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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Smart Working Arrangements Extended until December 31, 2022

New Legislation Enacted

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

Through enactment of Law No. 142/2022, the Italian government introduced various provisions governing “smart working.” First, the law that allows employers to arrange smart working for employees without the need to conclude individual agreements is now extended to December 31, 2022. Further, vulnerable employees (i.e., workers suffering from chronic illnesses that impair their immune system) and employees with a certification of “severe disability” are entitled to perform their work activities through smart working, including being assigned to different tasks within the same legal category or area of classification or performing their professional training activities remotely. The right to smart working also extends to employees who have at least one child under the age of 14, provided that there is no other parent who is a beneficiary of income support measures in the event of suspension or termination of employment or that there is no nonworking parent.

Additionally, as of September 1, 2022, new telematic communication methods were introduced through Ministry of Labor Decree No. 149/2022, by which employers must report the details of employees for whom smart working is activated, including names, start and termination dates of the smart working arrangement.

Italy Transposes into National Law EU’s Directive on Transparent Working Conditions

New Legislation Enacted

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

With the enactment of legislative Decree No. 104/2022 (Decreto Trasparenza), which is effective August 13, 2022, the Italian government adopted the EU Directive on transparent working conditions, which in part imposes various obligations on private sector employers and mandates administrative fines for noncompliance. Specifically, employment contracts must explicit state the identity of the parties, working hours, place of work, type of employment relationship, probationary period, manner, and terms of notice in case of termination, employees’ right to training, vacation and other paid leaves, and the entities receiving social security and welfare contributions. Additionally, employers must notify employees of any automatic monitoring or decision-making systems the company uses to recruit or manage performance (including managing the employment relationship, assigning duties) and how such systems affect supervision, evaluation, performance, and contractual obligations.

The legislation has also modified various labor law frameworks, including (i) the probationary period, establishing the maximum duration and extension in the case of events suspending the employment relationship; (ii) the possibility for the worker to combine other work activities when employed by an employer, with the exception of certain situations where this option may be excluded or limited; (iii) compulsory training; (iv) the possibility, in certain cases and under specific assumptions, of requiring more predictable, secure and stable forms of employment; and (v) protection against discrimination and wrongful termination in the case of violations of transparency regulations. Further, under the new law, employers must provide employees – via physical or digital delivery – with the relevant provisions of the National Collective Bargaining Agreements that apply to the employment relationship.

New Work Life Balance Law

New Legislation Enacted

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

With legislative Decree No. 105/2022, Italy transposed into national law the EU Directive 2019/1158 on work-life balance. The new law introduced important changes, some of which are mentioned here. First, it introduced mandatory paternity leave, amounting to 10 days in the timeframe from two months before the expected date of birth until five months after the child’s birth, adoption, or foster care placement. The leave is 20 working days in the case of multiple births. During the leave, the father is entitled to an allowance equal to 100% of his salary.

The law also creates a parental leave of 10 months for parents to take within the first 12 years of the child’s birth, adoption, or foster care placement, with various restrictions. For each child with a serious disability, the mother (or alternatively the father) is entitled to an extension of this parental leave, which may be taken continuously or in installments, for a maximum period of three years, provided that the child is not placed full-time in specialized facilities (with some exceptions). Additionally, employees on parental leave may extend the period of leave and be eligible for compensatory allowances, based on circumstances specifically outlined under the law. Periods of parental leave are counted towards seniority and cannot result in a reduction of vacation, rest, or additional monthly payments, with the exception of various ancillary remunerations, except as otherwise provided by the applicable collective bargaining agreements.

Amendment to Anti-Delocalization Law

New Legislation Enacted

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

With Decree Law No. 144/2022, the Italian government amended its “anti-delocalization” law. Briefly, the law provides that employers with an average of at least 250 employees and who intend to close a plant (a head office, an office, or an autonomous department) located in the Italian territory – with definitive shut down of the related activity and laying off at least 50 employees – must necessarily follow a preventive procedure, the first phase of which provides for communication burdens. In fact, the intention of closure must be communicated in advance to the company’s internal trade unions, to the most representative territorial trade unions at the national level and to the regions concerned, to the Ministry of Labor, to the Ministry of Economic Development and to ANPAL (Active Labor Policies Agency).

Employers who are in a situation of crisis or insolvency are excluded from these rules. The notification must be made at least 90 days before the start of the collective dismissal procedure, and within 60 days, the employer must draw up a plan (no longer than 12 months) to limit the employment fallout and submit it to the trade union representatives and the above-mentioned subjects. The plan must be discussed within 120 days and the subjects must be updated monthly on the implementation of the plan.

In the event of actual termination of activity, with concomitant personnel reduction of 40% of the average staff employed in the last year (nationally, locally, or in the department concerned), the employer is obliged to return subsidies, grants and financial aids or economic advantages charged to public finance, from which the offices or plants concerned have benefited (and which are among those subject to mandatory registration in the State aid register), received in the 10 years preceding the start of the procedure, in proportion to the percentage of staff reduction. Until full repayment is made, no further financial aid may be granted to the debtor entity.

Corporate Welfare Measures

New Legislation Enacted

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

New Law no. 142/2022 provides that the value of goods and services rendered to employees, as well as sums disbursed or reimbursed to them by employers for the payment of domestic water, electricity, and natural gas utilities within the limit total of EUR 600.00 do not contribute to income. The exemption threshold of the forms of remuneration in kind that employers can offer to their employees is EUR 258.23 as the ordinary cap.

Amounts paid as reimbursement for household utilities can be factored in the total limit. However, the “fuel bonus” (provided by Decree Law No. 21/2022) does not fall within the mentioned total limit.