The clarifications of the Italian National Labor Inspectorate (“INL”) relating to the filing of the conciliation minutes signed before the trade unions

The Confederdia Union has requested clarifications to the National Labour Inspectorate (“INL”) regarding the rejection issued by the territorial office of the Inspectorate to the filing of the minutes of conciliation signed pursuant to art. 411 of the Civil Code, justified with the alleged lack of powers by the union. In this respect, INL, with note dated 17 May 2018 number 163, has above all highlighted that the fundamental requirement of conciliation talks with a trade union is the fact that the agreement has to be reached with the effective support of the employee by his/her trade union. Furthermore, the note has recalled – after having referred back to the rules governing conciliation talks with trade unions as well as the requirements of actual mandate and representation powers called for by the case law of the supreme courts – what had already been established by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies (protocol 5199 dated 16/03/2016 and protocol 5755 dated 22/03/2016). In particular, INL stated once again that, in order to file the minutes at the territorial office and in light of what is established in art. 412 ter of the Civil Code, the union “must be in possession of specific representation powers”. According to INL, given that not all the collective agreements establish specific conciliation procedures, the solution of a self-declaration of the union regarding possession of the requirement of greater representation (to be adopted only in those cases in which trade union conciliation is performed according to specific contractual provisions) allows the inspectors to avoid technically complex audits and at the same time ensures union self-regulation in application of the regulations establishing it.