Remote Working: Advantages and Disadvantages

In the first quarter of 2024, around one million Portuguese were working remotely, an increase of 1.9 p.p. compared to the same period in 2023.

Among these workers, 23.31 per cent (239.8 thousand) were completely remote, while 35.31 per cent (364.0 thousand) were hybrid workers, i.e. combining face-to-face and remote work.

These figures from the INE (National Statistics Institute) end up cementing a trend that has been evident since the pandemic.

But what is remote working, what are the rights and duties under this regime and what makes it so attractive to so many workers and companies?

What is Remote Working?

As the name suggests, the remote work or teleworking is a labour regime in which the employee carries out his or her work tasks away from the premises of the company with which he or she has a contract..

Whether at home or in another location, teleworkers use online tools not only to fulfil their work, but also to communicate with their superiors and colleagues.

In terms of working hours, remote working gives workers a great deal of flexibility, as in most cases they can choose hours that are more in line with their personal lives.

Remote Working - Employee Rights and Duties

Despite this greater flexibility, in order to prevent abuse by the employer of those who work in a remote working environment, the Portuguese Labour Code requires that the employee has the same rights and duties as a face-to-face worker, such as:

• Entitlement to food allowance and work insurance;
• Computer and net paid for by the employer;
• Right to strike;
• The right to adequate training in the information and communication technologies to be used in the activity and the promotion by the employer of regular contact between the employee and the company and colleagues,
• Right to privacy which, in practice, prevents the employer from capturing and using images, sound, writing, history or other means of control that could affect this right;
• There must be defined working hours;
• Visits by the employer to the remote worker's place of work must take place during working hours, with 24 hours' notice and with the worker's agreement;
• Duty to attend work meetings, training or other activities that require physical presence, provided that at least 24 hours' notice is given;
• Duty to only use company equipment to carry out their professional duties.

In addition to these rules, it is important to emphasise that a company cannot deny temporary work to workers with children up to 3 years old, victims of domestic violence and non-mainstream informal carers.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Remote Working

If you're wondering why you should opt for remote working, take note of the main advantages of this labour regime: 

• More flexible working hours;
• Stress reduction;
• More autonomy in workflow management;
• Easier reconciliation of professional and personal life;
• Reduced time and money spent travelling;
• An opportunity to practise sport and eat more healthily;
• Lower operating costs for companies;
• Greater productivity.

It's not all roses when it comes to teleworking, as we can see from the disadvantages listed below:

• Reduced social ties;
• Greater personal dissatisfaction;
• Greater difficulty in separating personal life from work;
• Less suitable working conditions that can lead to health problems;
• More difficulty switching off;
• It can jeopardise the quality of feedback and the feeling of connection and belonging.

Teleworking: is it worth it?

As with face-to-face work, teleworking has advantages and disadvantages, so we can't say that one is better than the other.

However, there are some studies on the happiness and productivity of remote workers that are worth paying attention to.

The first of these studies is by the international consultancy firm Great Place to Work which, after surveying 800,000 remote workers, concluded that their productivity remained the same or even increased when compared to the time they spent working in person.

As for employee happiness and satisfaction in this labour regime, a study of the University of South Australia concluded that, among other things, remote working proved to be beneficial to workers' physical and mental health, as they were able to devote more time to eating, resting and leisure activities.