On 7 December, the social partners and the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies signed the “National Protocol on remote working” (the “Protocol“).
As stated in the introduction, the protocol“establishes the reference framework for the definition of remote working by expressing guidelines for national, corporate and local collective bargaining in compliance with the legal framework set out in Law 22 May 2017, no. 81 and existing collective agreements, entrusting collective bargaining with what is necessary to implement the different and specific production frameworks.”
The main guidelines
Firstly, the Protocol clarifies that applying remote working must be voluntary and must be subject to signing an individual agreement without prejudice to the right of withdrawal. Any refusal by the worker to perform remote working does not constitute dismissal for just cause or justified reason, nor is it relevant from a disciplinary point of view.
The individual agreement must regulate aspects such as
Remote working does not require a precise working time but independence within the pre-established objectives and respect for the organisation and assigned tasks to ensure company operability and interconnection between the various business departments. This independence was found in the choice of workplace. However, the Protocol clarifies: “the service performance […] can be divided into time slots, identifying […] the disconnection time in which the worker does not work.” ” technical and organisational measures must guarantee the disconnection period.”
The Protocol points out that, as a rule, the employer provides the technological and IT equipment necessary for remote working. If it is agreed to use personal tools, it is necessary to establish adequate security criteria and requirements.
The Protocol requires the worker to process personal data accessed for professional purposes under employer instructions. To ensure compliance with personal data protection legislation and confidentiality, the employer must:
During remote working, the employer must ensure health and safety by providing the worker, and RLS (Workers’ Safety Representative) written information describing the general and specific risks associated with remote working. The Protocol states that the worker continues to be entitled to protection against accidents at work and occupational diseases, risks related to work performed outside the company premises, even if this is remote working.
The employer must (i) provide training courses aimed at increasing specific technical, organisational and digital skills for the effective and safe use of the work tools provided and (ii) guarantee compulsory training on the protection of workers’ health and safety and personal data.
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The Protocol provides guidelines as a reference framework for future national, corporate or local collective bargaining, without prejudice to existing and individual agreements.
Other related insights:
Remote working has exponentially increased due to the Covid-19 health emergency that started in 2020.
The advantages and potential of this work method, forcibly experienced at a mass level during the pandemic, oriented many companies towards a new “hybrid” organisation that combines in-person and remote work.
Many companies have applied a more flexible organisation that allows workers to choose when to work in-person or remotely, making their space and time boundaries more fluid.
Considering the complex emergent regulatory framework, proper remote working conduct in the post-pandemic era becomes crucial. It needs to be understood that “remote” working does not mean working “from home.” Remote working, as defined by Chapter II of Law no. 81/2017 is a specific and flexible way of organising employment, independent of the workplace and time, and established by agreement between the parties. Under Art. 18, paragraph 1 of the above law, the employee works partly inside the company’s premises and partly outside, without a fixed location.
Remote working requires a fixed term or open-ended agreement between the employer and employee to regulate essential aspects, such as: (i) the forms of exercise of the employer’s executive and control powers; (ii) the worker’s rest time and the technical and organisational measures necessary to ensure the worker’s right to disconnection from the technological work tools; (iii) any conduct that may be sanctioned at a disciplinary level and, (iv) any right to lifelong learning.
Last year’s emergency legislation has led to a partial derogation from the ordinary rules by introducing a “simplified” method to access remote working. Under this method, remote working can be implemented without an individual worker agreement by sending an electronic communication to the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy with the workers’ names and remote working termination date.
The regulations include obligations to provide information on occupational health and safety risks under art. 22 of Law no. 81/2017 which may be fulfilled electronically. Currently, private employers can use simplified remote working until 31 December 2021 under Law no. 87/2021 converting into law Decree-Law no. 52/2021 ( Reopening Decree).
Please note that the “emergency” remote working regulations have led to a derogation – which is close to expiry. This derogation applies to the agreement between the parties, and does mean losing the need to regulate and guarantee a series of aspects that are naturally governed in the agreement. Specifically these include “work performance”, “forms of exercise of the employer’s executive power, “tools used by the worker”; “worker’s rest time”; “technical and organisational measures necessary to ensure the worker’s disconnection from the work technological tools”; “right to lifelong learning”; “exercise of the employer’s control power”; “conduct connected with the work performance…, which give rise to the application of disciplinary sanctions” (art. 18, 19, 20 and 21 L no. 81/2017).
Continue reading the full version published on Il Quotidiano del Lavoro of Il Sole 24 Ore.
“It is essential that Companies ensure the proper implementation of remote working during the current emergency phase and in the post-pandemic era. This is only possible by preparing a “remote working plan” centred on two factors – the Individual Agreement and the Framework Regulation.”
“Companies resorting to remote working must consider the related privacy aspects. They must adopt technical and organisational measures to protect the remote worker’s data and the security of the company’s information assets.
This is what Vittorio De Luca and Elena Cannone said as speakers at the webinar organised by Il Sole 24 Ore “Remote working and returning to work: post-emergency considerations.”
The topics discussed were:
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Institutional greetings
Eraldo Minella General Manager Area
Professional Services, Gruppo24ORE
Lawyer Vittorio De Luca – Managing Partner De Luca & Partners – Il Sole 24ORE Expert
Lawyer Elena Cannone – Managing Associate De Luca & Partners
I. REMORT WORKING):
– the origin of remote working
– differences with teleworking
– the remote working regulations
– emergency remote working (including remote working and green pass)
– who is a remote worker?
– health and safety at work
– the remote worker’s accident
– Framework regulation on remote working
– remote working and data protection and privacy
– incentive systems
II. THE RIGHT TO DISCONNECT
III. PRACTICAL CASES
Remote working has had an exponential increase due to the Covid-19 health emergency which started in 2020. Remote working has gone from being a tool designed to increase productivity and improve the “work-life balance” to a fundamental tool for containing the pandemic wave and reduce the risk of virus transmission in the workplace.
The advantages and potential of this method have oriented many companies towards a new “hybrid” organisation that combines in-person and remote working.
Many companies have applied a more flexible agreements and regulations that allows workers to choose when to work in-person or remotely, making their space and time boundaries more fluid.
Considering the complex emergent regulatory framework, proper remote working conduct becomes crucial. It needs to be understood that “remote” working does not mean working “from home.” Under art. 18, paragraph 1 of Law no. 81/2017, the remote worker, works partly inside company premises and partly outside, without a fixed location.
In the post-pandemic scenario, to make the most of the “new normal“, companies must prepare a “Remote Working plan” focused on the individual agreement between the parties and framework regulations which govern its use.
Read our DLP Insights on this topic.
Law no. 77/2020 has amended Article 90, Paragraph 1 related to “Decreto Rilancio” with reference to Remote Working and it has envisaged that until the end of the epidemiological emergency from COVID-19, the right to carry out remote working is recognized, based on the assessments of doctors competent, even to workers most exposed to the risk of contagion from SARS-CoV-2 virus, due to:
Moreover, even if until July 31, 2020, it is possible to activate the remote working in the simplified variant for COVID-19 without the individual agreement with the employee, it must be considered very useful to provide in any case an individual agreement in order to discipline, for example: (i) the control power of the employer, (ii) certain profiles related to the use of IT tools that have obvious privacy implications, (iii) the so-called right to disconnect (the times of non-work, of unavailability).
Continue here to read the full version of the article (in Italian).
Source: Guida al Lavoro
The COVID-19 emergency has awakened interest in remote or agile working, with the aim of limiting the spread of the virus and ensuring business continuity,.
In the emergency phase a simplified mode of remote working has been introduced: until the end of the epidemiological state of emergency, the remote working may be activated even in the absence of individual agreements.
If, therefore, there is no extension related to the emergency situation and the connected use of the simplified mode of agile work, after 31 July, it will be necessary to switch from the emergency remote-working to the ordinary one regulated by Legislative Decree no. 81/2017.
In addition, with the overcoming of the emergency phase, it is to be hoped that remote working recover the original spirit aimed at increasing competitiveness and a greater possibility of reconciliation of life and work.
Continue here to read the full version of the article in Italian language.
Source: Agendadigitale.eu
