answering emails and working outside their shifts.
    "The idea is to encourage the companies which already work with virtual offices, such as home office, to create a more precise policy for the use of smartphones or remote access. This will be a way to forbid employees to use these forms of remote access during the night or outside their business hours, by making it clear that they will not receive extra pay, that is, this will protect companies in such cases," he said.
    The growing technical ability to work remotely has also generated a wave of legal disputes in other Latin American countries where labour laws are less restrictive.
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