Credits: Conjur

It is undeniable that Labor Law has undergone a profound transformation in recent times, demanding from all those dedicated to understanding this phenomenon a plural and multifaceted reflection on the changes that mark the contemporary world of work. There is an inescapable observation that labor relations are undergoing a process of accelerated reconfiguration, both in content and form, driven, above all, by technological advancement.

It cannot be denied that the world has changed, and the question is whether human and cultural values ​​have changed as well.

Technology has advanced with the assumption (and in a certain way we can agree) of producing better living conditions through transportation and communication.

In the field of labor relations, its effects are being felt at an alarming rate: easy access to technology has produced greater comfort in performing work, which can now be done from anywhere; it has provided faster delivery of results; it has transformed distance into proximity through digital communication; and it has broken down geographical and temporal boundaries that previously conditioned the organization of work. The factory floor has disappeared or is disappearing.

However, this same progress raises fundamental questions that Labor Law cannot ignore: whom does technological progress serve? To what extent does this technological advancement contribute to the effective improvement of the social condition of workers? Or, on the contrary, does it deepen existing asymmetries between those who own the means of production and those who sell their labor power?

Labor law should serve as an indispensable instrument for mediating between technological advancement and the preservation of human dignity.

Technological advancement and its repercussions on labor relations.

Labor Law, as all scholars and historians affirm, arose as a legal response to the inhumane exploitation engendered by the capitalist mode of production during the Industrial Revolution. The protection provided at that time was a response to the advances of the socialist ideas of Marx and Engels. Since then, its historical trajectory has been marked by successive adaptations in the face of transformations in the production model, especially during times of crisis.

The so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution — characterized by the convergence of digital, physical, and biological technologies, artificial intelligence, automation, and work on digital platforms — represents the most recent and challenging chapter of crisis with direct and transformative effects on labor relations. The phenomenon is not only quantitative but essentially qualitative: it is not just about doing more with less, but about redefining the very concept of work, of the worker, and of the employment relationship.

Among the most noticeable transformations, the following stand out: teleworking and remote work, which eliminate direct and in-person control by the employer as a central element of the employment relationship; work through digital platforms ( gig economy ), which fragments the employment relationship and aims to shift business risk to the worker; hyperconnectivity, which blurs the boundaries between work time and rest time; and algorithmic management, which replaces human leadership with automated systems for performance control and evaluation.

From a legal standpoint, such phenomena necessitate a revision of classic concepts and categories in Labor Law, such as subordination, personal service, regularity, and remuneration, requiring everyone to reinterpret them in light of new factual realities.

Technology and the value of human labor: an irresolvable tension?

The need to value human labor is undeniable, and technology cannot be conceived as an end in itself.

The improvement in quality of life supposedly provided by technological advancement must necessarily translate into an effective improvement in the human condition. Otherwise, the discourse of progress will only serve to legitimize the deepening of the gap between the privileged and the excluded—between those who appropriate technological gains and those who bear their social costs.

In this sense, Labor Law resumes its relevant function in the modern world of work, analogous to the role it played during the critical moments of the establishment of industrial capitalism, and collectively imposes limits on economic power in the name of protecting the worker.

Human rights as a benchmark for technological progress.

Reflections on the transformations of Labor Law inevitably lead to the realization that the rights involved in labor relations directly impact the obligation to respect human rights in their broadest sense. In this context, technological evolution must face limits regarding the unrestricted use of communication and information access facilities.

Hyperconnectivity, for example, calls into question the fundamental right to rest and leisure, enshrined in Article 7, XIII and XV, of the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil, in Article 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, and in Article 2 of Convention No. 1 of the International Labour Organization. In a comparative analysis, the Portuguese legal system, in turn, enshrines in Article 199-A of the CLT (Consolidation of Labor Laws) the duty to disconnect, expressly recognizing that technological progress cannot be used as a vector for the unlimited extension of the working day.

Technology can and should provide opportunities for longer rest periods, humanizing labor relations in terms of the time required to fulfill the employment contract—and not the other way around.

The right to disconnect and the humanization of labor relations.

The right to disconnect: a comparative analysis.

The right to disconnect emerges as one of the most relevant legal responses to hyperconnectivity. France pioneered the enshrining of this right in law in 2016 (article L. 2242-8-7 of the Labor Code), obligating companies with more than 50 employees to collectively negotiate the limits on the use of digital tools outside of working hours.

In Brazil, the 2017 Labor Reform (Law No. 13,467/2017) regulated telework without, however, explicitly addressing the right to disconnect, a gap that has been filled by legal doctrine and jurisprudence. The example of Portugal seems more sensible. With Law No. 83/2021, it introduced into the Labor Code the prohibition of the employer contacting the worker outside of working hours, in a telework arrangement, except in situations of force majeure—a normative advance worthy of attention in comparative study.

The European Directive on work-life balance (Directive 2019/1158/EU) reinforces, at the supranational level, the need to reconcile the demands of work with the rights of workers as human beings.

Digital inclusion and equal opportunities

Humanizing labor relations also involves addressing the digital divide.

Unequal access to technology reproduces and amplifies pre-existing inequalities in the labor market, creating a new form of social exclusion: that of the worker who does not master digital tools or who lacks adequate technological infrastructure.

We must therefore consider that, collectively, we are responsible for asserting that technological advancements only make sense when aimed at improving the social condition of workers, progressively balancing access for all to a life of dignity, without social exclusion and with job opportunities for all.

The Role of Labor Law in the Face of New Challenges

Protection, adaptation and regulatory innovation

Labor law and its practitioners—academics, professionals, and unions—cannot remain inert in the face of the transformations it is undergoing. The historical function of protecting the economically disadvantaged worker demands, in the current context, both the preservation of fundamental rights already achieved and the creation of new normative instruments capable of regulating emerging labor relations.

Workers cannot simply be objects or victims of the consequences of technological advancements. The concern raised by technological progress should guide legislators, judges, and scholars of labor law toward preserving the integrity of human beings and fulfilling all their aspirations as beneficiaries of technological advancements.

Collective bargaining and union leadership

In a scenario of accelerated transformation, collective bargaining gains special relevance as a mechanism for adapting labor standards to the specificities of each sector and each productive reality, preserving achievements and readjusting to new working conditions. Tripartite social dialogue—between workers, employers, and the State—remains indispensable for technological progress to be governed in a democratic and equitable manner.

Conclusion

Labor law originated as a necessary instrument for the historical protection of workers from the most perverse consequences of the capitalist production system. Today, in the face of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, this protective function is far from exhausted—on the contrary, it is reinvented.

Technology, in itself, is neither an ally nor an adversary of human labor. Its impact depends, to a large extent, on the political, legal, and social choices that society makes about how to use it and to whom its benefits should be directed. Labor law is one of the main instruments of these choices.

Building a more just world of work, in which technological advancement serves human dignity and not its degradation, is a collective and ongoing task. In this endeavor, jurists, legislators, judges, unions, employers, and workers all have distinct but equally essential roles.

• Paulo Sergio João is a professor at PUC-SP, a lawyer, and holds Chair 71 at ABDT (Brazilian Academy of Labor Law).