Smart Work In The Emilia-Romagna Region

The Emilia-Romagna Region has developed a structured experience of smart working even before the Covid-19 outbreak through a concrete involvement of trade unions and worker representatives. Whilst most of the Public Administrations in Italy were forced to undergo the fluctuating legislative provisions issued at the national level, the Emilia-Romagna Region, thanks to its expertise, has succeeded in reacting to the challenges posed by the pandemic and continued in its organisational transformation based on an effective social dialogue approach. The development of smart working in the Emilia-Romagna Region can be divided into four phases: pilot period, regular implementation, extraordinary smart work during the pandemic, and smart work becoming a common practice after the pandemic, driven by a formalized organizational plan. Introduced as an experimental form, smart work became a common practice, with over 400 active smart-working projects. While in the pilot period only small group of employees were involved, nowadays approximately 85-90% of the regional workforce is engaged in smart work projects.