Illegitimacy of staff leasing due to violation of the principle of temporariness (Top 24 Lavoro, 27 February 2026 – Vittorio De Luca, Alessandra Zilla)

With judgment no. 4493 of December 19, 2025, the Court of Milan addressed the issue of indefinite-term labor supply (so-called staff leasing). In particular, the Court clarified that, in order to assess the lawfulness of such labor supply, it is necessary to verify whether, even through a formally lawful instrument like staff leasing, the provisions of EU Directive 2008/104 are not circumvented. The Judge ruled that if a worker is assigned to the same user company for a period exceeding what can reasonably be considered temporary, in the absence of objective reasons, the indefinite-term labor supply must be deemed unlawful.

Facts of the Case

The dispute arose from a claim filed by a worker who had been assigned to the same user company for a total period exceeding four years. The employment relationship initially developed through a series of fixed-term labor supply contracts, between November 2019 and October 2021, and subsequently through an indefinite-term labor supply contract, concluded in June 2022.

Throughout the entire duration of the relationship, the claimant had been permanently integrated into the user company’s organization, performing the same duties, with the same classification, and operating under conditions entirely analogous to those of the user company’s employees. In particular, there were no functional changes, temporary reorganizations, or special projects justifying the extended use of labor supply.

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