New laws and regulations

Automatic termination in case of unjustified absence from work   

There is a new draft bill, currently pending in Parliament, that may introduce an interesting change to the law on terminations. If this bill becomes law, when an employee is absent from work without a proper justification for more than 5 days or other term provided by the applicable CBA, the employment relationship shall be considered as terminated by mutual consent. In such a situation, the employee will not have access to the unemployment benefits. We will keep you updated on this new piece of legislation.

Case law developments

Directors are not always liable for work-related accidents     

According to the Italian Supreme Court, health and safety obligations and any potential criminal liability that may derive from violation of these obligations, rest exclusively on the legal representative of a company, unless there is a valid delegation of authority to another person within the company’s organization. In the case at hand, the Supreme Court upheld the appeal of two directors of a company operating a ropeway, who had been convicted of violating accident prevention regulations. In fact, the Court found that safety matters had never been validly delegated to the two directors, with the consequence that only the legal representative was liable. 

Employees can be dismissed if they refuse a change of working hours  

In a recent ruling, the Italian Supreme Court ruled that an employee’s refusal to change working schedule does not in itself represent a valid reason for dismissal. However, an employer can nevertheless dismiss an employee for economic reasons if some conditions are met, namely: (i) the existence of economic and organizational needs with the consequence that the employee’s previous working hours schedule can no longer be maintained; (ii) a direct causal link between the business' needs and the dismissal; and (iii) the impossibility of redeploying the employee to another, open job position. In its ruling, the Supreme Court deemed that the dismissal of an employee who had refused a different working schedule was lawful, as the previous schedule was no longer compatible with the new business needs of the company.

Dismissal is null if the identity of a private investigator is not disclosed  

The Italian Supreme Court recently set some rules on the use of investigation agencies to collect evidence of unlawful behaviors committed by an employee, with the aim of using such evidence for a disciplinary procedure. According to the Court, in order for the disciplinary dismissal to be lawful: (i) the investigative activity must be substantively carried out by the agency appointed by the employer; and (ii) the identity of the investigators must be disclosed in the contract between the investigation agency and the employer.