Operational Guidelines Regarding the Provisions on Reasons for Termination in Fixed-Term Contracts
- September 16, 2021
- Reading time: 3 min
Subject: Operational Guidelines Regarding the Amendment to the Rules Governing the Grounds for Fixed-Term Contracts Introduced by the Sostegni-bis Decree
On September 14, 2021, the National Labor Inspectorate issued operational instructions regarding the amendment—introduced by Decree No. 73/2021, converted with modifications into Law No. 106/2021 (the so-called “Sostegni-bis”)—to the rules governing the grounds for fixed-term employment contracts. We remind you that this Decree, through Article 41-bis, introduced an additional ground for entering into a fixed-term contract lasting more than 12 months, which delegates to collective bargaining, as provided for in Article 51 of Legislative Decree No. 81/2015, the authority to identify specific needs for entering into a fixed-term contract lasting more than 12 months (but not exceeding 24 months).
This means that, as of July 25, national, regional, or company-level collective bargaining agreements entered into by trade unions that are comparatively more representative at the national level, as well as company-level collective bargaining agreements entered into by their company-level union representatives or by the unified union representation, are permitted to identify new circumstances under which it is possible to enter into a fixed-term contract with a duration exceeding 12 months. The provision requires that the needs be specific and, therefore, identify concrete scenarios, without using generic wording (for example: reasons “of a technical, productive, or organizational nature”) that would require further clarification within the individual employment contract.
The amendment introduced by the Sostegni-bis Decree does not only affect the signing of the first contract with a term of more than 12 months; it also impacts the rules governing contract renewal and extension.
Based on the fact that a new paragraph “1.1” to Article 19 of Legislative Decree No. 81/2015, which provides for the possibility of entering into fixed-term contracts with an initial duration exceeding 12 months in accordance with the needs identified through collective bargaining, but only until September 30, 2022, the Inspectorate emphasized that the time limit applies to the first fixed-term contract between the parties; Furthermore, it specified that the deadline of September 30, 2022, refers to the formalization of the contract, which may provide for a duration of the employment relationship extending beyond that date, subject to the overall limit of 24 months.
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