Article 18 of the Workers’ Statute, ancillary work and contracts: the decision of the Constitutional Court

On 11 January the Constitutional Court declared its opinion on the admissibility of the three referendums proposed by CGIL, related to (i) Article 18 of the Workers’ Statute and the reintegration into the workplace of a worker in the event of unlawful dismissal, (ii) the cancellation of vouchers and iii) the re-establishment, in the matter of tender contracts, of joint and several liability between customer and contractor. In particular, the Constitutional Court approved the last two referendums, which will be put to the vote between next April 16 and June 11, while declaring, however, its non-acceptance of the matter regarding Article 18 of Law 300/70. The final rejection by the Constitutional Court occurred with seven votes against and six votes in favour of the request. The Court, which will post the reasons of the above judgments by 10 February 2017, would seem to have rejected the matter regarding Article 18 because, as it was submitted, it would have become a manipulative referendum, unsuitable to reintroduce the old formulation of Article 18, but, rather, suitable to provide the work environment with an entirely new provision, turning the referendum into a proactive question, which, as such, would be completely inadmissible.