Following a December 2016 petition, labour consultants are now considered authorized subjects who can submit online employee resignations in Italy.

Following a petition presented in December 2016, labour consultants are now included in the list of authorized subjects who can submit online employee resignations, according to the assisted digital procedure.

Background

Since 12 March 2016  virtually all employees in Italy (with the exception of some specific cases) have been required to use the digital procedure governed by the Ministry of Labour's decree to indicate their desire to withdraw from their employment relationship.

Exceptions

The digital procedure does not apply:

  • to domestic labour relationships
  • to withdrawals which occur in so-called 'protected' locations (Certification Commissions also established with the Provincial Councils of labour consultants, the territorial offices of the Labour Inspectorate, union bodies and offices identified in collective contracts)
  • withdrawal during a trial employment period
  • in cases of dismissals or consensual terminations of employment presented by the worker during pregnancy, or by the worker during the first three years of life of their child, which must be validated exclusively by the Labour Office responsible for the relative area
  • maritime working relationships, as these are governed by the Navigation Code

employment relationships with the Public Administration.

Process

The worker who intends to resign or consensually terminate their employment relationship must complete, exclusively in a digital format, a form which is available in a specific section of the Italian Government website and then follow one of two distinct methods:

  1. direct procedure: the worker must have an INPS device PIN and, after registering on this website to create a username, can access the government site to complete and send their form, which indicates their desire to resign. If they do not have an INPS device PIN, the worker must, prior to submitting their resignation and if they do not intend to make use of an intermediary, send the Institute a specific request to receive one, through this website.
  2. assisted procedure: this is an alternative to the direct procedure method. The worker may request assistance from an authorised intermediary. Following recent regulatory changes, authorised intermediaries are:

    • labour consultants
    • social welfare assistance institutions (patronati)
    • union organisations
    • bilateral entities
    • certification commissions.

Clarifications

The legislators' desire to include labour consultants among those who may assist workers with the digital procedure made an additional action by the Ministry of Labour necessary. It specified that the text of the norm should be understood to include other professionals pursuant to Italian Law 12/1979 (lawyers, chartered accountants, accountants, etc).

In response to a request for clarification 24/2016, the General Inspection Directorate specified that, given the literal tenor of the provision, solely authorised labour consultants registered in the specific Register are to be classified as subjects authorised to digitally send the forms, and not all other professionals authorised to manage employment relationships.

*It's important to note that a worker's termination notification will be considered invalid if they use a method other than those indicated above.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.