Insights

With its ruling no. 15 of 7 January 2015, the Cassation Court declared wrongful and thus illegal dismissal of a worker, who benefitted from employer accommodations at extremely advantageous conditions, for not having communicated that he was already the owner of other property, in order to continue to benefit from the housing made available by the employer. Specifically, the Cassation Court recognised the charges against the worker, but considered the dismissal wrongful.

With its ruling no. 4 of 5 January 2015, the Cassation Court established that a flat rate compensation paid as overtime must be considered as an integral part of fixed remuneration (as individual superminimo wage supplement) if it concretely possesses the characteristics of stable remuneration recurring over time, regardless of the formal qualification assigned by the employer.

An employee may record a conversation with his superior for the purposes of using it in a civil case.

The night before Christmas, the Italian Government has approved the first of the decrees meant to implement the reform legislation approved by the Parliament by the beginning of December, affirmed as aimed at deeply reforming the most sensitive aspects of Italian employment law (i.e., mainly shock absorbers, dismissals and incentives to employment and re-employment). For sure the implementation decree in question, ruling a new discipline applicable to dismissals, is the most awaited Decree among the others which the Government has announced to pass quickly.

After the approval of the Stability law for 2015 easier hiring will become part of the legal scenario: private sector employers who hire new employees with open-ended contracts from 1 January to 31 December 2015 will benefit, subject to certain conditions, and for a maximum of 36 months, from an exemption of the overall contribution they must pay, up to a limit of 8,060 euro per year.