Responsibility and penalties

According to the case-law recently expressed by the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation, Labour Section., by order No. 34968 of November 11^th, 2022, the burden of proof regarding the damage to health caused by excessive work rhythms (so called damage from “overwork”) falls on the employee. According to the Court of Cassation, the employee must prove:

1. the harmfulness of the working environment, identified in the concrete risk factors circumstantiated by the modalities of the work performance (e.g., improper qualitative modalities of the activity, unsustainable rhythms or quantities of production)
2. the existence of a causal link between the work performed and the damage suffered.

The evidence to the contrary will then be up to the employer who will demonstrate the normality of the work and its execution within sustainable limits.

Responsibility for Health and safety in the workplace lies with the following:

• employer;
• managers;
• supervisors;
• workers and
• other figures in the company organisation, including the company physician.

Depending on their company role, the employer is the main recipient of the resulting obligations and responsibilities. If supported by managers and supervisors, they share subsidiary liability with the employer.

If the failure to comply with health and safety legislation results in damage to the worker or a third party, the latter may ask the employer to compensate them. The employer can be held liable for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage. Sanctions and compensation are:

• progressive according to the conduct seriousness and the damage extent, and
• may be cumulative. This conduct may constitute a criminal offence, an administrative sanction or produce compensable damage.