Phd in PRIVATE AUTONOMY BUSINESS, WORK AND
PROTECTION OF RIGHTS IN EUROPEAN AND INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Thesis title: Innovazioni digitali, valutazione dell’adempimento e limiti al potere di controllo del datore di lavoro

This work aims to address the issue of the digitalization of work and its impact on the exercise of managerial powers, with specific regard to the assessment of performance and the monitoring of work activity, within the framework of labor law in the private sector. From a structural standpoint, the thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter outlines digitalization as both an economic and legal phenomenon, focusing on the tools of Industry 4.0, the dematerialization of the entrepreneur’s role, and the impact of digital innovations on the exercise of managerial powers. The second chapter examines the implications of digitalization for the assessment of performance, with particular attention to the apparent crisis of the traditional distinction between obligations of means and obligations of result, and to the role of diligence as a parameter for evaluating work performance. The third chapter—which constitutes the core of the discussion—is devoted to the exercise of managerial control, the evolution of Article 4 of the Workers’ Statute, and the new forms of technological surveillance, also considered from a comparative perspective. The fourth chapter addresses the relationship between control, evaluation, and workers’ non-economic rights, exploring the connection between Article 4 of the Workers’ Statute and data protection law, as well as the risks associated with algorithmic discrimination and work-related stress, including its technological variant, technostress. Finally, the fifth chapter analyzes the role of collective autonomy—also with reference to contractual practice—in governing digitalization, highlighting interpretative challenges and proposing possible de iure condendo solutions. An appendix is added at the end, commenting on Law No. 132/2025 on artificial intelligence, which was enacted while this work was being finalized. In summary, this study aims to investigate the effects of digitalization on the configuration of managerial powers, the assessment of performance, and the protection of the worker’s person, seeking to provide a systematic and up-to-date interpretation of the dynamics shaping contemporary labor law. The ultimate objective is to understand whether the law—and, in particular, labor law—can still ensure a balance between power and protection, between enterprise and dignity, in a context where managerial power tends to become invisible, pervasive, and mediated by technology.