ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Michela Bani, Alessandro Paone and Giacomo Bertelli, NIUS Legal and HR Solutions
• Article 3 of the Italian Constitution, which estab - lishes the principle of equality among citizens and prohibits unjustified discrimination, assigning the Republic the task of ensuring the effective realisa - tion of this objective; and • Article 4 of the Italian Constitution, which guaran - tees all citizens the right to work and promotes the conditions necessary for the effective exercise of this right. At the level of ordinary law, the following provisions of the Italian Civil Code can be relevant: • Article 2087, which requires the employer to adopt all measures necessary to protect the physical integrity and moral personality of workers, accord - ing to the specifics of the work activity, experience and technology; and • Article 2103, which regulates the performance of work by the employee, identifying the cases and methods in which a change in the originally assigned tasks may occur. Victims of bullying and/or mobbing are also protected by other sources, including: • Article 15 of the Italian Workers’ Statute, which declares the nullity of agreements or acts intended to implement forms of discrimination in the work - place; • Articles 25 et seq of the Code of Equal Opportuni - ties between Men and Women, which are dedicat - ed specifically to combatting discrimination in the workplace; and • Article 28 of the Decree on Workplace Safety, which considers work-related stress as a risk to workers’ health. Although there is no specific legislation governing the phenomenon of mobbing, it may – in certain cases – constitute the offence outlined in Article 582 of the Italian Criminal Code, which states that “anyone who causes personal injury to another, resulting in physical or mental illness, shall be punished, upon the com - plaint of the injured party, with imprisonment from six months to three years”. If conduct occurs within a family setting, the offence is also prosecutable ex officio.
It is theoretically conceivable to establish a potential connection – within the aforementioned terms and, notably, by applying the criterion of objective imputa - tion – between mobbing and an entity’s liability under Legislative Decree No 231/2001 (“Decree 231”). This decree introduced a significant innovation in corpo - rate law, assigning administrative/criminal liability to companies (of any type, size or activity) for a range of offences committed by their directors, managers, employees or third-party agents, provided these acts were carried out in the interest or for the benefit of the company and were made possible by shortcomings in the company’s organisational structure. Compa - nies can avoid liability (and the associated sanctions) if they have adopted an adequate organisational and management model, before the commission of the offence, with the characteristics prescribed by Decree 231. In addition, the valuable work of the courts has been instrumental in defining and framing the instances of mobbing through the systemic interpretation of the aforementioned provisions and the general principles underlying the Italian legal system (including those of constitutional rank). The most recent court rulings have concentrated on consolidating and clarifying existing legal principles, particularly the difference between mobbing and “straining”, and the liability of employers under Article 2087 of the Civil Code. This development is therefore mainly jurisprudential in nature rather than legislative, aimed at strengthening the enforcement of existing protections. 8.4 Criminal Cases Under Italian law, there is no specific regulation gov - erning co-operation with authorities, communication channels with them, or incentives for conducting internal investigations and uncovering misconduct. As mentioned in 2.2 Communication to Authorities , employers therefore do not have a general obligation to report criminal acts to the authorities unless they are considered public officials or people in charge of a public service. Certain criminal acts (eg, corruption, bribery or money laundering) may require mandatory reporting under specific circumstances, particularly in regulated industries or where public resources are involved.
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