Ministry of Labour: the new freelance work coordinated by an employer

With its circular No. 3 of 1 February 2016, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies has given its own inspectors the first operational instructions on the new rules on freelance work coordinated by an employer, as per Legislative Decree No. 81/2015. In particular, the Ministry has dwelled upon the so-called heter-organisation issue, by considering it the dividing criterion to establish whether a formal collaboration relationship simulates a real employment contract. Therefore, should the collaborator work within an organisation in which he/she is under an obligation to comply with a certain timetable imposed by the principal and should he/she render his/her services in the business premises, the conditions to request the application of the rules governing employment contracts (and the infliction of employment sanctions) will be met, provided that his/her services are ongoing and exclusively personal.