Browse through brief employment and labor law updates from around the globe. Contact a Littler attorney for more information or view our global locations.

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Extensions of Laws

New Legislation Enacted

Authors: Carlo Majer, Partner, and Caterina Colombano, Associate – Littler Italy

Law No. 14 of February 24, 2023, extended various provisions that have employment-related implications. Concerning staff leasing services (somministrazione di lavoro), if the contract between the client itself and the staff leasing agency is fixed-term, a client company may use the same leased employees for assignments until June 30, 2025. The “smart working” modality has been extended until June 30, 2023, with certain conditions. Additionally, retirement support (isopensione) has been extended until 2026.

New Whistleblower Law

New Legislation Enacted

Authors: Carlo Majer, Partner, and Caterina Colombano, Associate – Littler Italy

Legislative Decree No. 24/2023 has finally transposed the E.U. Whistleblower Directive (2019/1937) into Italian law. The new law ensures protections for individuals who report a violation to a specific national or EU provision that harms the public interest or the integrity of public and private subjects. Whistleblowers are protected from any form of retaliation (such as dismissal, change of job, disciplinary measures and others). Administrative fines (from a minimum of EUR 10,000 to a maximum of EUR 50,000) may be imposed in cases of violations under this law.

Private employers must set up an internal channel that guarantees the confidentiality of the whistleblower. Private employers covered under this law include, but are not limited to those who within the last year have employed an average of at least 50 employees with permanent or fixed-term employment contracts, as well as those in various special categories even if they did not reach the 50-employee threshold (such as in the financial services industry, employers covered under Legislative Decree No. 231/2001, among others).

The decree becomes effective on July 15, 2023, but for private employers (described above) who within the last year have employed an average of 249 employees, with open-ended or fixed-term contracts, the obligation to establish the internal channel takes effect on December 17, 2023.

Civil Trial Reform Law: Employment Implications

New Legislation Enacted

Authors: Carlo Majer, Partner, and Caterina Colombano, Associate – Littler Italy

Italy adopted a civil trial reform, known as Riforma Cartabia, parts of which came into effect on February 28, 2023. Within the employment law context, the reform replaced the so-called “Rito Fornero,” which was a particular trial that applied to claims on dismissal of employees hired before March 2015.

As of February 28, all claims related to dismissal will be subject to the same judicial procedure, regardless of the underlying claims (e.g., remuneration owed, challenge to contractual classification, damages, etc.). Additionally, courts are now able to modify the deadlines for parties to file their defense against complaints. Moreover, the parties can now access dispute resolution mechanisms outside of court, known as “negoziazione assistita” in employment-related claims, where both parties are assisted by a lawyer or a payroll consultant. The agreement reached in this context will be enforceable as though it had been formalized before a trade unionist or the other “protected venues” provided by Italian law.