In recent years, terms such as smart working, agile working or workation have become firmly established in the working lexicon. These new ways of working bring with them opportunities and competitiveness, but also new responsibilities and risks, especially in terms of health and safety.
The concept of a “workplace” is no longer only linked to a physical company space. It can be one’s own home, a second home, a library or a coworking space. However, the dematerialisation of work space raises questions: how should security be managed?
Agile work, regulated by Law No. 81/2017, requires the worker to cooperate in the implementation of preventive measures prepared by the employer. The legislator, in fact, has not provided for a transfer of the burden of prevention and self-protection onto the worker.
The phenomenon of workation – from the combination of “work” and “vacation” – is perhaps the most significant representation. More and more people are choosing to work from holiday locations and more and more companies are granting it. The objective? To combine productivity and well-being. But in these cases the risks can be even more complex: inadequate facilities, unstable connections, ergonomically incorrect workstations, social isolation, confusion between working time and leisure time.
The employer always remains at the centre as the main person responsible for the health and safety of company staff. Prevention and Protection Services and Workers’ Safety Representatives must adapt their activities to a (physically) distributed work population, using digital tools to monitor risks and involve workers.
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By Law converting, with amendments, Decree-Law no. 48/2023 – (the ‘Employment Decree’ (‘Decreto Lavoro’)) containing ‘Urgent measures for social inclusion and access to the workplace’ – which has been approved by the Italian parliament and is currently scheduled to be published in the Italian Official Gazette (“Conversion Law“) – the right to remote working will be extended:
It should be noted that the above-mentioned Decree of the Minister of Health, February 4th, 2022 – converted, with amendments, by Law no. 11 of February 18th, 2022 – identifies the conditions of the subject and the chronic pathologies with low clinical compensation and with a particular connotation of seriousness under which the employee’s primary care physician certifies the situation of vulnerability for the purposes of the application of certain transitional rules of favor (Please refer to Article 28-bis of the Conversion Law).
(Please refer to Article 42, 3-ter, of the Conversion Law).
Altri insights correlati:
Contribution and tax relief introduced by the budget law and extension of remote working for vulnerable persons
DID YOU KNOW THAT… On 5 May 2023 the so-called ‘Employment Decree’ came into force?
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:
“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.
Our system’s real problem is an absence of serious active employment policies. De Luca & Partners managing partner Vittorio De Luca, discusses the agreement on the end of the dismissal prohibition and Decree Law 99/2021, just approved by the Draghi government. “An explosion of redundancies is nothing more than the consequence of a ban that has gone on too long. Further generalised extensions would only have made the situation worse. The prohibition has prevented companies from renewing for far too long and paralysed worker redeployments. Finally, they will now restart and move the market and employment again.”
Another hot topic is the reform of social safety nets, which has been announced many times and is increasingly necessary during the post-pandemic period. “The social safety net system, after the 2015 reform, is fragmented and cannot protect the categories affected by the recession and provide financial benefits that represent decisive and lasting support. The pandemic has clearly shown the limits of our social safety net system. It is essential
to proceed with a comprehensive reform quickly.
The government has reached an agreement with the social partners on the dismissal prohibition. “The agreement includes a “commitment” to use all existing social safety nets before resorting to redundancies.
However, it is just a form of moral persuasion. Moreover, this commitment is unmentioned in the new decree text. This is small consolation for those clamouring for a further extension of the dismissal prohibition.”
