Operational guidelines regarding the regulation of causal reasons in fixed-term contracts

Subject: Operational guidelines regarding the amendment to the regulations on the reasons for fixed-term contracts introduced by the Sostegni-bis Decree

On September 14, 2021, the National Labour Inspectorate released operational instructions regarding the amendment, introduced by Decree No. 73/2021, converted with amendments into Law No. 106/2021 (the so-called Sostegni-bis Decree), to the regulations on the grounds for fixed-term contracts. We remind you that this Decree introduced, with Article 41 bis, a further ground for the stipulation of a fixed-term contract exceeding 12 months, which delegates to collective bargaining pursuant to Article 51 of Legislative Decree No. 81/2015 the possibility of identifying specific needs for the stipulation of a fixed-term contract with a duration exceeding 12 months (but not exceeding 24 months).

This means that, starting from July 25th, national, territorial, or company collective agreements stipulated by trade union associations that are comparatively more representative at the national level, and company collective agreements stipulated by their company trade union representatives or by the unitary trade union representation, are permitted to identify new cases in which it is possible to stipulate a fixed-term contract lasting more than 12 months. The rule requires that the needs are specific and, therefore, identify concrete hypotheses, without using generic formulations (for example: reasons "of a technical, production, organizational nature") that require further interpretations within the individual contract.

The amendment introduced by the Sostegni-bis Decree does not only affect the stipulation of the first contract with a duration exceeding 12 months but also affects the rules governing the institutions of renewal and extension.

Based on the consideration that a new paragraph "1.1" has been inserted into Article 19 of Legislative Decree No. 81/2015 in Article 41 bis of Decree Law 73/2021, which provides for the possibility of stipulating 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 has emphasized that the time limitation concerns the first fixed-term contract between the parties; furthermore, it has 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 this date, without prejudice to the overall limit of 24 months.

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