Smart working, 516 euro bonus for setting up an “office” at home

The smart worker they know how important it is to have a comfortable and ergonomic home workplace. Working on the kitchen table, with inadequate chairs in the long run tired and produces annoying discomfort due to incorrect posture, contributing to the general malaise of our body, including stress. The most important thing is the seat, but also the desk, perhaps adjustable in height, is essential.

A criticality, that of the inadequacy of the ergonomics of the home workstation, which is very widespread. According to a recent survey by the Foundation for Labor Consultants Studies, 2.6 million smart workers already complain of health problems related to the inadequacy of home workstations.

And if you haven’t made the investment yet, now is a good time to do it, because since Support decree the extension to the whole of 2021 of the increase a € 516.46 (which effectively doubles it) for the so-called “fringe benefits”, or the corporate welfare instrument that allows employers to transfer an amount to be spent on goods and services to their workers.

Among the goods that workers can buy with company money, through the appropriate platforms, are furniture for smart working: ergonomic seats, desks and specific lighting products to work adequately even from home. A possibility that – declares the trade association Ass ufficio – from August onwards, even if with a reduced budget, was little exploited for furniture, given that the bonus was in fact spent above all on technological products for distance learning, personal protective equipment and products for hygiene and cleaning. The amount of the certain amount will not allow for large expenses, but it is sufficient for the purchase of an ergonomic seat, one of the most important elements for those who work from home and perhaps a small height-adjustable desk.

In this regard it is useful to follow some indispensable rules to make ours workstation that is as ergonomic as possible.

– Whenever you are at your desk, sit in the 90-90-90 position. This means that the elbows must be bent at a 90 degree angle; the hips at a 90 degree angle and the knees at a 90 degree angle; with your feet flat on the floor under the chair. The ears should be aligned above the shoulders and the shoulder should be aligned above the hip for an ideal spinal position.
– an ergonomic vertical mouse avoids twisting of the forearm bones and allows a natural hand position.
– a mat, or a support for the arms, cushion the stresses due to the support on the top and can also ‘lengthen’ the work space, helping to keep the head / neck / shoulders axis vertical.
– a height-adjustable chair allows correct posture and ensures movement, to improve back mobility and concentration.