Italy: Law Relaxes Restrictions On An Employer's Ability To Modify An Employee's Duties And Responsibilities

In the last couple of years, the Italian government has enacted a set of measures that allow employers to assign employees to lower duties than those previously performed.

Employers are now entitled to unilaterally assign an employee to lower duties, provided that the new duties are included within the same level (e.g., 1st level, 2nd level, 3rd level, 4th level) and the same category (e.g., manager/middle manager, white collar/blue collar) in which the employee was currently ranked under the applicable National Collective Bargaining Agreement (NCBA).

Organizational restructuring

Moreover, in the case of a reorganization of the company structure that will affect the position of an employee, the employer may assign the employee to lower duties (i.e., duties that one would normally expect to be given to a lower-level employee), provided that the new duties are consistent with the category already assigned to the employee. In such a scenario, the assignment to new duties must be in writing and the employee's level, category and salary must remain unchanged.

Under the new law, employers also may now assign an employee to lower duties, a lower level or a lower category and/or reduce his or her salary, by entering into an individual agreement to be executed before the employee's union representative or the competent labor authority. This applies to situations where a new employment agreement is necessary to preserve an employee's job, to increase the employee's professional skills or to enhance the employee's work-life balance.

Finally, should an employer assign an employee to higher duties, such assignment shall become permanent after an uninterrupted six-month period or, alternatively, for the period of time set forth in the applicable NCBA. The employee has the right to refuse the permanent assignment.

Comment

This new law points to the Italian government's clear focus on providing employers with the necessary flexibility to modify their companies' structure to suit their business needs.

Dentons is the world's first polycentric global law firm. A top 20 firm on the Acritas 2015 Global Elite Brand Index, the Firm is committed to challenging the status quo in delivering consistent and uncompromising quality and value in new and inventive ways. Driven to provide clients a competitive edge, and connected to the communities where its clients want to do business, Dentons knows that understanding local cultures is crucial to successfully completing a deal, resolving a dispute or solving a business challenge. Now the world's largest law firm, Dentons' global team builds agile, tailored solutions to meet the local, national and global needs of private and public clients of any size in more than 125 locations serving 50-plus countries. www.dentons.com.

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.