Snacks: Digestible Weekly Labour News – Issue 4510 March 2022

Decree no. 1/2022 new Covid-19 measures converted into law
Decree-Law no. 1 of 7 January 2022 has been converted into law and published in the Official Gazette on 8 March 2022. The principal changes it brings to existing measures include:

• Eliminating the six-month duration limit of the Green Pass;
• After a third vaccine booster dose, a green certificate is valid from the administration of said booster with no further doses required;
• With regard to the movement of people from other countries, holders of a certificate of recovery or vaccination (for a vaccine authorised or recognised in Italy) are allowed access services and activities in Italy subject to antigenic or molecular testing with a negative result (if more than 6 months have elapsed since the completion of their first vaccination cycle or since recovery); and
• For employees who are parents of at least one child with severe disabilities or special educational needs, the right to smart working is recognised even in the absence of individual agreements until the end of the state of pandemic emergency, provided that their role does not require their physical presence at work,
  Law No. 18 of 4 March 2022

INL clarifications on co-ownership in network contracts
The National Labour Inspectorate (INL) has provided some clarifications on the co-ownership of companies’ network contracts:

1. the company responsible for telematic communications relating to co-ownership is the only party liable in cases of beaches to comply with the relevant requirements;
2. an employee must be assigned by each co-employer to the tasks for which they were recruited or for similar tasks at the same level and rank;
3. if tasks performed during a given month are mainly for a network company applying a national collective labour agreement (“NCLA”) which, for the same job, provides higher salary than that of an NCLA applied by the reference employer, the taxable amount to be reported monthly must refer to that higher amount; and
4. an employee may request the fulfilment of obligations connected with the employment relationship from each of the co-employers in full in accordance with the principle of co-ordination.
   INL, Central Legal Unit, Message 22/02/2022

Unique NCLA alphanumeric code for monthly Uniemens reports
The transitional period for monthly Uniemens (the platform employers use to send INPS salary data) reports which allowed employers to continue using pre-existing INPS codes as an alternative to the unique alphanumeric code of their NCLA, has come to an end. The INPS notes as of February 2022, when compiling monthly reports, employers can only use the unique alphanumeric code assigned to each NCLA deposited at the National Archive managed by the National Economic and Labour Council (CNEL). The purpose of the new provision is to immediately identify the NCLA applied to each employee.
INPS, Message 07/03/2022 No. 1058

Law 104 permits and special leave extended to civil unions
The permits provided for by Law No. 104/1991 (art. 33, paragraph 3) and the special leave provided for by Legislative Decree No. 151/2001 (art. 42, paragraph 5) may also be used to assist the relatives and in-laws of employees who are in a civil partnership. The INPS has expressly widened the scope of equivalence between married spouses and civil partners, allowing equal and full use of permits and special leave in order to care for family members and in-laws with severe disabilities. TheINPS stated that this extension prevents discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, in line with recent EU case law. There is no mention of de facto unions.
INPS, Circular 07/03/2022 No. 36

Access to CIGO following Covid-19 salary support refusals
Companies in the textile sector (including textiles, clothing, leather, fur etc.) that have been refused access to Covid-19 emergency funds (under Decree-Law 146/2021) can submit an application for the standard salary support fund (CIGO) for the same period (a maximum of 9 weeks between 1 October and 31 December 2021). However, applications for Covid-19 salary support fund had to be submitted by 9 December 2021, so subsequent applications for the CIGO (following the rejection of access to the Covid-19 salary support fund) must be submitted by 31 March 2022. In such cases, companies must pay additional contributions.
INPS, Message 07/03/2022 No. 1060

Access to retirement for 2023/2024 period
The INPS has confirmed that in the two-year period 2023/2024 access to retirement will not be subject to any increases in age or contribution requirements linked to changes in life expectancy. Therefore, for the entire two-year period, the retirement age remains 67 for both men and women.
INPS, Circular 18/02/2022 n. 28

Safety training and personal protective equipment apply to trainees
Obligations to prevent accidents at work and to protect employees’ health also apply to trainees. With regard to workplace safety obligations, those receiving training and orientation traineeships should be treated the same as other employees. Therefore, employers must fulfil their training and education obligations as well as provide relevant protective equipment to trainees. This is also the case for students undertaking internships.
Supreme Court 01/03/2022 No. 7093

INPS clarifications on universal single cheque and childless families
As of 1 March 2022, the family unit cheque has been replaced by the universal single cheque (Legislative Decree No. 230/2021). The INPS specified that families without children are not entitled to the universal single cheque but may continue to receive the family unit cheque. In addition, it has been specified that the family unit cheque may continue to be used by families with children that are excluded from the universal single cheque, including children aged 21 years or over (if not disabled).
INPS, Circular 28/02/2022 No. 34

Workplace bullying defined
In the context of an employment relationship, bullying occurs through the systematic harassment of an employee, carried out through continuous and repeated elimination of the resources and interpersonal relations needed to carry out normal working activities. Such conduct is not unlawful however when the treatment is not continuous, or where the conduct on which the claim for compensation is based is attributable to the employer’s normal conduct or where there is a reasonable and alternative explanation for the employer’s conduct.
Council of State 09/02/2022 No. 952

Immediate reinstatement of suspended employees with Green or Super Green Pass
The law converting Law Decree 1/2022 has been finally approved by the Senate. Among its new measures, it states that employees in the private sector suspended for failing to possess a Green or Super Green Pass, are allowed to return to the workplace immediately once they acquire the necessary green certification provided that their employer has not already entered into a fixed term employment contract for their replacement (Article 9-septies, para. 7, D.L. 52/2021).
Ddl No. 2542, converting, with amendments, Decree-Law No. 1/ 2022

Continuation of employment with transferee does not trigger the opposition to the transfer
An employee transferred as part of the acquisition of a business unit, retains the right to challenge the effectiveness of said transfer even if he has already started working for the new company. The continuation of employment with the transferee does not constitute acceptance of an employment contract. The same applies to employees who have signed settlement agreements with transferee companies.
Supreme Court 24/01/2022 No. 1998