Last Updated on January 5, 2023
Simplified remote working communication for the ‘super fragile” until 31 January 2023
As of 1 January 2023, the categories of workers for whom employers are obliged to ensure that work is carried out remotely have been considerably reduced. In fact, the 2023 Budget Law stipulates that until 31 March 2023, employers (public and private) must ensure remote working (that is, “smart working”) only for workers suffering from chronic pathologies with poor clinical control and of particular seriousness expressly detailed in the Ministerial Decree of 4 February 2022, also through assignment to a different task within the same job category or classification area. For such workers, as clarified by the Ministry in a note dated 31 December 2022, until 31 January 2023 and exclusively for periods of remote working taking place no later than 31 March 2023, it will be possible to avail of the so-called ‘simplified’ communication (i.e. online communication of only the start and end dates of the remote working period unilaterally ordered by the employer).After 31 January 2023, the ordinary procedure must be used to communicate any periods of remote working up to 31 March.
Individual agreement and ordinary communication for all other workers from 1 January 2023
Also from 1 January 2023, in order to use this working arrangement, an individual written agreement must be stipulated with the worker and kept (without forwarding it to the Ministry of Labour) for a period of five years after it was signed. For these workers, only the ordinary communication procedure applies, according to which employers must notify the Ministry of Labour—either individually or in bulk (i.e. through the REST system or the computer application with Excel files on the Ministry website)—of the names of the involved workers, as well as the start and end dates of the remote working arrangement.
In absence of a specific legal provision, the Ministry, in a recent FAQ published on its website on 23 December 2022, established that the communication must be sent:
- for private employers, within 5 days of the start of the remote working period or, in the case of an extension, from the last day of the previously communicated period. This deadline also applies, with effect from 1 January 2023, in the case of agreements already signed but of which the Ministry of Labour was not notified, which must, therefore, be notified by 6 January 2023.
- for public employers and staff leasing agencies, by the 20th day of the month following the start of the remote working period or, in the case of an extension, the last day of the period communicated prior to the extension.
Please note that any violation of this obligation will entail an administrative fine of between €100 and €500 for each worker concerned.
For further information: comunicazione@toffolettodeluca.it
