Seminar of Comparative Labor Law ***** Pontignano XXX Modena, July 16 th - 19 th 2013

1. Seminar of Comparative Labor Law***** Pontignano XXXModena, July 16th - 19th 2013 The individual dismissals Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

2. The ratio of Italian legislation Principle that characterizes the Italian experience Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

3. Dual stability purpose Sanctioning apparatus to contrast the inappropriate exercise Evaluation From protection against unjustified dismissal Strong positive impact on the effectiveness of workers’ rights during the employer-employee relationship Qualitative Quantitative E.g. Sanction disproportion E.g. Discriminatory dismissal Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

4. Case law Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia Corte Cost. n. 174 of 1972 e Cass. n. 1268 of 1976 • Every labor relationship must be considered stable, independently from the public or private nature of the employer and of the labor relation itself. • The discipline subordinates the legitimacy and the effectiveness of the law to the objective existence of predetermined circumstances and confers to the judge the authority to exercise a control about the legitimacy of such circumstances. • The judge must also have the authority to counteract the unlawful dismissal.

5. Stability characteristic Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

6. The Civil Code and the first special protection Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

7. The warranty system of l. 604 of 1966 Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

8. Motivation Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

9. Change of legal protection depending on the size of the work unit Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

10. The monetary compensation Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

11. Worker’s Statute Law 300 of 1970 Profound change in the legal structure of worker’s protection against unfair dismissal Introduction of real workers’ protection Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

12. Unfair dismissal : the protection system From 1970 until 2012 dual protection system Obligatory stability Alternative obligation: • Rehiring • Compensation (between 2,5 and 6monthly earnings) Real stability Art. 18 L. 300 of 1970 Reinstatement + Retributive compensation (Wage payable from the moment of dismissal until the reinstatement) Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

13. The null and void dismissal Related to: • maternity  marriage  union membership  participation in union activities religion  ethnic identity  language  sex  handicap age sexual orientation personal conviction Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

14. The burden of proof (1/2) Art. 5 l. 604 of 1966 «The burden of proof regarding the just cause or justified motive for dismissal rests with the employer» This rule follows the general principle that a person who whishes to prove the invalidity of a motion proposed by the opposing party must prove the foundations of his argument. Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

15. The burden of proof (2/2) Generally it is up to the employer Particularly when: • Fundamental violation of contractual obligation (just cause o justified subjective motive); • Actions that take place outside the contractual obligations of the employment relationship, but reflect negatively on the relationship of trust between management and employees, justifying dismissal (objective just cause); • The needs of organizational restructuring determine that that there is no need for an employee, also in different position in the enterprise (justified objective motive). Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

16. The Reversal of burden of proof In case of discriminatory dismissal or dismissal direct to pursue an objective prohibited by law: It will be up to employee to prove the substance of a claim of discriminatory dismissal, also through presumptive elements (e.g. statistics) Presumptive elements: indirect but important, precise and concordant facts that confirm the argument in order to discrimination Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

17. The free dismissal area Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia Residual application of articles:

18. The free dismissal area Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia Cases excluded from workers’ protection:

19. Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

20. Variable evaluations Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia Through the years Judges have exercised broad and variable evaluation. e.g. In some cases, the theft of modestly valuable goods belonging to the employer has been considered just cause for dismissal; in other cases it has not.

21. Reinstate even in case of workers’ responsibility Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia from any small procedural irregularity in the disciplinary process Reinstatement Also if the workers’ responsibility had been proven

22. Uncertainties around the concept of objective justified motive Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia In some cases: dismissal motivated by a desire to eliminate a working position are legitimate only in the case of difficulty in management of the enterprise

23. Excessive length of judicial proceedings Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia Directly connected to the level of evaluation difficulty

24. The reinstatement cannot be implemented forcibly the judgment may be overturned on appeal Dismissed employees will spend many time outside of working environment Some employers will simply refuse to reinsate unjustifiably dismissed employees Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

25. The reform law n. 92 of June 28th 2013 Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

26. Three aspects of action Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

27. The procedure for notification of dismissal Dismissal for economic or organizational reasons Conciliatory Procedure Conciliatory procedure Find alternative solution to dismissal Objective Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

28. The sanctions system Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

29. Null and void dismissal Sanction Reinstatement + Complete compensation (from the dismissal to the effective reinstatement) Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

30. Unjustifiability of dismissal for simple disproportionality In the case of “simple” unjustifiability Art. 18 par. 5 Variable compensation Between 12 and 24 monthly pay periods Sanction • according to: • the age of the worker • the number of employees at the enterprise in question • the dimensions of its economic activity • the behavior and conditions of the various parts Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

31. Unjustifiability of dismissal with grave elements in situations where the unjustifiability of dismissal is characterized by particularly grave elements Sanction Reinstatement • As long as: • facts connected to the health or physical suitability of the worker • for disciplinary motives that are not, however, considered grave enough to justify dismissal according to the collective contract or disciplinary code • Non existence of disciplinary reason or manifest non existence of the objective reasons (Economical or organizational). Economic compensation up to a maximum of 12 monthly pay period Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

32. Procedural Violation Economic sanction reduced to six monthly installment Sanction Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

33. The length and procedures of the legal motions In order to reduce the time of judgment: All judges who commented on the reform expressed skepticism about this timeline, citing organizational shortcomings in the juridical system the importance of timeliness and predictability has now been officially recognized Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia

34. Thank you for your attention Stefano Bellomo Università degli studi di Perugia