Portugal’s Right to Rest Law a New Recognized Fundamental Human Right.

Portugal’s Right to Rest Law a New Recognized Fundamental Human Right.

by Stanley Alieke, Esq.

Portugal, a Southern European country recently passed a law called right to rest. This new law bans employers of labour and office bosses and makes it illegal for them to text message, email or call their staff or workers outside the employees working hours for work related reasons. The move is part of changes being introduced to improve work-life balance in response to an expansion of working from home in the country, give people more time to rest and have a good and peaceful family time hence why the new law was dubbed ‘right to rest’.

Therefore, as of today an employer or boss in Portugal will be breaking the law if he calls a staff, texts a staff, emails a staff or sends for a staff outside working time of that staff for work related reasons and that employer will be made to face the law.

The Portugal’s Minister of Labour and Social Security, Ana Mendes Godinho during a press conference in Lisbon while narrating the need for this new law ‘right to rest’ told the news men that “telework can be a game-changer” but its growth needs to be regulated.

It has always been the case that bosses at work feel they own their workers’ time and by extension owns the workers’ lives  and can ring any staff or send for any staff at any time they want and that staff don’t have a say on it unless the staff wants to get punished, queried or even loose his job.

This law should be introduced and adopted in all countries of the world and any country that cares about the good health, peace of mind and longevity of the lives of its citizens. Even the Christian’s holy books says in Ecclesiastes 3vs 1 that there’s time for everything; there’s time to work and time to rest and one should not take the place of the other.