Recent Developments In Employment Law After The So Called 'Fornero Reform'

Upon the entry into force of the major employment law reform known as "Fornero Reform" (Law 28 June 2012, no. 92), the Italian employment law system experienced significant changes, from both a substantive and procedural law perspective. After the enactment of the Fornero Reform, further changes have been introduced, mainly by virtue of "urgent" decrees. In this connection, between the end of 2012 and the summer of 2013 the following decrees have been issued, among others: the so-called "Decreto Sviluppo-bis" (D.L. 18 October 2012, no. 179), the so-called "Decreto del Fare" (D.L. 28 June 2013, no. 76) and, recently, the so-called "Decreto Occupazione" (D.L. 28 June 2013, no. 76). Such decrees have been subsequently converted into law and are currently in force.

  1. Incentives granted to employers in connection with permanent hirings

    With the intent to promote stable employment, Article 1 of the Decreto Occupazione introduced a special incentive to be paid to employers which hire, on a permanent basis, employees between 18 and 29 years of age, provided that they (a) have been unemployed for at least 6 months or (b) do not hold a high-school (or similarly ranked) degree. The incentive amounts to 1/3 of the gross monthly salary relevant for social security purposes, for a 18-month period, and cannot exceed, on a monthly basis, Euro 650,00 per each hired employee.

    Please note that: (i) the new hiring must give rise to a "net increase of the employment level", to be calculated by comparing the number of the employees in place each month and the average number of the employees in place over the 12-month period preceding the hiring; (ii) the incentive shall apply starting from the date to be posted by the Ministry of Labor in its official website until 30 June 2015.

    The incentive, to be offset with the social security contributions, shall be granted by INPS (the Italian social security authority), to which the relevant application shall be submitted. INPS should enact shortly proper instructions.

  2. Fixed-term employment contract

    The rules of fixed term contracts, governed by Legislative Decree 6 September 2001, no. 368, as amended by the Fornero Reform, have been further modified by means of the Decreto Occupazione. Below is an outline of the main changes:

    the Decreto Occupazione confirmed that the first fixed-term relationship, for a term not longer than 12 months, established by and between an employer and an employee for the performance of any kind of duties, does not require that a reason be alleged to justify its fixed-term nature ("Fixed-Term Contracts Without Specified Reasons"), this being an exception to the general rule according to which, pursuant to Article, 1, paragraph 1, of Legislative Decree 6 September 2001, no. 368, fixed-term employment contracts must be justified...

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