DID YOU KNOW THAT… incompatibility between colleagues may justify the transfer of an employee? 

The Italian Supreme Court, with order no. 4198 of 25 February 2026, held that an employee’s transfer may be lawfully implemented also in the presence of a situation of environmental incompatibility (i.e. “incompatibilità ambientale”), regardless of whether any disciplinary liability can be attributed to the employee.

In the case at hand, an employee working at the premises of a client company within the framework of a service contract had been removed from that site following the withdrawal of the client’s approval, which prevented her from continuing to perform her duties at the production facility. The employer – a cooperative – therefore arranged for her relocation to a different company site.

The employee challenged the measure: the Court of first instance rejected the claim, considering the relocation lawful; conversely, the Court of Appeal of Florence overturned the first-instance decision, classifying the measure as a transfer pursuant to Article 2103 of the Italian Civil Code and finding that the employer had failed to provide adequate evidence of the technical, organisational and production-related reasons required to justify it.

The company appealed to the Italian Supreme Court, arguing, inter alia, that the appellate court had failed to consider the specific situation arising at the client’s premises, characterised by the withdrawal of approval and the consequent impossibility of assigning the employee to that site.

The Supreme Court upheld the appeal, first clarifying that, in order to qualify as a transfer in the technical sense, there must be a movement from one production unit to another; not every change of workplace qualifies as such, particularly where the locations are in close proximity and part of the same organisational structure.

The Court further reiterated that a transfer does not constitute a disciplinary sanction, but rather an organisational measure. From this perspective, situations of incompatibility with the working environment, where they negatively affect the proper performance of work activities, may constitute the technical, organisational and production-related requirements referred to in Article 2103 of the Italian Civil Code.

It was also specified that, in such circumstances, the employer is not required to prove any fault on the part of the employee nor that the transfer represents the only possible solution, it being sufficient that it constitutes a reasonable organisational choice capable of ensuring the proper functioning of the business.

In conclusion, the decision confirms that the withdrawal of approval by the client and the resulting environmental incompatibility may justify the transfer of an employee, even in the absence of fault, provided that the measure is genuinely linked to organisational needs and does not have a punitive nature.