Work tools: privacy rules in italian legislation

Article 4 of the Workers' Statute governs the remote monitoring of workers and the use of work tools, imposing a series of obligations on employers to respect both statutory provisions and the Privacy Code. Recently, the Court of Cassation declared illegitimate a dismissal based on the analysis of Telepass data. The Telepass system records vehicle usage relative to travel times through devices installed in the vehicles themselves. This system is primarily used to facilitate automatic toll payments on highways. In particular, the Court noted that the employer had not adequately informed the employee about the use of Telepass as a monitoring tool, nor about the methods of collecting and processing personal data derived from this instrument. The company's defense, which classified the tool as necessary for performing the job, was to no avail. While the Court acknowledged the necessity of the tool, it found the dismissal illegitimate due to the violation of the third paragraph of article 4 of the Workers’ Statute. Article 4 of the Workers’ Statute, amended by the Jobs Act, regulates the controls that may arise from the tools or applications used in the employment relationship.

The first paragraph of the rule conditions the use of tools from which control may derive to three legitimizing factors: workplace safety, protection of company assets, and organizational and productive needs, together with a prior union...