/ AIPLA and Alessandri present: Adaptability and co-responsibility, the challenges of the post-pandemic era
May 14, 2021With the presence of Francisca Jünemann, president of Chile Mujeres Foundation, as keynote speaker, the AIPLA Women in IP Law 2021 Global Networking Event was held.
The lawyer, who is an expert in family and work balance issues, spoke about “Adaptability and co-responsibility, the challenges of the post-pandemic era.” Santiago Ortúzar and Macarena Gatica, Alessandri’s partners, moderated the meeting.
“Despite the fact that before the pandemic it was perfectly possible to do homeoffice, only 1.5% of people had a remote job. The desire existed, 81% of people wanted that possibility, but the necessary legal tools were not applied,” said Francisca, adding that “adaptability is possible and co-responsibility is necessary. It would be a big mistake in labor matters to return to how we were before the pandemic. We cannot regress.”
Francisca believes that for teleworking to be a good practice, three principles must be enshrined in the organization or company: adaptability, co-responsibility and respect. Adaptability refers to working conditions (space and time) being adapted to people’s needs. The Chilean legal framework gives the possibility of combining face-to-face work with remote work and of agreeing full or part-time work.
The second principle is co-responsibility, which determines that both parents must participate actively and equitably in the upbringing of their sons and daughters. “Homeoffice has to be for men and women, for fathers and mothers. A big mistake that a post-pandemic organization can make is to offer this option only for women. We would be embedding the role that only women have to be in it home, and also, we would be generating a gap in the organization, because it will never be the same to be working in person than remotely “, says Francisca.
The third principle is respect for people and the agreed days. Any situation of workplace harassment should be avoided and, bear in mind that invasion of privacy and interruption of personal time occurs more in homeoffice than in face-to-face work.
Francisca made it clear that “remote work is one more tool for job adaptability, not the only one”. She gave as an example the part-time jobs. She invited the participants to inform themselves and empower themselves to know what legal tools are available so that companies can generate a healthy culture of homeoffice. The event closed with a space open to questions and comments for listeners to participate and share their experiences.
About Francisca Jünemann
Francisca is an attorney from Pontificia Universidad Católica and has a master’s degree in Family Law from the University of Barcelona. She is a member of the Pacific Alliance Business Council, the Covid-19 Women’s Council and the “Un Camino Posible” Executive Committee. She is also a columnist for La Tercera’s magazine Pulso and was elected one of the 100 Women Leaders by El Mercurio and Mujeres Empresarias.