Next week, the government-social partners debate on agile post-emergency work in the private sector gets underway (for the PA there are specific guidelines). The emergency rules are in force until December 31st. The Minister of Labor, Andrea Orlando, aims at a shared protocol, with trade unions and companies, which establishes a reference framework for the performance of the service in an agile way, in compliance with the 2017 legislation, and with bargaining. The draft protocol on which the government and the social partners are working provides for a series of fixed points: from the individual agreement to adhere to agile work to the important role of collective bargaining, even at company level, as mentioned. But let’s see the new rules being studied.
Individual agreement
According to the draft protocol, adherence to smart working is on a voluntary basis and is subject to the signing of an individual agreement between the company and the worker, without prejudice to the right of withdrawal. The individual agreement must indicate, among other things, the duration of the agreement, which can be for a term or for an indefinite period, the alternation between work in the company premises and outside, any places excluded (i.e. where can perform the service in smart working), the methods of control by the employer, the rest times and the guarantee of the right to the so-called disconnection.
Organization of work and disconnection
The working day carried out in an agile mode is characterized by the absence of a precise working time and by the autonomy in carrying out the service within the scope of the set objectives, as well as in compliance with the organization of the activities assigned by the manager to guarantee the ” operation of the company and the interconnection between the various company functions. The work performance in agile mode can be divided into time slots, identifying, in any case, in implementation of the provisions of the regulations in force, the disconnection time in which the worker does not provide the work service. Unless explicitly provided for by collective agreements, during the days in which the work is performed in an agile mode, overtime work cannot normally be provided for and authorized.
Prohibition of dismissal
The new provisions clarify that any refusal by the worker to join or carry out his work in an agile way does not integrate the details of the dismissal for just cause or justified reason, nor is it relevant on a disciplinary level.
Incentive for collective bargaining
The social partners agree on the need to encourage the correct use of agile work also through a public incentive for companies that regulate agile work with a collective agreement, in implementation of the protocol, and which provide for a balanced use between workers and workers and favoring a perspective of environmental and social sustainability.