Decree Law no. 14 August 2020, no. 104 (the  “August” Decree) which extends the Prohibition of dismissalperiod for individual and collective redundancies following a staff reduction, introduced by the “Cure Italy” Decree for 60 days and extended by the “Relaunch” Decree until 17 August 2020. The August Decree precluded collective and individual dismissals for objective reasons by employers who have not benefited from the new 18 weeks of social security benefits or were exempted from social security contributions for four months provided by the Decree. This is without prejudice to cases where personnel involved in the termination, who were already employed under contract, were re-employed after a new contractor took over, under the law, national collective labour agreement, or contractual clause. Dismissal procedures initiated after 23 February 2020, shall remain suspended. The following are excluded from this prohibition: (a) dismissals due to the definitive termination of the company’s activity, following company liquidation without a  “going concern” basis, even if it involves part of the business, or if there is a company collective agreement, stipulated by the trade unions that are comparatively more representative at a national level, as an incentive to terminate employment. This is limited to workers who adhere to the agreement; (b) dismissals for bankruptcy, when there is no interim management of the company business, or its termination has been ordered.

Others Insights related:

• The “Decreto Agosto” published in the Official Gazette
• The “Decreto Rilancio” has been converted into law
• Coordination between the Safe Italy Decree Law and Relaunch Decree Law: INL note no. 160 of 3 June 2020
• DID YOU KNOW THAT… The Cura Italia Decree introduced a ban on dismissals?
• “Cura Italia” Decree to support enterprises and workers

Legislative Decree n. 104/2020 (so-called “Decreto Agosto”) has just been published in the Official Gazette n. 203 of August 14, 2020.

The most significant innovations concerning the employment profiles introduced by Legislative Decree n. 104/2020 are the following:

A. Social shock absorbers

1. In order to grant relief to all employers, a further eighteen (9+9) weeks of ordinary redundancy fund, (Cassa Integrazione) has been introduced, which can be used in the period from 13 July 2020 to 31 December 2020.
2. There is no cost for the first 9 weeks period, whether a compulsory contribution is due for the additional 9 weeks for companies that did not suffer a substantial loss of turnover in 2020.

B. Social security contributions exemption

1. Until next 31 December, special social security contributions exemption is granted to employers that: either (i) do not apply for the extension of the ordinary redundancy fund (for a maximum period of 4 months); or (ii) hire employees under an open-ended contract, in the event of an increase in net employment (for a maximum period of 6 months since the hiring).

C. Extensions and renewals of fixed-term contracts

• Until December 2020, employers are entitled to extend or renew fixed-term contracts even in absence of the grounds prescribed by Article 19, paragraph 1, of Legislative Decree No. 81/2015.

D. Provisions in matter of dismissal

• The prohibition of collective and individual dismissals for justified objective reasons has been extended until all 18 weeks of Cassa Integrazione will have been enjoyed.

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The partners and associates of De Luca & Partners law firm remain available to provide any information necessary to deal with the emergency, as well as to develop the best strategies to minimize its impact on business productivity.