Italy - National Agreement Signed on Telework

By European Industrial Relations Observatory

A national interconfederal agreement that implements in Italy the European Framework Agreement on telework was signed in June.

Employer associations and the three main trade union confederations -Cgil, Cisl and Uil - signed on.

The agreement covers 300000 teleworkers, the majority of them women, who represent 1.6% of the Italian workforce. Some estimate that telework will account for more than 5% of the workfocre in three years time.

Some of the key points of the agreement are:

· telework is a voluntary choice by the employer and the employee

· Teleworkers enjoy the same rights as those established by the law and collective agreements for a comparable worker on the employer's premises

· The employer is normally responsible for furnishing, installing and maintaining the equipment necessary for the telework. The employer meets costs deriving directly from the work, particularly communications costs

· Teleworker privacy is guaranteed

· The employer is responsible for the health and safety of the worker

· Within limits established by law, teleworkers are responsible for the organisation of their working time

· Training and career opportunities are to be the same as those at the employers premises

· Teleworkers have the same collective rights as colleagues on the employers premises

(EIRO Observer. update 5, 2004)