Dismissal notified in case of refusal of registered letter

The Court of Cassation, with judgement No. 17062 dated 11 August 2016 ruled that notification of dismissal issued by registered letter, even if rejected by the recipient, is deemed notified. According to the Court, in fact, "A postal agent’s note on the notice of receipt, showing rejection without further specification regarding the subject, recipient, or other person authorized to receive the letter who has practically refused the letter, can legitimately be assumed to refer to the refusal of receiving the letter or to sign the delivery record by the recipient, thus completing the notification and, therefore, ensuring the legitimacy and validity of the notification itself". This is because according to the law (Art. 6, Law No. 604/1966) the employer must notify the dismissal in writing but this does not require the use of fixed and specific means since it is sufficient for the dismissal to be notified to the worker. Thus, the Court has ruled out that the registered letter – containing the dismissal – needs to be subjected to the legislation for the notification of judicial documents which requires the postal agent to list the individual refusing the package who, if not a subject authorized to receive it, excludes the assumption of acceptance.