Business transfer: agreement with the Unions can derogate from statutory working conditions (Newsletter Norme & Tributi n. 164 Camera di Commercio Italo-Germanica – Vittorio De Luca, Martina De Angeli)

By order no. 25055 of 22 August 2022, the Italian Court of Cassation has affirmed that in case of transfer of a business – or parts thereof – concerning companies that are in a crisis, or which have been subjected to special administration, when the activity continues or, however, is not terminated, an agreement reached with the Trade Unions may derogate from Art. 2112 of the Italian Civil Code on working conditions. Employment contracts are in any event transferred to the assignee. The Court has confirmed a principle previously expressed by the European Court of Justice: the agreement permits to modify, even for the worse, the salary and other rights and duties previously accrued to each employee, but it cannot derogate from the automatic transfer of workers to the acquiring company.