With the publication in the Official Gazette of the Collegato Lavoro (Law No. 203/2024) from 12.01.2025 numerous novelties on employment contracts, management of employment relationships and their termination become operative.
The novelties concern:
-Resignation by conclusive facts, in the event of the employee’s unjustified absence from work,
-The fixed-term contract,
-The possibility of deferment of payment of contribution debts for up to 60 months under a simplified procedure,
-Preventive medical examinations and when resuming work after an absence of more than 60 days,
-The compulsory communication of the start of agile work,
-The transformation of first-level apprenticeships into vocational or advanced training apprenticeships,
-The temporary employment contract,
-The suspension of the lay-off for work activities,
Let us briefly look at the most relevant issues:
Resignation for unjustified absence
In the case of unjustified absence of the worker beyond the time limit provided for in the CCNL applied to the employment relationship, or if there is no provision in the CCNL, in the case of unjustified absence of more than 15 days, the employer notifies the absence to the territorial headquarters of the Labour Inspectorate, which can check whether the information received is true.
The employer, terminating the employment relationship at the employee’s will, makes the mandatory communication of termination to the Employment Centre, indicating ‘voluntary resignation’ as the reason.
The notification to the Inspectorate must be made on the day following the deadline laid down in the CCNL, i.e. on the 16th day, and must contain the worker’s personal data, the worker’s address, any other contact details known to the company (so that the Inspectorate can contact the worker), the first day of absence, the count of the subsequent days of absence, and the specification on the lack of authorisation to be absent from work.
With regard to this particular form of termination of employment, known as automatic termination or resignation by conclusive/presumed facts, the Collective Labour Agreement specified that the employment relationship is understood to be terminated by the employee’s will unless the employee proves that it is impossible, due to force majeure or a fact attributable to the employer, to communicate the reasons justifying his absence.
Fixed-term contract: the probationary period
The probationary period in fixed-term contracts may not exceed one day of actual performance for every 15 calendar days from the date of commencement of employment.
Below are the specifications:
– Relationships up to 6 months: a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 15 probationary days,
– Relationships > 6 months and < 12 months: the probationary period may not exceed 30 days,
– Relationships > to 12 months: the trial period provided for in the CCNL for open-ended contracts applies.
CCNL may provide for a more favourable duration.
An authentic interpretation has been provided for the exclusions to the ‘stop and go’ rule in Article 21(2) of Legislative Decree No. 81/2015.
In fact, seasonal activities, as referred to in Presidential Decree No. 1525 of 1963, and activities organised to cope with an intensification of work during certain periods of the year or for technical and production requirements or linked to seasonal cycles of production sectors or markets are excluded from the rule of contractual vacancies between the 2 fixed-term contracts.
Deferred payment of contribution debts
INPS and INAIL may allow the payment in instalments of debts for contributions, premiums and statutory ancillaries owed to them, not devolved to collection agents, up to a maximum of 60 monthly instalments.
Preventive medical examination and resumption of work after an absence of more than 60 days
During the preventive medical examination, when prescribing clinical examinations and diagnostic investigations, the competent doctor may take into account the results of previous examinations already carried out by the worker in order to avoid their repetition.
As regards the obligation to undergo a medical examination prior to resuming work, where the employee has been absent for more than 60 continuous days for health reasons, this obligation continues if the examination is deemed necessary by the competent doctor.
Agile working
Within 5 days of the start of smart working, the mandatory notification to the Ministry of Labour must be made. The mandatory communication to the Ministry of the event that changes the duration or termination of the period of work carried out in agile mode must also be made within 5 days of the date on which it occurs.
Level 1 apprenticeship
After obtaining the qualification/professional diploma/higher secondary education diploma or certificate of higher technical specialisation, the contract can be transformed, subject to updating of the individual training plan, into:
a) Professional apprenticeship for the purpose of obtaining a vocational qualification for contractual purposes (the total duration of the 2 apprenticeship periods may not exceed the duration identified by collective bargaining art. 42(5)),
b) Apprenticeship for advanced training and research and for regional vocational training, according to the duration and purposes set out in art. 45, in compliance with the educational qualification requirements for access to the pathways.
Labour administration
In calculating the maximum duration of fixed-term relationships, fixed-term assignments of workers hired on a permanent basis by the Employment Agency must also be taken into account.
Certain categories of workers employed on a temporary basis are not covered by the quantitative limits on the use of temporary workers.
In addition, in certain cases of fixed-term agency contracts, the causal reason is not compulsory even when the contract has a duration of more than 12 months.
Social shock absorbers
The suspension of the Wage Supplementation Fund for days of employment or self-employment carried out during the wage supplementation period is provided for.
The worker forfeits the right to the wage supplementation scheme if he/she has not given prior notice to the INPS territorial office of the performance of the work activity. The telematic communication fulfils the worker’s obligation.
The Legal Division of Studio Carone remains at your disposal for any further information.