Obligations for companies
Alejandra Massud, partner of the GLZ Abogados firm and specialist in labor law, says that among the obligations of companies is to have an updated list of workers who carry out their work in this modality.
This list must contain information such as the name of the worker, gender, marital status, activities carried out, position profile, percentage of time dedicated to teleworking, contact telephone number, address, agreed workplaces and a list of computer and ergonomic equipment granted. .
Regarding the agreed places, Jimena Sánchez, partner of the D&Mabogados firm, emphasizes that these must be fixed. In a pandemic, we used to go to a cafe or restaurant with an internet connection, he says, now the norm establishes that the places where we provide our services remotely have to be established in a registry, in accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CCT) or the Regulation Interior Work (RIT).
Employers must guarantee safety and health conditions at work, ensuring the good condition of electrical installations, lighting, ventilation and ergonomic conditions, both in the workplace and in the places proposed by the workers to carry out their work activities. home office.
This means that the employer may carry out the physical verification, and alternatively, it may be done through the application of a verification list by the employees aspiring to venture into the teleworking modality, which the employer must provide.
“The validation of the checklist of health and safety conditions in teleworking and the evaluation of possible risks must be carried out by the employer or by whomever he determines as professionals in the area under his charge,” explains Massud.
In addition, employers must prepare a Teleworking Policy that stipulates the details and details of this modality. “This policy must promote a culture of prevention, work risks and establish through which platforms it will have direct communication with people remotely,” says Sánchez.
Once drawn up, it must be implemented, maintained and disseminated in the workplace and with the employees who work in this modality.
Another of the employer’s commitments is to give timely follow-up to notices of work accidents reported by people in the home office or their families, always observing the protocols established by social security institutions.
Sánchez points out that the training and training of employees is also an obligation of the employer, especially in terms of recognizing hazards in the workplace, ergonomic risk factors and psychosocial risk factors that may be present in the home office.
The obligations of the workers
Employees, on the other hand, must provide the facilities for a physical verification of the safety and health conditions at work or apply a checklist in this regard. This includes physical evidence, in images, photographs or videos that demonstrate that the spaces in which the collaborator is going to provide their services remotely are adequate.
Regarding the rights of home office workers, NOM-037 recognizes that they enjoy the same rights as face-to-face workers, individually and collectively. This contemplates the right to unionize, to collective bargaining and to have contact with their co-workers.
In addition, the right to disconnect is recognized, which implies complying with the times established in the working day and not participating in work activities outside of it, such as meetings or use of computer equipment, during vacations, permits and licenses.
The norm also establishes special protections for people who may suffer violence in the home, as well as the right of lactating women to have breaks to feed their children or perform milk extraction.
Likewise, the collaborator can raise their voice to request a proportional part of the costs associated with electricity and internet consumption, as well as tools and furniture necessary to carry out their work activities.
The objective of NOM-037 is to establish the health and safety conditions in the places where teleworkers carry out their work, in order to prevent accidents and illnesses or psychosocial risk factors.
For its compliance, there will be agencies in charge of inspecting the health and safety conditions. “When the company complies with all the provisions, it will be given an opinion that must have all the identification data of the verified center. It will be valid for two years, only in the event that the conditions that served for its pronouncement are not modified ”, details Massud.
The aspects to be verified during the evaluation will be carried out at the workplace address, as applicable, through physical verification, documentary review, records or interviews. Fines for non-compliance with safety regulations to prevent risks at work range from 25,935 to 518,700 pesos, that is, from 250 to 5,000 times the Measurement and Update Unit (UMA), which this year is equivalent to 103.74 pesos.