MADRID (Reuters) – The Spanish government has agreed with unions and business leaders to make employers cover home working expenses after the coronavirus pandemic caused millions to work from their living rooms, Deputy Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias said on Tuesday.
“It was fundamental to regulate remote working to protect the rights of workers,” Iglesias said in an interview with state-owned TV channel TVE.
The draft bill would force companies to pay for all expenses employees may have when working from home while allowing working hours flexibility and granting workers disconnection time, Iglesias said.
He did not detail the expenses employers will have to assume or what employers may have obtained in the agreement.
The draft bill still needs to be approved by the cabinet before being sent to parliament.
During the strict lockdown imposed in Spain from mid-March to late June, millions of workers had to stay at home with their children and keep on working.
Three months after the official lockdown’s end, millions of workers are still working remotely as social distancing rules limit office capacity.
(Reporting by Inti Landauro,; Editing by Ingrid Melander and Ed Osmond)
