Smart working, we are changing: from 7 April 2026, employers who do not comply with safety information obligations will receive criminal and administrative sanctions.
These are not new rules on agile working, but a tightening of the consequences for those who do not apply the rules that already exist.
SME Law
The novelty is contained in law no. 34/2026 on small and medium-sized businesses, which introduces penalties of up to four months of arrest and fines that can exceed 7,400 euros for those who do not transmit the information to remote workers and safety representatives.
What changes from April 7th
The obligation to inform workers in smart working is not new: it was already foreseen by law 81/2017. But to date its application has often been discontinuous. With the new rule, failure to send the information becomes a punishable offense. The expected sanctions are:
- arrest for 2 to 4 months;
- fine from 1,708.61 to 7,403.96 euros.
In remote working, the employer’s direct control over the operating environment is lost. It is precisely for this reason that the legislation strengthens the role of information.
In practice, written information replaces, at least in part, the physical supervision that exists in traditional workplaces.
What the mandatory information must contain
The document must be provided at least once a year and include a clear assessment of the risks associated with smart working.
Among the main contents required:
- home or remote environmental conditions;
- electrical safety;
- prevention of falls or domestic accidents;
- visual strain from screens;
- postural problems;
- stress and cognitive overload;
- correct use of PCs, smartphones and devices;
- right to disconnect;
- management of the always-on syndrome.
Obligations for employers
To be in compliance, companies must: prepare and update the information, send it to both workers and workers’ safety representatives, guarantee safe technological tools, verify the conformity of personal equipment if used, train employees on the risks and activate health surveillance if required.
It is therefore not enough to send a standard document: it is necessary to demonstrate that the information has actually been provided and understood.
For many companies, especially small and medium-sized businesses, the change will be above all operational.
Remote working remains essentially unchanged, but its management by the employer changes: anyone who has so far neglected this obligation will have to create or update the information, structure sending and tracking procedures and integrate training and safety into smart working.
Accident hypothesis in smart working
Once the information obligation has been honoured, it is specified that the company has no further obligation to check or bring the smart working employee’s home up to standard. The employer, therefore, informs about the generic and specific risks of the job while it is the worker who has the obligation to manage the domestic workplace.
But if the company has fulfilled the communication obligation and the smart working worker still suffers damage to his health despite having complied with every requirement, then the smart working accident can be equated to an accident in the workplace.
And medical expenses, if necessary and justified, can be reimbursed by INAIL. This was stated by the Labor Section of the Court of Padua with sentence 462/2025.
