Remote Work and Home Office: Rights, Costs, and Working-Hours Control

This page is a translation of the original Portuguese text, provided for convenience. It deals with Brazilian law. If there is any discrepancy, the Portuguese version prevails. Read the original in Portuguese

Remote work is no longer the exception. It is now part of daily operations at thousands of Brazilian companies, yet it still raises questions about contracts, expense reimbursement, and limits on working hours. Brazilian labor law sets clear rules for remote work. Knowing them helps employers avoid lawsuits and protects employees’ rights.

How the law defines remote work

Brazil’s Consolidation of Labor Laws defines remote work (teletrabalho) as work performed outside the employer’s premises, whether predominantly or not, using information and communication technologies. The key point is that it is not the same as ordinary fieldwork. What defines the arrangement is that the work is habitually performed at a distance, even if the employee occasionally goes to the company’s office for meetings, training, or specific tasks.

Occasional presence at the workplace does not change the nature of remote work. The law expressly rejects the idea that any trip to the office turns the arrangement into in-person work. So a professional who works from home four days a week and goes to the company on Fridays is still a remote worker for all legal purposes.

The rules apply to different types of employment arrangements, including work paid by output or task and work paid by hours worked. This distinction may look merely technical, but it directly affects how hours are tracked and how premium pay is calculated, as discussed below. That is why choosing the right arrangement is the first step in drafting a remote work contract.

What the employment contract must include

The most important rule is that the agreement must be in writing. Remote work must be expressly provided for in the individual employment contract, along with a description of the activities the employee will perform. A verbal agreement or a practice the company merely tolerates is not enough. Without a written clause, the employer’s position is weaker in any dispute, and it is harder to prove the agreed conditions.

Switching from in-person to remote work must also be formalized. When employee and employer agree to move from working at the company’s premises to working remotely, a contract addendum must record the change. The company may order a return from remote work to in-person work, provided it allows a minimum transition period and documents the decision in an addendum.

Besides the type of arrangement and the activities, the contract must address who is responsible for purchasing, maintaining, and providing the equipment and infrastructure needed for the work. Computers, furniture, internet access, and work software all need a defined answer: whether the company provides them, whether the employee uses personal resources, and how any reimbursement of expenses will work.

It is also advisable for the contract to cover data protection, the safekeeping of confidential information, and digital security rules. Because the work takes place outside the company’s controlled environment, clauses on secure networks and confidentiality reduce risk and define each party’s responsibilities.

Keep in mind that working from home does not allow the company to impose conditions harsher than those that apply to in-person work. Remote employees keep the same rights as any other worker, including vacation, the thirteenth-month salary, FGTS (Brazil’s Severance Indemnity Fund) deposits, and protection against arbitrary dismissal.

So a professional who works from home four days a week and goes to the company on Fridays is still a remote worker for all legal purposes.

Reimbursement of remote work expenses

One of the topics that causes the most conflict is who pays for expenses. When work moves to the employee’s home, the company may end up shifting costs it used to bear, such as electricity, internet, water, and wear and tear on furniture and equipment. The law requires that responsibility for these expenses be set out in a written contract, precisely to prevent the quiet transfer of business costs to the worker.

The guiding principle is alteridade (alterity): the risks and costs of the business belong to the employer, not the employee. When employees end up paying for expenses that arise solely from the company’s productive activity, with no compensation, they may seek reimbursement in the Labor Courts on the grounds that the contractual relationship has become unbalanced.

In practice, companies usually take one of three approaches. The first is to supply equipment directly and pay a monthly allowance for internet and electricity. The second is to reimburse documented, actual expenses. The third is to pay a fixed amount agreed in advance, which removes the need to submit receipts every month.

The legal nature of these payments is a sensitive point. When a payment is compensatory, meaning it merely repays something the employee spent, it is not part of salary and does not affect vacation pay, the thirteenth-month salary, or FGTS. But if the amount is paid regularly and does not correspond to any real expense, it may be treated as salary, with the resulting charges.

Working-hours control and the right to disconnect

How working hours are controlled in remote work depends on the type of arrangement. When the work is paid by output or by task, it generally falls outside the system of hours control, so overtime is not owed. Remote work paid by hours worked, however, is subject to time recording and the general rules on working hours, including premium pay for extra hours.

This difference is decisive. Classifying as output-based work an activity that in reality requires fixed hours and constant availability may amount to fraud and lead to a judgment ordering payment of overtime for the entire period. Under a well-established principle of labor law, the reality of the facts prevails over the label in the contract.

Remote working hours can be tracked through electronic time-recording systems, corporate apps, and platforms that log access to the work environment. These records serve both to calculate overtime and to show compliance with legal limits, protecting the company against generic claims of excess hours.

Closely tied to working hours is the right to disconnect. Although no single provision uses that name, the right stems from the constitutional limits on working time and the rights to leisure, rest, and health. In practice, it means that employees are not required to stay available for messages, calls, and requests outside their contracted hours.

Routinely demanding responses during rest periods may count as time at the employer’s disposal and, in extreme cases, support claims for compensation for harm to the worker’s health. Companies that set clear rules on contact hours and respect rest periods reduce this risk and protect their teams’ productivity.

For employees, documenting their routine is the best defense. Records of messages received outside working hours, informal on-call schedules, and demands for constant availability are important evidence if there is a dispute over excess hours or interference with rest time. For companies, internal communication policies and respect for the agreed limits help avoid litigation and strengthen trust.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a remote work contract really have to be in writing?

Yes. Remote work must be expressly provided for in the individual employment contract, with a description of the activities. A written agreement protects both parties and serves as evidence of the agreed conditions. The move from in-person to remote work, and the return to in-person work, must also be formalized in an addendum, with a transition period when the company orders the change.

Does the company have to reimburse internet and electricity costs?

Responsibility for infrastructure expenses and equipment must be set out in the written contract. Because the costs and risks of the business belong to the employer, it is common for contracts to provide for reimbursement or an expense allowance for internet, electricity, and work supplies. If the amount merely repays what the employee spent, it is compensatory and is not part of salary. Regular payments not tied to real expenses may be reclassified as salary.

Do people who work from home get overtime?

It depends on the type of arrangement. In remote work paid by hours worked, time is tracked, and overtime is owed when the legal limit is exceeded. In work paid by output or task, the activity generally falls outside hours control, so overtime is not owed. If the output-based classification does not match reality, and the employee is required to keep set hours and be available, the employee may claim overtime for that period.

As informações deste artigo são de caráter informativo e não substituem consulta jurídica individualizada. Cada caso possui particularidades que exigem análise específica.