Providing services in high temperatures, working remotely in the summer or during school summer vacation, appropriate clothing for working in summer or digital disconnection are some of the big issues that arise in companies at this time of year.
On the hottest days of the year, on the eve of the central weeks of summer and the summer holiday period, we review five hot topics related to this time of year:
- High temperatures during the provision of services. Companies must take appropriate measures to protect employees from health risks arising from high temperatures (including skin rashes, cramps, syncope, dehydration, exhaustion and heat stroke or sunstroke).
According to the sole additional provision of Royal Decree 486/1997, of 14 April, establishing minimum health and safety provisions in the workplace, introduced by Royal Decree-Law 4/2023, of 11 May, “when work is carried out in the open air and in workplaces which, due to the activity carried out, cannot be closed, suitable measures must be taken to protect workers from any risk related to adverse meteorological phenomena, including extreme temperatures”.
The specific measures to be taken by companies shall be determined by the occupational risk assessment, considering the work to be carried out and the personal characteristics or known biological state of the employee.
The adaptation of working conditions, including the reduction or modification of the hours of the scheduled working day, will be mandatory when the State Meteorological Agency or, where appropriate, the corresponding regional body, issues an orange or red alert and the pre-existing preventive measures do not guarantee the protection of employees. Orange and red alerts do not automatically imply the suspension of activities if there are sufficient and efficient preventive measures to prevent the assessed risks.
In relation to the above, on 17 July 2024, the National Institute for Safety and Health at Work launched the campaign “With the sun it is time for prevention”, an awareness-raising action aimed at preventing the damage associated with exposure to high temperatures and solar radiation in the workplace, including a decalogue of preventive measures to avoid the harmful effects of heat and solar radiation in outdoor work.
For more information on this subject, see this article we published in our blog.
- Remote work in the summer. For companies with special summer remote work policies whereby employees are allowed to work remotely certain days during the summer from vacation locations, it is worth remembering that not everything is allowed when working remotely. We bring back this previous article we published on this subject.
- Working remotely during non-school periods. When school holidays come around, some people consider working from home to take care of their children. However, children’s holidays do not automatically entitle the employee to work from home, and the circumstances and needs of the employee in question and the company should be analyzed, including, for example, these issues:
- There are jobs that require presence or a certain degree of it, which makes it impossible to provide services remotely.
- In certain types of jobs, particularly when there are several people on holiday, it is necessary for those who are not on holiday to provide services in person.
- Depending on the age of the children, or other circumstances specific to minors, teleworking may not in fact be an appropriate measure to reconcile work and family life, if in practice it is impracticable or difficult for the employee to perform his or her duties effectively. As indicated in point 2 above, not everything is allowed while working remotely.
- Summer clothing. When the hot weather arrives, questions about dress codes in the workplace often arise. A refresher can be found in this article and this other one.
- Digital disconnection and holidays. In certain jobs or positions it is not uncommon that a complete and total digital disconnection is not possible during all the days of holidays.
It is essential that companies regulate in an appropriate and balanced way the right to digital disconnection and, specifically, the rights and obligations of the company and the employee on holidays, considering issues such as:
- The limits for checking e-mails, messages and answering phone calls outside working hours and, specifically, on holidays.
- The flexibility of digital disconnection measures in the event of emergencies outside working hours and, specifically, during holidays.
As bonus tracks to the previous five hits of our summer mix, we refresh other interesting posts we have published related to holidays:
In Spain we have more sunny days, but do we have less vacation?
More vacation for giving up smoking?
Happy summer!
