Bonomi: “Hot like Covid, layoffs and smart working are needed”

MILAN – The business world is asking for extraordinary measures to deal with the great heat that is hitting the peninsula. “We need a protocol for layoffs and smart working for workers, such as during Covid-19”, said the president of Confindustria Charles Bonomi guest on Start, on Sky TG24.

When asked if this intervention could translate into a wider layoff, Bonomi replied. “We are also talking about something special about smart working and therefore widening again the possibility of resorting to this type of work in order to allow workers not to move and stay at their homes. There are a series of solutions including layoffs also for jobs obviously most impacted by this heat wave” said Bonomi. Who also added: “Thinking of having to put your life at risk because you go to work is something that must make everyone reflect, it’s not just a theme of the employers’ association it’s a theme of the trade unions, it’s a theme of the government”.

Redundancy fund for heat, INPS rules. Protection also for agriculture and small businesses

by the Economics editorial staff

July 21, 2023

Coldiretti: “No to stop harvesting”

An alarm also came from Coldiretti, which instead highlighted the risks of a possible loss of production in the event of a halt to harvests. “The heat favors the rapid maturation of agricultural products in the fields which must be harvested to guarantee food supplies”, underlines the association, adding that the high temperatures hinder the agronomic operations in the countryside which sees almost half a million people employed in this period.

In a situation in which national agricultural production has already been impoverished by strong waves of bad weather accompanied by hail that caused millions of euros in damage, it is not possible – underlines Coldiretti – to completely suspend processing, since right now the majority of crops are being grown, from fruit to vegetables, which if not harvested promptly are irreparably compromised also because the heat accelerates the ripening processes, unlike what happens in other sectors where activities can be suspended and workers can also access layoffs .

To protect the health and safety of workers, it is therefore necessary – Coldiretti specifies – to adopt ad-hoc strategies that preserve both the health of workers and the quality of the product in the field which risks being irreparably lost, from the use of protective devices to the stop to harvesting in the hottest hours up to night work.