Court of Cassation: interest and the temporary nature of a service legitimise secondment

With its judgement no. 8068 dated 21 April 2016, the Court of Cassation was called to settle a case law dispute involving the question of secondment in company groups. In this regard, the Judges of the Court start from an argument in order to provide a broad interpretation of the matter in question. Pursuant to article 30 of Legislative Decree no. 276/2003, a worker may be assigned to perform his or her job with a third party, if this decision is dictated by the need to pursue a temporary interest of the seconding subject. The interpretation of the above requirements has for many years been restrictive and based on an assumption of illegality. With the above judgement, the Court introduces a driving force for a new season for the recognition of a “contrary assumption“, i.e. the assumption that the interest in the secondment always exists between group companies and that the temporary nature thereof must be recognised when the secondment is not final. The judgement follows the socio-legal approach which now recognises the importance of flexibility even in terms of secondment, in order to facilitate the movement of human resources, above all outside the national context.