The Court of Rome, with its recent ruling no. 5961 of 21 January 2021, addresses the limits and conditions for the use of remote working. In the current emergency framework, access to remote working has been made flexible for the majority of workers. This included a significant reduction in the number of formal procedures.
In addition to an approach oriented towards remote working during the state of emergency, in some cases there is the right for some workers to provide services remotely and, conversely, the obligation of their employers to receive them using these methods. This is included in the “Cura Italia” (Cure Italy) decree which recognises the right of disabled workers or those who have a disabled person in their household to work remotely (art. 39 of Decree Law 18/2020, converted, with amendments, by Law 126/2020 24 April 2020 no. 27).
In this case, the right is conditional on the compatibility between the duties and remote work. Under this regulatory framework, the Court of Rome was called upon to express an urgent opinion on the case of an employee of a company who, after a long period of absence for various reasons and recently being assigned duties of corporate compliance officer (not yet started due to the continuous absences), asked to perform her duties under the remote working regime as she had to take care of a disabled relative. She was denied this by her employer.
Continue reading the full version published in ll Quotidiano del Lavoro of Il Sole 24 Ore.