Operational guidelines relating to the regulation of reasons for fixed-term contracts
- Studio Piceci
- September 15, 2021
- Reading time: 3 min
Subject: Operational guidelines regarding the amendment to the rules on grounds for fixed-term contracts introduced by the Sostegni-bis Decree
On September 14, 2021, the National Labor Inspectorate published the operating instructions relating to the amendment, introduced by Decree No. 73/2021 converted with amendments into Law No. 106/2021 (known as Sostegni-bis), of the rules governing the reasons for fixed-term contracts. We remind you that this Decree introduced, with Article 41 bis, an additional reason for entering into a fixed-term contract of more than 12 months, which delegates to collective bargaining under Article 51 of Legislative Decree No. 81/2015 the possibility of identifying specific needs for entering into a fixed-term contract of more than 12 months (but not exceeding 24 months).
This means that, as of July 25, national, regional, or company collective agreements entered into by trade unions that are comparatively more representative at the national level and company collective agreements entered into by their company union representatives or by the single union representative are allowed to identify new cases in which it is possible to enter into a fixed-term contract with a duration of more than 12 months. The rule requires that the needs be specific and, therefore, identify concrete cases, without using generic formulations (e.g., reasons "of a technical, productive, or organizational nature") that require further clarification within the individual contract.
The amendment introduced by the Sostegni-bis Decree not only affects the signing of the first contract with a duration of more than 12 months, but also affects the rules governing renewal and extension.
Starting from the consideration that a new paragraph "1.1" has been added to Article 19 of Legislative Decree No. 81/2015, which provides for the possibility of entering into fixed-term contracts with an initial duration of more than 12 months according to the needs identified by collective bargaining, only until September 30, 2022, the Inspectorate emphasized that the time limit applies to the first fixed-term contract between the parties; it also specified that the deadline of September 30, 2022, refers to the formalization of the contract, which may provide for a duration of the relationship that exceeds that date, without prejudice to the overall limit of 24 months.