Italy: after the health related state of emergency period, changes are in sight for smart working

Italy’s Labor Minister Nunzia Catalfo has convened a meeting with the social partners during the week 21 September  to reflect on a reform to Law 81 of 2017 (that establishes smart working), in order to make some necessary adjustments in light of the post-Covid context.  Rethinking smart working is all the more urgent since the end of the health related state of emergency, set for 15 October will sound the death knell for the exceptional measures that were taken during the country’s lockdown period to facilitate remote working. In addition, the start of the new school year on 14 September puts an end to the ‘right to smart working’ that had been instituted in May for parents of children under 14, although a new measure allows for this ‘right’ to be used again if the children are quarantined.
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Smart working and parenthood. The start of the school year on 14 September marked the end of the ‘right to smart working’ that was introduced in May to facilitate parenthood (c.f. article No. 11936). The ‘right’ allowed private sector employees with at least one child under the age of 14 to demand remote working once their task(s) did not involve being present at the workplace and as long as the other parent was neither staying at home nor receiving unemployment benefit. However, according to t

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