The exceptional readaptation of working conditions in Portuguese Companies

In summary terms this regime foresees:

• The regime is applicable to companies with 50 or more employees in the workplace, in the territorial areas where the epidemiological situation justifies it, defined by the Government through Resolution of the Council of Ministers (it will therefore be necessary to monitor the different Resolutions of the Council of Ministers that may be approved in order to assess if new territorial areas of risk to which this scheme should be applied);

• When applied, the employer must organize the hours of entry and exit from the workplaces in a delayed manner, guaranteeing minimum intervals / breaks of 30 minutes, up to the limit of 1 hour between groups of employees. In addition to this, the adoption of measures to guarantee the physical distance and protection of employees are also regulated:

1. Creation of stable work teams, so that contact between employees takes place only between employees of the same team or department;

2. Alternation of breaks for rest, including meals, between teams or departments, in order to safeguard the social distance between employees;

3. Promotion of telework, whenever the nature of the activity allows it (thus applying the regime foreseen in the Portuguese Labor Code, with the nuances that emerge from the Resolution of the Council of Ministers);

4. Use of adequate personal protective equipment, in situations where physical distance is manifestly impracticable due to the nature of the activity.

• The employer may alter the working hours, in order to comply with what results from this Diploma, up to a maximum limit of 1 hour, unless such alteration causes serious damage to the employee, by means of prior consultation with the employees involved and with the employees' commission or, in the absence of such commission, with the union or inter-union commission or with the union delegates, and must inform the employee of the alteration made at least 5 days prior to the beginning of its application.

• This alteration must be stable for minimum periods of 1 week, not being possible for the employer to make more than one alteration per week. Furthermore, this alteration may not imply changes to the maximum limits of working hours, daily and weekly, nor the modality of work practiced by the employee (day to night and vice-versa);

• There are categories of employees that are exempt (cfr. nº 6, of article 4.º, of the Decree);

• These obligations are extensively applicable to user companies (in the context of temporary employment relationships) or companies benefiting from activities developed by service providers;

• Compliance with the provisions of this Decree will be supervised by the Authority for Labor Conditions, constituting noncompliance a very serious breach.