Rights to WFH in portugal / abroad ?...

Thrugelmir

Grumpy_chap said:

The OP is working from home - furlough is not applicable.

Ok. Return to the office. 

Jonesy1977

molab said:

I am in full-time employment as a permanent employee, working from home (as a lot of us are who've been fortunate enough not to be furloughed). 
Since the 'bubble' rules have been introduced & travel abroad from July...i  am hoping i can go to portugal where my parents live and work remotely, from there.
am i within my rights to do this? does my employer have any kind of power over this? 
want to know if my employer would have any say in this and legal control to say no? if i decide to go ahead and tell them if i do it...or chance it and not say anything and just do it.

PS. there are colleagues of mine already working remotely abroad in their home countries (they live in london but flew back to Germany for e.g. to stay with their families pre lock down when all this started in march).

Speak to your employer, explain that you want to be close to family at this time (perhaps you can be of assistance to them) and that the time zone is the same so will not impact your work, you may even be more productive being closer to a support network etc etc................... using words like "rights" and legal control are probably not going to help you, either now or in the future.  If your contract explicitly says you can work from home or are home based you may find it is not an issue and they offer the flexibility, if your contract is a UK office location then you can just offer to return at 24 hours notice.  

bradders1983

Grumpy_chap said:

The OP is working from home - furlough is not applicable.

Though I note the OP refers to the new "bubble" rules and "travel abroad from July".  I must have missed the rule about travel - I thought FCO advice remained against all travel and that quarantine was in force with no end date set.  What are the travel rules please?  

I expect the OP thinks Portugal will be one of the first countries to get one of these "air bridge" arrangements.  Although there is nothing legally stopping her entering Portugal now as far as I am aware.

sharpe106

Another one many posts that the only person that can really answer is the OP employer. It depends on them and what the contract says.

 There is no law saying that employers must let home workers work where ever they want and equally no law saying that homeworkers must work in their own home. It is up to the two parties to come to a reasonable agreement.

molab

thanks so much, everyone. this is very helpful. I absolutely would prefer to be honest with my employer about my potential plans.
The reason behind the hesitation is because i know that for arguments sake my manager would say no without any tangible reason...almost by 'default' say no.

the company i work for is quite behind when it comes to WFH / flexibility. However, it is probably worth waiting to see how this airbridge situation pans out and approaching them, then. As it would be for July, anyway. 

funny thing is, if the air bridge is put in place by july, there would be virtually NO difference if my parents lived in scotland or NI lets say than them living in portugal. so what is the difference? there would be no quarantine required on my arrival back to the UK and i could get back to the office in the same amount of time. i wouldn't even need/feel it necessary to tell them i am going to scotland/NI...BUT..i just know they will view portugal differently for no good reason. same timezone as UK and everything!

Lurkingtoposting17

Taxation is one place it matters. Depending on how long you are overseas your employer may become liable for paying taxes for you in another country. We as a business need to know where all are employees are and where they are isolating mostly to make sure we are the right side of tax laws. I have friends in the U.K. who have been locked out of US due to visa types who if they do not get back to US soon will be liable for taxes in both countries. Just something to consider. 

Gonna-be-debt-free

Lurkingtoposting17 said:

Taxation is one place it matters. Depending on how long you are overseas your employer may become liable for paying taxes for you in another country. We as a business need to know where all are employees are and where they are isolating mostly to make sure we are the right side of tax laws. I have friends in the U.K. who have been locked out of US due to visa types who if they do not get back to US soon will be liable for taxes in both countries. Just something to consider. 

Very good point.  Also (if relevant to your line of work) data processing agreements with clients.  We have some agreements in place that state that data cannot be accessed outside the UK.

Grumpy_chap

molab said:

funny thing is, if the air bridge is put in place by july, there would be virtually NO difference if my parents lived in scotland or NI lets say than them living in portugal. so what is the difference? there would be no quarantine required on my arrival back to the UK and i could get back to the office in the same amount of time. i wouldn't even need/feel it necessary to tell them i am going to scotland/NI...BUT..i just know they will view portugal differently for no good reason. same timezone as UK and everything!

Maybe not, but I assume you currently live within an hour or so commuting time of the office.  So, the company could ask you from working at home in the morning, you could get a call at, say 11 am, and be asked to be in the office for the afternoon shift.
If you are at your parent's home in Scotland, NI, or Portugal, then prompt return to the office is not possible.

Thrugelmir

molab said:

funny thing is, if the air bridge is put in place by july, there would be virtually NO difference if my parents lived in scotland or NI lets say than them living in portugal. so what is the difference? 

How long does it currently take you to commute to the office? 

unforeseen

As alluded to earlier there may be a case that the company do not allow their IT equipment to leave the UK. 
My company will only allow you to take your company laptop abroad if it for a business visit, not to work from your holiday home in Marbella or wherever. There must be a specific reason. WFH in Portugal with relatives isn't one as your home is in the UK.