Smart working, the rules for those with children under 14 (and holes in the legislation) – Corriere.it

Rebus smart working for those with children under 14. The conversion law of the Milleproroghe decree provides for the recognition of the right to smart working until 30 June 2023 for parents of at least one child under the age of 14. All on condition that the job can be remotely controlled, there is no other parent benefiting from income support instruments in the family nucleus, in the event of suspension or cessation of work, or that there is no non-working parent. The change affects only private sector employees, instead leaving out all public personnel. Beyond the obvious differences between public and private, companies and trade unions have reported how the scope of application of the standard has not been precisely defined.

For example, parents of children under 14 can have access to simplified smart working, therefore without the need for individual agreement, only if they perform a service that can be provided remotely. Which opens up many possibilities for interpreting the text of the law as well as very different treatments in the same company. Where there may be the administrative with children in smart working and the worker with children forced by the function to be present.

In addition, the national legislation potentially enters into conflict or may overlap with the agreements signed internally by companies between employer and employee or employer and trade unions. For example if the company has granted only 8 days of smart working per month to the worker but he has a child under 14, he may want to stay at home 100%. The risk that agile working plans prevail over national legislation in companies or that conflicts arise. Also for this reason, a specific circular is expected from the Ministry of Labor to better specify the cases in which protection must be guaranteed.