June 14, 2023
Remote work
- Regulatory legal acts
- General provisions
- Features of labor regulation and the organization of labor of remote workers
The Labor Code of the Republic of Uzbekistan, effective date – April 30, 2023.
Remote work is a type of working time mode in which employees perform their work functions outside a corporate office building.
This practice became widespread as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced many companies to switch from a traditional mode of operation to a completely remote one for health and safety reasons, reducing office maintenance and transport costs, and thereby increasing labor productivity.
On October 28, 2022, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed the Labor Code (hereinafter referred to as the “LC”) in a new edition, which entered into force on April 30, 2023. Unlike the previous one, the new LC contains provisions that regulate the specifics of the legal regulation of the work of remote workers.
According to Article 452 of the LC, remote work is the performance of a labor function defined by an employment contract outside the location of the employer, a separate subdivision of the organization through information and telecommunications networks, including the worldwide Internet information network. An employee is considered remote if at least 50% of his working time is spent on remote work.
An interesting innovation is the possibility of establishing a combined mode of remote work, which means work at a stationary workplace and remote work. Such a mode of work can be established by agreement between the employee and the employer on a permanent or temporary basis.
Remote work mode can be set when applying for a job or in case of switching from normal mode to remote one.
An employment contract and an agreement on changing the terms of an employment contract on remote work can be concluded by exchanging all the documents required for employment provided for in Article 124 of the LC in electronic form. In this case, the employee, at the request of the employer, is obliged to send him by registered letter with notification copies of documents on paper, and the employer, in turn, no later than three working days from the date of receipt of this requirement, is obliged to send the employee by registered letter with the notification a copy of the concluded employment contract on paper. The employer’s location is indicated as the place of the conclusion of the contract and agreements. Each of the parties to the employment contract informs the other party in electronic form about the receipt of a signed copy of the employment contract.
The transition to a remote mode of work is made by concluding an employment contract (for an indefinite period or a fixed-term one) or an additional agreement to an existing employment contract.
A separate point should be highlighted that the transition of an employee from a normal mode of work to a remote one with the preservation of the previous labor function is a change in working conditions, and if his labor function changes at the same time, then it is a transfer to another job.
When temporarily switching to remote work, the period of work in remote mode must be specified. It is important to keep in mind here that the maximum period for a temporary transition to remote work should not exceed one year.
The term can be determined by:
– an indication of the total duration of the term of remote work in days, months, etc.;
– establishment of the calendar date of the beginning and end of remote work;
– determining the event with the onset of which the remote operation period expires (cancellation of previously introduced quarantine measures introduced in connection with the epidemic, elimination of the consequences of a natural or technogenic disaster, industrial accident, etc.).
Here it is important to keep in mind that the deadline for a temporary transition to remote work should not exceed one year.
Temporary transition to remote work is possible on the initiative of the employer without the consent of the employee in the following cases:
– natural or technogenic disasters,
– an industrial accident,
– fires, floods, earthquakes, epidemics or epizootics,
– in other exceptional cases that endanger the life or normal living conditions of the entire population or its part.
Below are the categories of employees who have a preferential right to transfer to remote work when the above cases occur:
– pregnant women;
– parents (guardians) of children under the age of fourteen;
– persons with disabilities;
– retirees;
– employees caring for persons with disabilities or sick family members in need of outside care.
– other categories of employees provided for by collective agreements, collective contracts, local acts, and employment contracts.
If a temporary transfer is not possible for reasons that include the specifics of the work, or the employer’s inability to provide the employee with the necessary equipment, software and hardware, information security, and other means, then the employer has the right:
– provide the employee with an annual work leave in accordance with the vacation schedule;
– to grant an employee, with his consent, an annual work leave for the corresponding working year, regardless of the order of their provision provided for by the vacation schedule;
– to grant the employee, with his consent, leave with partial retention of wages;
– to grant an employee, with his consent, leave without pay, without taking into account the restrictions provided for granting leave without pay in the general procedure (Article 241 of the LC);
– establish part-time working hours for the employee by sending him a written notice at least two weeks in advance.
In cases where the application of the above measures for the purpose of transferring an employee to remote work is impossible, the time during which he does not perform his work function is considered downtime for reasons beyond the control of the employer and the employee and is paid at least 2/3 of the tariff rate (salary) calculated in proportion to the downtime, if more the amount of payment is not provided for by collective agreements, as well as by a collective agreement or local acts.
The employment contract with a remote worker, along with the conditions provided for the conclusion of a regular employment contract (Article 104 of the LC), also includes the schedule of remote work, methods of information exchange between the employee and the employer (including through the exchange of electronic documents), the procedure for providing the remote worker with equipment and the employer’s obligations to repair it, as well as the conditions compensation by an employee for damage caused by his fault to the employer related to damage to equipment, the obligation of the remote employee to notify the employer in case of impossibility to perform the work within the time limits established by the employment contract, indicating the reason, as well as the obligations of the employer and the employee to comply with the necessary safety rules and working conditions. Also, the employment contract may provide for the possibility of an employee using equipment belonging to him or leased by him, the procedure, and conditions for reimbursement of expenses in case he uses his equipment.
3. Features of labor regulation of the organization of labor of remote workers
The trip of a remote employee in accordance with the employer’s order to the place of his location, if the employee does not have the opportunity to return to his place of residence on a daily basis, is a business trip.
An employment contract with a remote employee living in the same locality where the employer is located may provide that part of his working time necessary for direct interaction with the employer and other employees, the employee works at the employer’s workplace, and the rest of his working time is remote.
The order of interaction, which provides for a specific time when a remote worker performs a labor function within working hours, is established by the agreement of the parties. If such an order has not been determined by the parties or the employee has not been familiarized with the relevant local act, he cannot be held liable for late response or lack of response to the employer’s requests related to the performance of labor functions. The employee is not obliged to answer phone calls, emails, and requests of the employer made in another form outside of the time established by the procedure of interaction. The interaction of the employer with the employee in excess of the fixed working time established for the employee is overtime work and is allowed in accordance with the procedure established for attracting the employee to overtime work.
In cases where an employee must be acquainted in writing, including under signature, with the adopted local acts directly related to his work, he can be acquainted with them by exchanging electronic documents with the employer.
The total duration of working time for the performance of the entire complex of works per month did not exceed the normal or reduced working time.
The remuneration of a remote worker may not be lower than the minimum wage established by law, provided that he fulfills labor standards and labor duties, and is not limited to any maximum amount.
It is also important to distinguish between workers working remotely and workers engaged in homework. The main difference between these two modes of work follows from their definition: remote workers can perform their labor functions anywhere, outside the employer’s location, while homeworkers must perform their work at their place of residence or in other premises owned by the homeworker or his family members, or rented by him (Article 443 of the LC). Individual labor relations arise between the remote worker and the employer, which means that the work assigned to him should be performed only by him. In turn, as Article 447 of the LC states, the work of a homeworker can be carried out with the participation (assistance) of his family members without the consent of the employer. At the same time, individual labor relations between the family members of the homeworker and the employer do not arise. Responsibility to the employer for the quality of work (services) performed by helping family members is borne by the homeworker. The work of a homeworker is paid piecework, i.e. for the work actually performed: goods produced and services rendered.