In brief
This publication features the latest developments in Italian employment law.
In more detail
Case law developments
Dismissal of an employee who becomes unfit for the job
When an employee becomes unfit for the job they were hired for, an employer cannot continue to assign that employee to the same duties that are no longer compatible with an employee’s health condition. This imposes an obligation on the employer to search for alternative, suitable positions, including ones at a lower employment level, even by adopting — where an employee has a disability — reasonable accommodations. In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court confirmed that the termination of an employment relationship is lawful only when no alternatives duties, even at lower level, are compatible with an employee’s health condition and, in the case of a person with a disability, when reasonable accommodations cannot be adopted.
An employee who is dismissed after being sexually assaulted by a superior is entitled to reinstatement
The dismissal of an employee who was sexually assaulted by a superior is null and void. In a recent case, a dismissal — formally based on organizational reasons and alleged irregularities in the management of holidays — was served to an employee who had been sexually assaulted and refused advances from a superior. A local Court found the termination to be void and ordered the employee to be reinstated, since the dismissal was based only on purely pretextual reasons.
An employee who is a victim of harassment is entitled to compensation for damages
A local Court held that the conduct of a superior, who repeatedly required a female manager to serve coffee during meetings “because she is a woman,” constitutes harassment, discriminatory in nature. Such behavior, even if only verbal, offends an employee’s professional dignity, creates a humiliating environment, and constitutes gender discrimination, giving rise to compensation for damages. In the case at hand, the company was held jointly liable together with the CEO for payment of compensation to the manager.