"CEOE cannot pretend that telework is a way to save business costs"
The Minister of Labor, Yolanda Díaz, has reacted to yesterday's criticism of employers' employers, who are opposed to the Draft Law on telework that the Government presented to the social agents in a first meeting to negotiate the new regulation of remote work. The working draft raises the right to telework for "family force majeure" situations and also that the companies assume all the costs derived from the labor activity. Díaz has insisted that his Ministry is going to negotiate the legislation through social dialogue, as has been the case up to now, but has affirmed that "the CEOE does not have problems with social dialogue, she has problems with the wrong vision" of teleworking.
Employees will have the right to telework "force majeure" when a family member becomes ill or has an accident
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"What the CEOE cannot claim is that telework is what we have experienced during the pandemic. It cannot be a way to save business costs or make employment more precarious. This I think is the disagreement that the CEOE has," he said. the Minister of Labor in an interview this afternoon in Cuatro.
The employers CEOE and Cepyme yesterday issued a harsh statement against the draft work, which they branded as "disproportionate", "erratic" and "removed from reality". The businessmen also criticized the insufficient social dialogue of the measure, despite the fact that the first meeting was held yesterday to negotiate the text and a new meeting is pending once the social partners send their contributions. Yolanda Díaz explained that the UGT has already sent proposals and that it is clear that CCOO and the CEOE will also do so, as business sources confirmed to elDiario.es yesterday.
The head of Labor has pointed out that a sign that the legislation proposed by the Government is "weighted" is that "the unions say it is insufficient" and neither does it convince employers because it is too rigid. "This that the CEOE proposes is not anything modern, it is not typical of the 21st century, what it claims seems to be labor relations of the 19th century. I am sure that the CEOE does not want a model of precarious and rights-free relations, but I am sure that they will work at the social dialogue table to improve this preliminary project, "added the minister.
The means should not be put by the worker
Yolanda Díaz explained that the preliminary draft presented by her Ministry is based on a European agreement for teleworking, which establishes as a basic principle that remote work must be "voluntary" and that "it is the responsibility of companies to provide the material means "to its workers, either in-person or distance provision of services.
"It would not be legitimate for a journalist or a design professional to be sent to your home and it has to be him or her who bears the business expenses," as he assures that it happened during the pandemic and many workers have warned him.
The minister has placed employers at the negotiating table to focus on more matters than "expenses", since teleworking carries many risks, such as psychosocial risks, which will be addressed in this new standard.
On the king emeritus: "It is not an example to follow"
The Minister of Labor has also answered questions about the information relative to the patrimony of the king emeritus hidden in tax havens. "There is more than enough data and evidence to show at this time that we are all equal, that corruption is not tolerable in any house, or in the home of any Spanish family or in the Royal House," he said.
Díaz has asked Juan Carlos I for facts, beyond words. "I ask once again that you be exemplary and that the King Emeritus lead by example and not only give full explanations of what has happened, but that you step aside and be exemplary in public life and take out all the features that it carries the fact of being king emeritus, "he said.
"Of course, it is not an example to follow. Spanish society in the 21st century does not tolerate these levels of alleged corruption," said the minister.
