In 2015, 17% of Italian companies declared that they had launched smart working projects, 14% declared themselves to be in an "exploratory" phase while another 17% had already planned initiatives linked to specific roles within the company. Practically almost 50% of large Italian companies are experimenting with smart working, a more “agile” approach to work organization. That's what emerges by the Smart Working Observatory of the School of Management of the Milan Polytechnic. Even if for SMEs the figures of those who are experimenting with smart working are only around 15%, the impression is that something, on the smart working front, is starting to move in Italy too.
And from the practice made by companies, we could soon move on to the theoretical framework developed by politics.
Indeed, in November, Parliament will discuss a bill which sets some rules on pay, rights, duties, safety and privacy related to smart working projects. The government, through Professor Maurizio Del Conte, has prepared the bill that could soon introduce the
agile work with the same rules for those who work in the office or from home. The definition of smart working also includes work carried out from any place other than the workplace
for one day a week.
The issue is not new to the Italian parliament. It is from January 2014 a bill by the current PD MEP Alessia Mosca, 9 articles to define the regulatory framework of smart working, remained in a drawer of Montecitorio for almost two years and today brought up for discussion by the Renzi government.
NEW AND OLD TEXT
“Already in the Madia decree for the reform of the public administration – underlines the first signatory Alessia Mosca – there were elements that showed the government's attention to this issue. Of course, I too was pleasantly surprised when, reading the text, I essentially found in its entirety the bill that I presented two years ago together with my colleagues Tinagli and Saltamartini. I imagine that, by deciding to present a bill on self-employment, they have taken the opportunity to include this innovation”.
Linked to the stability law, the smart working bill will follow the same approval process and could enter into force as early as 2016. The key principles of agile working are simple: constraints related to place and working hours are eliminated; the employee organizes the work in full autonomy and flexibility; personal responsibility for the results obtained becomes more important.
The story of the creator of the smart working law perfectly reflects the analysis carried out by the Observatory of the Milan Polytechnic: “In the long work that led to the drafting of our proposal, we had several meetings with the parties potentially involved in this change. Larger companies seemed more comfortable with the possibility of introducing remote working for their employees, while smaller companies showed more doubts. I think it's normal. The biggest concern was overcoming telecommuting (and, therefore, fixed remote work): this created insurance problems and exposed employers to potential lawsuits they could not afford. I appreciated that this problem was addressed and resolved in the Government's proposal".
A CHANGE OF MENTALITY
"Having said that, in all honesty - continues the Moscow MEP - I believe that the biggest obstacle is the necessary change of mentality: the idea of not being able to control the worker, verify at what time he enters and at what time he leaves the office, must give way to a new relationship of trust between worker and employer. The idea is to create a transition from clock-punching work to goal-oriented work. It seems like a small thing but in reality it is a Copernican revolution: "emergency" work is curbed and greater overall organization is required, defining projects and procedures so that employees can be evaluated based on the results they achieve on the projects assigned to them, rather than based on the hours spent in the office ”.
The central pillar of smartworking must be a new relationship of trust between employer and employee. For this reason, the same godmother of the law declares herself against remote control systems on workers by companies. “This tool – continues Mosca – must serve to help change the corporate culture and stimulate the creation of a new relationship of trust between workers and employers. I also understand the need to proceed in small steps but I hope that, if they are present, these control methods can gradually be removed. Or, even better, turn out to be useless”.
COMPANIES AND EMPLOYEES, NO VAT NUMBER
“Smart working can be used – explains Mr Mosca – in general, for all conceptual jobs that do not require a physical presence in the workplace. Clearly, the works "children" of the digital revolution lend themselves in a particular way. This proposal concerns the private sector but similar indications (although not the same) were contained in the Madia Decree. I would also like to remind you that many PAs have already activated experimental smart working projects: during the preparation phase of the law we discussed with the Province of Trento, which represents a best practice, but I know that by now they are increasingly in all Italy".
The 9 articles of the bill on smart working intervene on some central issues such as accidents at work or privacy, but in essence they represent a flexible regulatory framework that leaves room for collective bargaining, but also for simple written agreements between employee and employer.
For the first signatory of the smartworking law, the most important message to convey to Italian companies is that with this type of flexible working to gain both employees and employers: "Employees gain time, flexibility and - probably - health, employers will gain in productivity: there are very clear data on this, obtained from smart working experiences already activated in Italy or abroad".
THE INCENTIVES NODE
Unlike the old teleworking which at first glance might seem similar to smart working, this new type of work is much more flexible. For teleworking it is necessary to indicate to the organization the fixed workstation from which you work, where all the security checks must be carried out, while for smart working all you need is a device and an internet connection and you can work from any location: the bar with wifi in front of your child's swimming pool, for example, or even from abroad.
There are still some gods left on the bill developed by the government knots to untie. One of these concerns the incentives designed to push companies to adopt smart working. “In our law – underlines Mosca – we had foreseen them, yes, precisely to convince the distrustful to experiment with the instrument. Unfortunately, I believe that they are not included in the Government's proposal".
