People working from home in Portugal have been given a massive win in work-related mental health after the government passed a rule that bans bosses from messaging staff after hours.

There’s nothing worse than clocking off from a day and while you’re decompressing you get an email or text alerting you to something that needs to be done tomorrow. You look down to see it’s your boss, with a question that could probably have waited until Monday.

Portugal’s ruling Socialist Party has approved legislation that will keep your boss out of your phone. Under these new laws, employers could face penalties if they contact their staff outside of their designated work hours.

Also, employers are not allowed to remotely monitor employees’ work and they are required to provide staff with all the tools they need to be able to do their job from home, including contributing towards their gas and electric bills.

The legislation was conceived to improve work-life balance for the country’s remote workforce, which expanded due to Covid-19, and to make Portugal a more attractive base for international “digital nomads” – people who travel while telecommuting.

Source: Business Insider

[https://www.businessinsider.com/portugal-digital-nomad-labor-laws-boss-cant-text-after-hours-2021-11](https://www.businessinsider.com/portugal-digital-nomad-labor-laws-boss-cant-text-after-hours-2021-11)