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Since the COVID-19 pandemic, teleworking has been subject to legislative changes, to update and adapt the existing legal regime to the work reality, in an attempt to adapt the law to the evolution of working methods.
In addition to the changes made by Law no. 83/2021, December 6th, which also introduced the Employer's duty to refrain from contact during the employees' rest periods (and not just the teleworkers'), the Decent Work Agenda (Law no. 13/2023, April 3), which came into force on May 1st 2023, established that teleworkers would be entitled to compensation for all additional costs that they demonstrably incurred as a direct result of acquiring or using the computer or telematic equipment and systems needed to carry out the work, including the additional costs of energy and the network installed at the workplace at a speed compatible with the communication needs of the service, as well as the maintenance costs of said equipment and systems.
The law also stated that these amounts would be considered, for tax purposes, a cost for the Employer and would not constitute income for the employee, up to a certain limit that would be defined by an ordinance issued by the members of the government responsible for tax affairs and social security.
After a few months of silence, Ordinance no. 292-A/2023, September 29th was published on Friday, September 29th, 2023, and came into force on Sunday, October 1st, 2023, and approved the setting of these limits, which are exempt from personal income tax and social security contributions.
The limits referred to are those indicated below, and may be increased by 50%, by means of a collective bargaining agreement entered into by the Employer:
a) Residential electricity consumption: € 0,10 (ten cents) / day;
b) Personal Internet consumption: € 0,40 (forty cents) / day;
c) Computer or equivalent personal computer equipment: € 0,50 (fifty cents) / day.
However, please note that these amounts are only considered a cost when compensation has been awarded:
A. For the professional use in teleworking of goods or services that have not been made available by the Employer to the employee, directly or indirectly, and "being made available" is considered: (i) the offer; (ii) the assignment; (iii) the making available; (iv) the sale at a price below market value; or (v) any other act that allows the use and enjoyment of electricity, the Internet and the computer or equivalent, without the employee financially bearing the respective costs under normal market conditions.
B. In situations where teleworking is the result of a written agreement between Employer and employee, and the period of teleworking is equivalent to 1/6 of the weekly working hours (or more).