What are the first steps a company should take? According to the expert, there is an obligation to formalize the teleworking agreement in writing and notify it to the Ministry of Labor.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country, several companies have been forced to adapt to remote work to continue their operations and maintain physical distancing. However, this method of performing work duties was not clearly defined in the Labor Code. Last November, the Ministry of Labor issued Resolution 23/2020 regulating teleworking.

Ernesto Raful, a member of the Legal Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic (AMCHAMDR), provided a detailed analysis of the resolution during the Committee's final session of the year.

What are the first steps a company should take? According to the expert, there is an obligation to formalize the teleworking agreement in writing and notify it to the Ministry of Labor.

"Whether through an original contract or an addendum, the company must register the agreement with the employee with the General Directorate of Labor, which may be original (from the moment they were hired to work remotely) or an addendum may have been made because the majority began working in person and, as a result of the crisis, are moving to teleworking." Indian.

Raful emphasized that in addition to formalizing the agreements regarding remote work in writing, the resolution was made to ensure that workers' labor rights were not violated.

"This resolution seeks to ensure that workers who work from home are not victims of violations of their labor rights, as well as to establish their right to privacy, digital disconnection, and the reversibility of the agreement." stated.

As explained by the expert, the agreement will establish the employee's job description, whether the contract will be temporary or permanent, the location or locations where the work will be performed, the agreed salary, the schedules including breaks, the organizational unit to which the employee will be assigned, the contact information for the employee's supervisor, and the provision of tools for providing the service.

The right to digital disconnection is also specified, establishing when the worker can be online and when they can disconnect, as well as the conditions for establishing the reversibility of the work modality.

This refers to the right of the worker or employer to return to their original status, but subject to mutual agreement between the parties and in addition to specific reasons: the worker is unable to continue teleworking or the employer determines that the conditions exist to return to the company's facilities.

According to Raful, the deadline for companies to register contracts expired on December 12. However, he says it will take effect 30 calendar days later.