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Snacks: Digestible Weekly Labour News – Issue 497 April 2022

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WEEKLY ITALIAN LABOUR UPDATES

"Within 30 September 2022 businesses employing over 50 employees are required to file a two years report to the Ministry of Labour on the male and female work conditions. Inaccurate or misleading information can lead to an administrative fine."

Interministerial Decree on modalities for drafting gender equality report signed
The Interministerial Decree enabling the drafting of biennial reports on gender equality in the workplace for businesses employing over 50 employees has been published. For 2020/2021 only, the report must be delivered no later than 30/09/2022, after this the deadline will remain 30 April.

The report must indicate, among other information, the number of male and female employees, the number of male and female new hires and the salary gap between male and female employees. The report must be drafted and delivered electronically to the Ministry of Labour App and a copy delivered to the work council.

The National Labour Inspectorate will verify the accuracy of the reports and in cases of inaccurate or misleading data, a company may be fined between €1,000 and €5,000.
Interministerial Decree (Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Gender Equality) 29/03/2022

Behaviour of an executive who harasses employees is considered stalking
The Supreme Court found that the conduct of an executive who harassed employees with threats of disciplinary action which created a climate of fear within the company, constitutes aggravated stalking.

For stalking in the workplace to occur, the threatening and harassing conduct does not need to be directed towards a specific purpose, rather, it is sufficient that the behaviour causes anxiety, fear or a change in the employee’s lifestyle. The acts carried out by this manager also constitute an aggravated offence within the meaning of Article 61, para. 11, of the Criminal Code since the offence was committed by abusing his power over his employees.
Supreme Court 05/04/2022, No. 12827

Incomplete communication on redundancy selection criteria triggers reinstatement
If an employer does not outline in full the criteria by which they selected employees for redundancy in a timely manner (and pursuant to Article 4, paragraph 9 of Law 223/1991), all relevant dismissals are annulled and the employees be reinstated with compensation of up to a year’s salary.
Supreme Court 25/03/2022 No. 9800

INPS instructions for Genoa Decree exemptions
The INPS has provided clarifications on the exemptions from both the provision of severance pay and the payment of “redundancy tickets” for bankrupt companies or those in administration that have benefited from the CIGS (salary support scheme) pursuant to Article 43-bis of Decree-Law 109/2018 (known as the “Genoa Decree”). Following authorisation from the Ministry of Labour, companies looking for an exempt ion must submit an application to the INPS. The INPS specified that, where an exemption from the provision of severance pay relates to more than one production unit of the company in question, it is necessary to submit an application to them for each.
INPS, Message 29/03/2022 No. 1400

Work carried out digitally must be communicated by employer
Work (including self-employed work) carried out via digital platforms must be communicated by employers as of 14 April 2022. For non-regular self-employed work, communication must be made within 20 days from the start of the month in which the working relationship begins. Communication must include the duration of the work and the type of contract it is carried out under. The compulsory notification covers work services that are carried out by through digital platforms which “…condition the manner in which they [tasks] are carried out, regardless of the contractual qualification of the relationship and the place where the service is provided”.
Ministry of Labour, Decree 23/03/2022 No. 31

52 weeks of additional CIGS support after exceeding maximum usage
The INPS has provided instructions for companies undergoing restructuring or financial difficulties on the use of an additional period of CIGS (salary support scheme) after the exceeding of the maximum amount available pursuant to Articles 4 and 24 of Legislative Decree 148/2015. The new measure was introduced by the Budget Law 2022 (art. 44, paragraph 11-ter, Legislative Decree 148/2015) and allows for 52 additional weeks of CIGS for companies which meet the aforementioned conditions and have exceeded 24 months (or 30 months for certain industries such as construction) of CIGS in the relevant five-year period.
INPS, Message 31/03/2022 No. 1459

Employee discount on company goods not taxable
If the discount available to employees on company goods is lower than the average discount available to customers, the saving is not taxable. The Revenue Agency expressed this principle in the case of a company that applied a fixed discount of 5% on the purchase price of goods to its employees, which were bit cumulative with the (higher) discounts reserved for customers. The Revenue Agency confirmed that, in such cases, the fixed discount is allowed without time limits and is not taxable.
Revenue Agency, response to ruling 25/03/2022 No. 158

Burden of proof of dismissal falls on employee
An employee who claims to have been verbally dismissed has the burden of proving that the termination of their employment was their employer’s intention. It is not sufficient for the employee to simply prove that their employment has ended as this could be the result of various dismissal processes or even them choosing to quit their job. Therefore, an employee claiming to have been verbally dismissed must prove that the termination of their contract was their employer’s choice.
Tribunal of Foggia 25/03/2022 No. 1240

Actual total remuneration defined
Actual total remuneration – whereby an unlawfully dismissed individual receives compensation – refers to the amount that employee would have received if working excluding any compensation or payments of a non-salaried nature. As a result, the Supreme Court ruled that foreign service allowance should be excluded from actual total renumeration because it is solely intended to cover the costs of staying overseas for work and not considered part of an employee’s ‘normal’ salary.
Supreme Court 11/03/2022, No. 8040

Companies cannot deregister to avoid personal injury allegations
The Supreme Court ruled that removing a company that faces allegations of misconduct/wrongdoing relating to a personal injury offence from the companies’ register does not negate the charges against them. As a result, the shareholders or quota holders of a company that allegedly committed a personal injury offence (under Article 25-septies, paragraph 3, of Legislative Decree no. 231/2001) who then deregistered are directly liable for any administrative sanctions as well as being responsible for the personal injury offence(s) against their employee.
Supreme Court 17/03/2022, No. 9006

Operational protocol to combat illegal omission of social security payments
On 22 March 2022, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Milan and the NPS signed an operational protocol with the aim of combating illegal practices concerning the systematic omission of social security payments with specific reference to contracts managed by cooperatives. Specific operational procedures have been established to ensure better cooperation between the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Milan and the Social Security Agency, based on a more functional exchange of data and information in their possession.
Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office and INPS, Protocol 22/03/2022