Member Article

In terms of geographical mobility, the Labour Code has maintained the prohibition of the employer transferring the employee to another workplace, save where the interests of the company so require and this change does not entail a serious loss for the employee, where the transfer results from the total or partial moving of the establishment where the employee works, in the cases provided for in collective bargaining agreements or where the employee agrees to the transfer. However, the Code has introduced the concept of temporary transfer, according to which the employer may, where the interests of the company so require, temporarily transfer the employee to another workplace, provided this transfer does not entail a serious loss for the employee. The transfer order must contain, in addition to the justification for the transfer, its anticipated duration, which cannot save for exceptional circumstance be of more than six months. The employer is required to bear the costs incurred by the employee in the definitive or temporary transfer, resulting from the increased cost in travel and from changing his/her place of residence or accommodation. Save in unpredictable circumstances, the decision to move the workplace must be communicated to the employee in a duly supported way and in writing 30 or 8 days in advance, depending on whether the move is definitive or temporary. Filipe Azóia ([email protected])