Smart working, all the problems of the directive in the public sector
The speech by Francesco Alberto Comellini, activist and member of the technical-scientific committee of the Permanent Observatory on Disability
The directive of 29 December 2023 on agile working by the Minister for Public Administration, Zangrillo on smart working, although positively arrived at the last minute at the expiry of the deadlines already previously extended by the Government, beyond the underlying problems that could undermine its concrete implementation (lack of funds especially for schools) poses a significant problem, both for the managers called upon to implement it and, above all, for all those workers assigned to functions that cannot be smartened or reconverted.
THE PRIVATE SECTOR ENHANCE SMART WORKING; THE PUBLIC, NO
As suggested by Minister Zangrillo in a recent interview in a national newspaper, it is necessary to evaluate on a case-by-case basis.
And so here are the implementation critical issues that could be glimpsed and which risk fueling situations of conflict within the workplace in the public sector. The private sector is a separate sector that has understood and valorised, to summarize, remote working as an element of worker well-being and a concrete saving on company costs. In the private sector, unlike the public sector, both the meal voucher and the contribution to the internet connection are recognised.
WHAT THE DIRECTIVE OF 29 DECEMBER SAYS
Returning to the directive in the introduction, we need to ask ourselves whether the manager called upon to implement it is willing and able, also having the appropriate skills, to evaluate case by case and take such a delicate decision.
In fact, the text signed by the Minister concludes "it will therefore be the responsible manager who will identify the organizational measures that are necessary, through specific provisions within the individual agreements" and therefore authorize or not the fragile worker to carry out the service in smart working.
We must now ask ourselves whether the "responsible manager" in question is ready to take on himself the burden of a decision which, in one sense or another, could later turn out to be wrong.
In fact, if smart working is denied, and the managerial denial were to contribute to the worsening of the health conditions of the fragile worker (who perhaps falls among the categories defined pursuant to the Ministerial Decree of 4 February 2022) the latter could take action in the appropriate places for the protection of own right to health, which is certainly prevalent compared to other elements of the evaluation of the organization of offices which are not constitutionally protected on the same level as individual health. On the other hand, if the manager decides not to risk a dispute and place the fragile worker, or declared as such (the manager cannot view the health documentation drawn up by the competent doctor because it is covered by the protection of privacy) in smart working, and the discussion applies above all for the school, the State Accounting Office could accuse him of having appointed a substitute without having the ad hoc funds or of having distracted them from other budget items, affecting the provision of the service. In the worst case scenario, the system of uncertainty between "yes" or "no" to smart working risks derailing the Public Administration, fueling a hunt for "(fragile) witches" all sent to the gallows of medical and suitability checks. The latter, however, would be another type of problem to be absolutely avoided.
As far as I am aware, as Minister Zangrillo also well said, the pandemic is over and in my opinion we must return to normality, we certainly cannot extend beyond those solutions which, in the pandemic era, have admirably allowed the Public Administration to guarantee efficiency and effectiveness in the provision of services to the Citizen but, precisely to avoid situations that could fuel litigation, it is now necessary to find a stable and long-lasting Government solution to the very delicate issue of the protection of vulnerable workers which cannot be either yet another extension or loading the public management of a burden that is not its responsibility and which, without deploying the necessary resources especially for the school sector, risks being difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/direttiva-smart-working-pubblico-impiego-problemi/ on Thu, 04 Jan 2024 10:59:58 +0000.