Revocation of dismissal: to reinstate the employment relationship, it is sufficient to send the notice of revocation within 15 days

With judgment no. 16630 of 14 June 2024, the Italian Court of Cassation ruled that to reinstate the employment relationship under Article 18, paragraph 10, of the Workers’ Charter, it is sufficient for the employer to send the notice of revocation of dismissal within 15 days of the notice of dismissal, although it is not necessary for this notice to be received by the employee in the same time frame.

The facts of the case

An employee was dismissed for justified objective reasons by letter of 17 January 2018. The worker challenged the dismissal with a certified email sent to the company on 13 February 2018 and received by the employer on the same date.

On 1 March 2018 the employee received a telegram, sent to her by the company on 28 February 2018, revoking the dismissal and containing a request to return to work.

The employee claimed that the revocation was late and did not comply with the employer’s request.

Due to the worker’s unjustified absence which lasted for more than three days, the company dismissed her for just cause.

The employee brought legal proceedings, objecting to the lateness of the revocation of the first dismissal, as it had been received by her after the deadline of 15 days for challenging the dismissal.

The first instance judges as well as the court of appeal rejected the applicant’s claims. They noted that the revocation of the first dismissal was to be considered in time, since – in terms of revocation of the dismissal – the “principle of splitting the effective date of the document” (principio di scissione degli effetti dell’atto) applies.

The judgment

The Italian Court of Cassation – in confirming the ruling of the court of appeal – noted, preliminarily, that revocation of dismissal, introduced by Italian Law no. 92/2012 and governed by Article 18, paragraph 10 of the Workers’ Charter is the employer’s unilateral right to safeguard his/her own rights and to which the worker is subject.

According to the Court of Cassation judges, this is a sort of “self-defence” (autotutela), which can be exercised by the employer, which results in the reinstatement of the relationship without interruption and without the need for a similar indication of consent by the employee.

The only necessary condition established by the law is that the revocation is carried out within 15 days of the notice to the employer that the dismissal is being challenged.

The Italian Court of Cassation judges held that, starting from an analysis of the wording of the provision – which anchors the start date (dies a quo) to the notice of the dismissal challenge and the expiry date (dies ad quem) to the date of the revocation, the absence of an express reference to the notice to the concerned party, “leads us to consider that the mere sending of the revocation to the worker within the prescribed period and not its receipt within the same period is sufficient”.

Other related insights:

• Resignation: Waiver of notice by the employer annuls the executive’s right to the relevant payment in lieu of notice – De Luca & Partners (delucapartners.it)