Simplified Smart Working
Until March 31st, 2022 there are:
- the possibility for the employers to apply the agile working mode to any employment relationship, in compliance with the principles dictated on the subject by the current legislation, even in the absence of individual agreements with the worker;
- the obligation, for the employers, to communicate, electronically, to the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies the names of workers and the date of termination of the agile working mode using the documentation made available on the website of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies.
Smart Working: the protocol
On December 7, 2021, the Government and the social partners defined a non-binding protocol, supplementary to the provisions of the law, which outlines the guidelines on Smart Working. Below is the focus on certain points of the protocol.
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Individual agreement
Adherence to agile work is voluntary and subject to the signing of an individual agreement, without prejudice to the right of withdrawal provided for therein. Any refusal by the worker to adhere to or perform his/her work in agile mode does not constitute grounds for the dismissal for just cause or justified reason, nor is it relevant from a disciplinary point of view.
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Working hours
Without prejudice to the provisions of the law and of the collective agreement, during Smart Working periods, the possibility of dividing the agile working day into time slots is defined. In fact, the working day carried out in agile mode is characterized by the absence of a precise working time and by the autonomy in carrying out the service within the objectives set, as well as in compliance with the organization of the activities assigned by the employer.
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Overtime
Unless expressly provided for in national, territorial and/or company collective agreements, during the days in which the work is carried out in agile mode, overtime work cannot normally be planned or authorized.
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Right to disconnection
The employer must adopt specific technical and/or organizational measures to guarantee the right to disconnection. On this point, it is specified that the agile working day “is characterized by the absence of a precise working time and for the autonomy in the performance of the service within the objectives set“, the protection of the aforementioned right is delegated to paragraph 2 of art. 9, which provides that the agile service can be structured in time slots, “identifying, in any case […] the disconnection period in which the worker does not perform the work. Specific technical and organizational measures must be adopted to guarantee the disconnection band”.
Smart places
The protocol highlights how collective bargaining can identify places that are unsuitable for the performance of work in agile mode for reasons of personal safety or protection, secrecy and confidentiality of data.
Welfare and inclusiveness
In view of the changes that the extension of agile work may bring about in the personal dynamics of each employee, it undertakes to develop, within the framework of the company welfare instruments and the bilaterality, a wider and more concrete support also in the field of parenting, inclusion and work-life balance, also through economic measures and/or welfare tools that support the agile work activity by the worker.