Decree 555 of 2022: Implementation conditions for Remote Work

What did this Decree regulate?

This decree regulates the conditions applicable to labor relations between private sector employers and remote workers; the functions and obligations of the Labor Risk Management Entities; and the different actors involved in the implementation and execution of remote work in the country.

Likewise, the content of the remote work contract was regulated, such as:

1. The working conditions, i.e., the physical conditions of the workstation where the    contracted service is to be provided.

2. The list of the work elements that will be delivered to the remote worker for the effective performance of its functions.

3. The computer security measures that the remote worker must know and comply with.

4. The exceptional circumstances in which the employee may be required to attend the work center, in accordance with the provisions of Article 16 of Law 2121 of 2021.

Employer obligations such as:

1. Provide the Labor Risk Management Company with a copy of the remote worker's employment contract and fill out the form adopted for such purpose.

2. Inform the Labor Risks Administrator of the place chosen for the provision of the service, as well as any change of place.

3. Include remote work in its methodology for the identification, evaluation, assessment and control of hazards and risks of the company, adopting the necessary actions according to its annual Work Plan of the Occupational Health and Safety Management System.

4. Provide the remote worker with safe work equipment and adequate means of protection for the task to be performed.

5. Verify virtually the industrial hygiene and safety conditions of the place where the remote worker will develop the functions, with the advice of the ARL to which he/she is affiliated.

Obligations of the remote worker: 

1. Participate in prevention and promotion activities organized by the company, the Occupational Health Joint Committee, or the Occupational Oversight.

2. Participate in the prevention of occupational hazards, report occupational accidents, occupational diseases, incidents, and disabilities.

3. To ensure compliance with the rules and comply with the recommendations of the employer and the Occupational Risk Management Company.

4. Follow the instructions regarding computer security, made by the employer.

Obligations of the Labor Risk Administrators:

1. Establish a program that allows advising, training and issuing recommendations on posture and location of tools during remote work.

2. Make the technological adjustments and platforms for reporting work accidents and occupational diseases, with special emphasis on remote work, informing on the platforms and virtual media that the Labor Risk Management Company has.

3. Accompany remote workers and employers in the verification of occupational health and safety conditions, in accordance with the delegated surveillance and control.

4. To issue occupational health and safety recommendations to remote workers and companies, ensuring self-care as a preventive measure.

From when does this decree apply?

This decree became effective as of its enactment on April 9, 2022

Other provisions as follows:

• Compensatory allowance for utility costs. The employer and the employee may, by mutual agreement, fix the cost of the monthly allowance that will compensate the internet, telephone and energy costs, which may not be less than the value of the transportation allowance defined by the National Government. 

• Compensation for the use of work tools owned by remote worker. The employer and the employee may, by mutual agreement, agree on the monthly value of compensation for the use of work tools owned by the employee.

The employer and the remote worker, by mutual agreement, may agree on compatible schedules in the events in which the worker proves to be the sole caregiver of minors under fourteen (14) years of age, persons with disabilities or older adults, in the first degree of consanguinity who live with the remote worker.