Brazilian labor courts not ready to deal with remote work

The Brazilian economy is steadily reopening and returning to something closer to normality in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. That said, most companies are unlikely to ever return to their “default” working practices. As we explained in our July 20 Weekly Report, most Brazilian companies — even those that have returned to office activities — are set to keep some of their employees working from home permanently. At the very least, firms are likely to include remote work in a form of employee-rotation system to mitigate the risk of in-company coronavirus spreads.

While remote work has allowed thousands of companies to keep their activities ticking over in exceptional times — and shown bosses that some processes are in fact more efficient when done out of the office — many studies suggest that working at home is taking its toll on the labor force. When...