The Portuguese Government has revealed the cost of Public Service home working during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying it spent €10.8 million ($A16.7 million) in 2020 on additional equipment.
Minister for State Modernisation and Public Administration, Alexandra Leitão (pictured) said the money was spent on computers, and costs with software and video-conferencing systems that had to be streamlined.
Ms Leitão was commenting on a survey of Public Servants in which more than 37 per cent said the employer “did not provide any means or essential equipment for the performance of professional activities in remote working mode”.
According to the study, 66 per cent of respondents pointed to increased expenses with internet, energy, computers and other elements necessary to work at home as one of the most negative points of remote working.
Ms Leitão said the question of expenses “will have to be analysed in partnership with labour, since this is a matter regulated by the Labour Code and has no specific regulation in public administration”.
When questioned about whether expenses with internet and telephone were being paid to Public Servants working from home, the Minister said that she did not have the data, but “in many cases these expenses are not being paid”.
She said a majority of managers considered that productivity in remote work remained the same or even improved compared to face-to-face work.
The study also highlighted the importance of communication and teamwork or face-to-face contact with colleagues, dimensions that might be harmed in the case of remote working.
Ms Leitão said this was an aspect that should be considered in order to find ways “to prevent this difficulty”.
She stressed the study showed there were no reasons for a stigma about remote working and that work was under development among the various services with a view to produce guides to adapt to ways of working in this regime.
Lisbon, 7 April 2021
