There is an agreement on smart working, timetables and rules to follow for the private sector. The agreement was reached on Tuesday at the Ministry of Labor between the government and the social partners - trade unions on the one hand and employers' associations on the other - who adhered to the National Protocol with the guidelines for collective bargaining on smart working in the private sector. Here is a summary of what the agreement provides which, once the state of emergency is over, will then have to be applied with individual agreements. The premise is that, at the moment, the law that regulates smart working in Italy (No. 81 of 2017) has not been changed and that companies and workers will encourage compliance with the guidelines defined in the Protocol.
STATE OF EMERGENCY, INDIVIDUAL AGREEMENT AND INCENTIVES
The importance of the Protocol lies in the fact that it regulates smart working even after the end of the Covid emergency, the duration of which, at the moment, no one is able to predict. So as long as the state of emergency lasts, working from home is established by government directives but when it ends, individual agreements between the company and the worker will be necessary, as indicated by law 81. Both business associations and trade unions are calling for a simplification of the mandatory communications on individual agreements. To facilitate negotiation, trade unions and companies are soliciting incentives for those companies that will make agreements aimed at respecting equal opportunities for men and women and the criteria of environmental and social sustainability.
In the public sector, on the other hand, after the guidelines issued by the Minister of Public Administration Renato Brunetta, the public administrations started individual agreements on smart working from 15 October regardless of the state of emergency.
SMART WORKING AND WORKING HOURS
The employee who agrees to the smart working activity will not have a fixed daily working schedule and will be free to freely organize his day according to the objectives he has agreed with the company. The total working hours, on the other hand, remain those fixed by the collective labor agreements. Furthermore, the employee can freely choose the place in which to work but must guarantee «the regular execution of the service, in conditions of safety and confidentiality».
Finally, no overtime: "during the days in which the work performance is carried out in agile mode, overtime work cannot normally be provided for and authorized", is written in the Protocol. Unless this possibility is explicitly provided for in national employment contracts.
The right to disconnection is in any case guaranteed and the 11 hours of rest between one work shift and another remain unchanged, but the methods in which disconnection is guaranteed are entrusted to the individual agreement between the parties. The Protocol does not give indications on meal vouchers or on the division of costs between the company and the employee as regards the workstation.
SMART WORKING AND WORK EQUIPMENT
Which computer will you work from home with and who will pay for the necessary equipment? Law 81 leaves it up to the individual agreement to establish whether the PC and equipment are those of the employee or not. The protocol recalls the fact that the company usually supplies the work tools but then leaves all the doors open and does not exclude the possibility that the employee can also use his own computer, printer, etc.
The case of the Public Administration is different: the Brunetta directive has in fact established that smart working from home can only be performed with tools provided by the PA.
SMART WORKING, THE COMMENTS
“Finally a good day of industrial relations, not only constructive but looking to the future. Very important - says the general secretary of the Sim Cisl Roberto Benaglia - to have set objectives related to the right to disconnection, to the training and growth of people within an increasingly responsible work framework; to fair treatment – including welfare – the issues of privacy and safety at work. The reference to the absence of a precise working schedule and the autonomy of carrying out the service on pre-established objectives that characterize smart working from now on is absolutely revolutionary for the Fim Cisl".
«The protocol is proof that, when the social partners play their role and the government makes itself available to build a synthesis, the results are obtained quickly and without unnecessary controversy - says the vice president of Confindustria Maurizio Stirpe -. I hope it's a repeatable experience." Tania Scacchetti of the CGIL speaks of "positive subscription", like Tiziana Bocchi of the Uil. For the Cisl leader Luigi Sbarra the agreement is a "turning point" for the organizational models of work. Satisfaction was also expressed by Minister of Labor Andrea Orlando who acted as director of the cartel.
The CGIL, CISL, UIL, Ugl, Confsal, Cisal, Usb, among the workers' unions, adhered to the Protocol of the Ministry of Labour. Confindustria, Confapi, Confcommercio, Confesercenti, Confartigianato, Cna, Casartigiani, Alliance of Cooperatives, Confagricoltura, Coldiretti, Cia, Copagri, Abi, Ania, Confprofessioni, Confservizi, Federdistribuzione, Confimi and Confetra signed the agreement for employers.
