The worker only has to provide services to the company during that time.
But nowadays our mobile phone has become a small computer that we always carry malaysian phone numbers with us and we are more connected than ever. This has many advantages but also disadvantages.
Do I have to answer calls outside of work hours ? Do I have to answer work emails on the weekend? Do I have to be available 24/7 for the company?
The answer is it depends .
Availability outside of working hours
The availability clause may appear in the employment contract itself or in the collective agreement, through which the employee must be accountable for those phone calls or emails that are sent to the employee outside of his or her working hours, as long as the agreed conditions are met .
The availability clause or availability bonus must clearly reflect the conditions between the worker and the company.
"The employee must only answer calls outside of working hours if this has been agreed with the company or is stated in the collective agreement."
If the collective agreement does not reflect this availability bonus and the employee and the company have not set these conditions in the employment contract, the worker will not be obliged to satisfy the requirements of his boss outside of working hours .
The company will also not have the right to impose a penalty on the employee if he or she does not answer emails or calls outside of working hours.
More availability
It is a figure that refers to the availability that the worker has in his free time and must be compensated (whether or not there has been any requirement by the company).
If this clause does not appear in the employment contract or in the collective agreement, the company cannot sanction the worker.
If there is no availability clause in your collective agreement or contract, can you be penalized by the company if you do not respond to its requests during your free time?
The remuneration of the availability bonus
The availability of workers must be compensated even if it is not actual working time or overtime because employees must be alert and available if the company contacts them.
The availability bonus rewards being available to the company.
The company cannot unilaterally impose such availability outside of working hours on its employees. In order to establish availability, the agreement must be modified or a substantial modification of the working conditions must be made .
Right to digital disconnection
General legislation in Spain and case law establish that no worker is obliged to remain at his or her workplace once his or her working day has been completed. Thus, no worker will be obliged to answer telephone calls or emails if there is no prior availability clause regulating such a relationship between employee and company.
The new Organic Law on Data Protection and Guarantee of Digital Rights refers to this new right to digital disconnection in the workplace.
For the first time in Spain, the right of workers not to have to be on their cell phone or computer when they finish their work day is regulated. In addition, the law leaves room for collective bargaining or agreements between companies and unions to regulate the different ways of exercising this right, but the right to reconcile personal and work life must always prevail .