The right to dismiss a worker in Italy, particularly the right to dismiss on the ground of objective reasons

Abstract

This article examines the right of employers in Italy to dismiss workers, with particular attention to dismissal on the ground of objective reasons. It outlines the constitutional framework, which recognises the right to work while protecting free economic initiative that must pursue social utility, and the 1942 Civil Code, which gave both parties the same power to end the employment relationship. It follows the progressive limitation of the power to dismiss through the 1965 Constitutional Court decision, the 1966 law allowing dismissal for subjective or objective reasons, and the 1970 Workers' Statute, which introduced 'real protection', including reinstatement, for unlawfully dismissed employees in big enterprises. It then analyses the reforms of 2012 to 2018, which the author links to a 56% fall in dismissal claims, and argues that the legal frame has moved from a 'property rule' to a 'liability rule', centred on the legitimacy of the employer's conduct rather than a duty to guarantee job stability. It discusses the employer's duty to seek other available positions before dismissing ('repechage'), and the 2015 rules that distinguish null and discriminatory dismissals, which still lead to reinstatement, from dismissals lacking an objective reason, which give rise to a compensatory indemnity of 12 to 36 monthly salaries based on length of employment, and the debate over whether this remedy is adequate.

Abstract prepared by the editorial office from the full text of the article; the authors did not supply one.