The National Labour Inspectorate, with Circular Letter no. 1881 of 25 February 2019, has clarified aspects concerning the application of Article 4, Workers’ Statute, in the event of occurrence – following changes in the company ownership structure (mergers, transfers, incorporations, leases of company or business lines) – of a change of ownership of a company that has installed video surveillance systems or other systems allowing remote monitoring of work activities.
More specifically, the Inspectorate was asked if in these cases it is necessary to repeat the procedure with the trade unions or the authorization procedures or if instead it is enough that the occurred change of ownership be formally notified to the competent office of the Inspectorate.
Reference Regulations
Article 4 of the Workers’ Statute, which was amended in 2015, sets forth (par 1) that the audio-visual systems and other tools allowing remote control of workers’ activities, can be used exclusively for:
- organizational and production purposes;
- safety at work;
- protection of company assets.
Moreover, even if the above conditions are met, it is necessary that:
- an agreement is previously signed with the trade unions or, failing this,
- use is previously authorized by the local office of the Inspectorate or, in the alternative – in the event of enterprises with production units located in the jurisdiction of several local offices of the Inspectorate – by its head office.
The indications of the Inspectorate
The Inspectorate clarified that in the event of a mere “take-over” of a company’s facilities previously equipped with the aforementioned tools/systems, it not necessary to “replicate” the procedures (trade union agreement / administrative authorization) set forth in Article 4 of the Workers’ Statute. This is so provided that changes have not occurred with regard to (i) the requirements of legitimization (production and organizational needs, safety at work and protection of company assets) and (ii) the operational arrangements of the systems (framing, angles of coverage, etc.).
However, according to the Inspectorate, it is necessary that the company taking over the facilities:
- communicates the number of the authorization to the same office that had originally issued it, and
- issues a declaration attesting that, following the change of ownership, the requirements that legitimized its issue, or the way the monitoring device/system is used, have not changed.
In any case, the Inspectorate has clarified that any type of use of the devices other than the authorized uses is forbidden, under penalty of the obligation to repeat the described authorization procedures, just like in the event of a change of the requirements of legitimization.
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Remote control of workers: additional operating provisions from the Labour Inspectorate