Short week, opposition bills arrive in the House

The debate on the reduction of working hours and the short week is starting to hinge in Parliament: on Thursday, in the Chamber's Labour Commission, the examination of the opposition's bills is scheduled to begin. The first one (first signatory Nicola Fratoianni - Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra) aims at a "generalised reduction of working hours with equal pay" that "would favour an increase in employment in some productive sectors", as "there is a clear relationship between reduced working hours and higher employment rates". The bill envisages a 'reduction of the working week to 34 actual hours at equal pay', with 'the establishment of a Working Time Reduction Incentive Fund for employers who adopt a reduction of at least 10 per cent in weekly working hours'.

Another bill (first signatory Giuseppe Conte) promotes 'an organisation of working time that, ensuring equal pay, guarantees a reduction in the total number of hours worked without compromising productivity'. And to this end, it 'recognises that the trade unions of workers and employers that are comparatively more representative at the national level' have the power to 'enter into specific contracts for the reduction of working hours, up to a minimum of 32 hours per week, with equal pay'. It is specified that 'the reduction of normal working hours may concern both daily working hours and the number of working days per week, up to four days'. And to encourage the use of the reduction of normal working hours with equal pay and to support companies that decide to use it, 'on an experimental basis for the first three years of application of the new legislation, employers will be granted exemption from the payment of social security and insurance contributions, up to a maximum of EUR 8,000 on an annual basis, without prejudice to the rate at which pension benefits are calculated'.

A third proposal (first signatory Arturo Scotto - PD), co-signed by the Dem secretary Elly Schlein, moves in a similar direction and aims at 'defining new organisational and productive models in our country, hinging on the reduction of working time, also in the formula of four working days per week. A measure in support of collective bargaining that, while respecting the role of the social partners, encourages the experimentation of those solutions that at the same time allow increases in productivity and reductions in working hours, with equal pay'. For these purposes, the draft law provides for 'the incentive of partial exemption from the payment of contributions, to the extent of 30 per cent of the total social security contributions due, excluding premiums and contributions due to the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL), with reference to employment relationships to which collective agreements between companies and the comparatively more representative trade unions at the national level apply'. The exemption is recognised 'for the duration of the trial period provided for by the aforementioned collective agreements and in proportion to the agreed reduction in working hours'. The exemption is recognised 'to the extent of 40 per cent, if the working services concerned by the experimentation of working hours are included among those considered usurious or burdensome'.

From 1 April it has meanwhile become less easy to work from home: in fact, we are going back to the old rules. But the possibilities offered by smart working (reconciliation of family time, less pollution and congestion in cities, for example) have left their mark and there is now speculation that this tool will evolve. Not only: as of 1 April, the smart working guaranteed by the simplified procedures activated during Covid (e.g. for certain illnesses) will end, but it will still be possible to rely on individual agreements between the company and workers. A new phase for a growing phenomenon: after the peaks of the pandemic and a gradual reduction in the last two years, in 2023 the number of remote workers in our country will stand at 3.585 million, slightly up from 3.570 million in 2022, but 541% more than pre-Covid. In 2024, it is estimated that there will be 3.65 million smart workers in Italy, noted the Osservatorio Smart Working of the School of Management of the Politecnico di Milano.