Workplace health and wellbeing: Portugal’s ‘right to rest’ laws

The pandemic has brought the topic of health and wellbeing to the forefront, not least in the employment sphere. With an overnight move for many from office to homeworking, there was an increased focus on mental resilience, loneliness, and the blurred lines between work and rest, and between work and home life. Across the country, many employees suddenly had the opportunity to experience both the perks of working away from the office, as well as the detriments.

The pandemic has undoubtedly shifted us further away from a time where work was a place, to a time where work is an activity. We are seeing higher percentages of the workforce continuously working from home or remotely than ever before. We are also seeing the emergence of a ‘hybrid’ workforce; fluctuating a mix of home, remote and office working. Senior employment solicitor Amanda Glover explains how Portugal is putting workplace health and wellbeing first with new right to rest laws.