Ministerial Clarifications on the New Provisions of the "Collegato Lavoro" Law

News No. 12/2025

We would like to draw your attention to the recent News issued by the Ministry of Labor, in order to provide guidance on the main interventions implemented by the legislator with Law No. 203 of December 13, 2024 (the so-called Labor Reform Act).

In particular, the document focuses on the new provisions regarding resignations based on conclusive facts, temporary employment, seasonal work, probationary periods, and communications regarding agile work.

Regulations regarding the termination of the employment relationship

Article 19 of Law No. 203 of December 13, 2024, amended Article 26 of Legislative Decree No. 151/2015, introducing paragraph 7-bis, which establishes the possibility for the employer, in the event of an unjustified absence of the worker prolonged beyond the term provided for by the company-applied Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) or, in the absence of a contractual provision, the absence exceeds fifteen days, to activate the procedure of the so-called "resignations based on conclusive facts", through communication to be made to the territorially competent National Labor Inspectorate. We are attaching a communication template. The communication must be sent to both the Inspectorate and the worker, in order to allow the latter to exercise the right of defense provided for by Article 24 of the Constitution.

In this regard, it is specified that the employer, following the inspection assessments, may be held liable, including criminally, for false communications made to the territorial Inspectorate.

It should be emphasized that several collective agreements attribute disciplinary consequences to a prolonged unjustified absence, allowing the employer to proceed with dismissal for just cause or justified subjective reason. In these cases, the guarantee procedure provided for by Article 7 of the Workers' Statute Law No. 330/70 is then activated. Therefore, if the contractual provision for unjustified absence provides for the procedure of prior disciplinary action, it will be necessary to proceed with the procedure provided for by the CBA, and not with the "resignations based on conclusive facts".

The ministerial News also provides further clarification regarding the online termination procedure initiated by the employer following "resignations through conclusive actions," stipulating that it is rendered ineffective if the employee has previously submitted their resignation electronically.

Therefore, to activate the "resignations through conclusive actions" procedure, the employer must first verify whether the company-applied Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) stipulates, and what it stipulates, regarding the employee's unjustified absences. Subsequently, after a minimum absence period of 15 days, or the longer absence period possibly stipulated by the company-applied CBA, the employer will submit the request via certified email (Pec) to the locally competent Inspectorate, which will carry out all necessary verifications; a copy will also be sent to the employee to inform them of the activated procedure. The termination of the employment relationship will take effect from the date indicated in the UNILAV form (which will be sent within 5 days of confirmation of receipt of the communication by the Inspectorate), it being understood that the employer is not required to pay salary and related contributions for the period of unjustified absence.

However, should the employee prove that they were unable to communicate the reasons for the absence (for example, because they were hospitalized or due to force majeure), the resolutive effect of the employment relationship will remain without effect. The same condition will also occur when the Inspectorate ascertains the untruthfulness of the communication by the employer.

The discipline under examination is not applicable in cases of consensual termination or resignation submitted by the female worker during the pregnancy period, or by the female or male worker during the first three years of the child's life, or in further specific cases as better outlined by art. 55 of Legislative Decree no. 151/2001.

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