COLLECTIVE DISMISSALS: THE AGREEMENT WITH THE UNIONS PROVIDING THE CHOICE CRITERIUM OF IMMINENT RETIREMENT IS LAWFUL (Il Sole 24 Ore, March 18, 2013, page 31)

The Court of Cassation with sentence no. 5143 of March 1, confirmed the statement of sentence no. 12257/2012 according to which the criterium provided by the agreement with the Unions for the choice of the employees to be dismissed can be just one and it can be represented by the imminence of retirement, if it allows to make a strict classification and it can be applied and controlled without employer’s discretional choice. In particular, according to the Court, it is lawful the entrepreneurial project aimed at reducing the workforce for cost reduction with the mere indication of the number of employees to be dismissed, shared among the different professional profiles, without the indication of the offices or division. And this in particular when the agreement with the Unions occurring as a result of the procedure, provides within the measures for reducing the social impact of the dismissals, the imminent retirement. Finally the sentence provides that the judge’s control is focused on the procedure correctness, on the check on possible discriminatory attempts and on the equity and objectiveness of the choice criterium.