It is useless to deny it: digitalization is changing our lives and, obviously, also the labor law. In fact, new technologies not only transform market strategies and firm organization, but also increase the range of the implementing rules on working. It is not necessarily a bad thing because digitalization opens the ground for new forms of work organization and could provide new job opportunities not only by promoting emerging sectors, but also by combining work-life balance. Moreover, according to recent studies, the greater elasticity caused by digitization could have beneficial “welfare effects” in the workplace. Indeed, this is positive as long as the flexibility of work has adequate safeguards. In fact, technological innovations raise a lot of questions about wages, labor rights, social protections and risks of extensive technological unemployment. Moreover, according to recent studies, the greater elasticity caused by digitization could have beneficial “welfare effects” in the workplace. An interesting example to analyze in this perspective is the so-called smart working, provided by the art. 18 of the Legislative Decree no. 81/2017, that is part of the wide Italian labor market reform named Jobs Act. It is not a new form of employment relationship: it is a way of carrying out subordinate work, established by an agreement between employer and employee. The work is “smart” because it is not bound by two of the typical characteristics of subordinate work: place and time. Furthermore, it can be done through the use of technological tools. In particular, the use of the smart working could be one of the most important challenges of Human Resources Management in Italy. This proposal aims to analyze how the smart working has been introduced in Italian production system and how much it has contributed to improve the workers’ well-being. Finally, the paper intends to examine the weaknesses and strengths of this tool by analyzing the rules, the collective agreements and the empirical data through the first practical applications of the smart working in Italy.
Is the smart working the new frontier for Italian workers’ well-being?
Russo M
2020
Abstract
It is useless to deny it: digitalization is changing our lives and, obviously, also the labor law. In fact, new technologies not only transform market strategies and firm organization, but also increase the range of the implementing rules on working. It is not necessarily a bad thing because digitalization opens the ground for new forms of work organization and could provide new job opportunities not only by promoting emerging sectors, but also by combining work-life balance. Moreover, according to recent studies, the greater elasticity caused by digitization could have beneficial “welfare effects” in the workplace. Indeed, this is positive as long as the flexibility of work has adequate safeguards. In fact, technological innovations raise a lot of questions about wages, labor rights, social protections and risks of extensive technological unemployment. Moreover, according to recent studies, the greater elasticity caused by digitization could have beneficial “welfare effects” in the workplace. An interesting example to analyze in this perspective is the so-called smart working, provided by the art. 18 of the Legislative Decree no. 81/2017, that is part of the wide Italian labor market reform named Jobs Act. It is not a new form of employment relationship: it is a way of carrying out subordinate work, established by an agreement between employer and employee. The work is “smart” because it is not bound by two of the typical characteristics of subordinate work: place and time. Furthermore, it can be done through the use of technological tools. In particular, the use of the smart working could be one of the most important challenges of Human Resources Management in Italy. This proposal aims to analyze how the smart working has been introduced in Italian production system and how much it has contributed to improve the workers’ well-being. Finally, the paper intends to examine the weaknesses and strengths of this tool by analyzing the rules, the collective agreements and the empirical data through the first practical applications of the smart working in Italy.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
