Work@home, the legislative context of the ‘new business idea’ born in a digital environment from the synergy between CC LAB and Be-On

What is the difference between smart working and remote working?

Below are a few elements that will give you a better understanding of the legislative context concerning Work@Home, the project for the promotion of remote working originated from a ‘new business idea‘ born in a digital environment from the synergy between CC LAB and Be-On, partners in Let’s Network, following the changes pertaining to the world of work in the first months of 2020. Work@Home, situated within the ‘step by step to 4.0‘ path undertaken by CC LAB, consists of a digital platform for the management and planning of working groups, which was designed to generate activity reports, in an effort to meet the needs of several companies. Below are some clarifications regarding the difference between smart working, or agile working, and remote working, or telecommuting, as well as an overview of their reference regulatory framework.

Law No. 81/2017 defines smart working as ‘a working modality of subordinate employment relationships, characterised by the absence of pre-set working times or spaces and organised according to phases, cycles and objectives, established by agreement between employee and employer’. Such modality, the law also says, ‘helps employees to reconcile the work-life balance while boosting their productivity’. This completely transforms employees’ prospects: though bound by goal achievement and productivity measurement, they can choose when and where to work. Agile working, then, is not a mere shift from working in an office to working from home, or using one’s own computer rather than the company’s one; on the contrary, it is a complete culture change, focused on flexibility and mutual agreement. Some of the results arising from this new approach to the world of work include, for example, offices staying open 24/7 and an increasingly growing offer of sports and recreational classes for employees, termed ‘associates’ due to their involvement in the corporate culture. The positive effects of smart working have been highlighted in several international studies, which emphasise employees’ work-life balance.

On the other hand, when the business logic stays the same and working from home becomes compulsory, also due to unforeseen circumstances, the more appropriate term is remote working or telecommuting.

The aim of Work@Home is to assist companies, professionals and workers who have adopted smart working or remote working, to fully embrace the new digital trends that have arisen in the professional sphere.

Source: https://news.uoday.com