New laws and regulations

Renewal of the National Collective Bargaining Agreement for Executives of the Industrial sector

On 13 November 2024, the National Collective Bargaining Agreement for Executives of the Industrial sector was renewed. The new version of the agreement will enter into force on 1 January 2025 and will expire on 31 December 2027. Amongst the main new provisions, the following are worth noting:

• A new definition of executive-level employees: according to the new agreement, executives are employees with a high degree of professionalism, autonomy and decision-making power, who carry out their functions in order to promote, coordinate and manage the realization of the objectives of the company or an autonomous department of the same. The agreement provides some examples of employees who should be classified as executives, namely: directors, co-directors, employees leading important services or offices, proxy-holders with powers of representation and decision-making for all or a considerable part of the company, and professional figures of higher qualification and consolidated technical-professional experience, who contribute to defining and realizing, in full autonomy, the objectives of the company or of an autonomous department of the same.
• New minimum fixed annual salary: the minimum fixed annual salary for executives of the industrial sector is increased to EUR 80,000 starting from 1 January 2025 and to EUR 85,000 starting from 1 January 2026.
• Management by Objectives: companies which apply this National Collective Bargaining Agreement will be required to implement variable compensation schemes and plans based on objectives or indexes to compensate their executive-level employees. Works councils representing the executive-level employees, if any, must be informed about these MBO plans and schemes.
• Business trips: executive-level employees will be entitled to a fixed amount of EUR 100 for each business trip lasting more than 12 hours.
• Sickness leave for oncological patients: executive-level employees who suffer of oncological diseases will be protected against dismissal for redundancy reasons for a period of up to 18 months.
• Maternity and paternity leaves: executive-level employees will be protected against dismissal for one year after they finish using any of the maternity/paternity or parental leaves provided under Italian statutory laws. As for paternity leave, specifically, the new agreement provides that companies may negotiate a longer period of mandatory paternity leave with the works councils, which currently lasts only 10 days for working fathers.
• Marriage leave: executive-level employees who passed their probationary period are entitled to a fully paid period of 15 days (that may be taken altogether) in case of marriage.
• Transfer bans: executive-level employees (i) with children with a medically ascertained disability; (ii) older than 55 years; or (iii) with underage children and older than 50, cannot be unilaterally transferred, unless they agree to.

Software to monitor employees' emails

According to the Italian Data Protection Authority, an employer may lawfully process personal data (i) if the processing is necessary for the management of the employment relationship itself, (ii) to fulfill specific obligations imposed by local laws and regulations, (iii) if the data is adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which it is processed, provided that it is kept for a period of time not exceeding the achievement of those purposes. 

Recently, the Italian Data Protection Authority specified that the use of software that allows an employer to systematically store emails, as well as access logs to email and management software used by employees, is not compliant with data protection regulations. In fact, the use of said software and the relevant data processing is not proportionate and exceeds business security needs. 

A new European directive for digital platforms workers

On 13 October 2024, the Council of the European Union approved a new directive aimed at improving the working conditions of digital platform workers. The directive must be implemented by each member state within the next two years, and it provides for the following:

• A legal presumption of employment for those workers who work through digital platforms and are subject to the platform's power of control or directions
• A prohibition on platforms from using automated decision-making or monitoring systems to process certain categories of workers' personal data (e.g., data on emotional state, private conversations, etc.)
• Information obligations in favor of workers aimed at enabling adequate awareness of the possible use of automated systems for monitoring performance and managing selection processes, career advancement and salary increases
• An obligation to ensure, at the request of the worker, "human" supervision over any decisions made by such automated digital tools

Case law developments

False attendance at the office: just cause for dismissal?

The Italian Supreme Court confirmed that an employee who makes a colleague record their attendance at the office while they are not actually present can be lawfully dismissed for just cause. In this regard, the court pointed out that such conduct can permanently damage the fiduciary bond between the employer and the employees, even if the latter is only late to the office by one hour.

Disciplinary process requirements under Italian law

Pursuant to Italian employment laws, the disciplinary process is strictly regulated by statutory laws and collective bargaining provisions. The process must be always started with a disciplinary complaint made in writing against the employee, to allow them to provide their justifications. According to the Italian Supreme Court, the complete lack of a disciplinary complaint against an employee dismissed for just cause determines the inexistence of the entire disciplinary process. As a consequence, the dismissed employee may claim to be reinstated and be awarded with damages compensation.