ITALY Trends and Developments Contributed by: Giorgio Manca, DWF
Italian Employment Trends: Focus on the (Growing) Protections Favouring Workers The year 2025 marked a turning point for labour law in Italy, with important regulatory and jurisprudential changes that directly impacted crucial employment topics such as, inter alia, service contracts, the con - sequences of unlawful dismissals and supply of work - force. Nowadays, Italy-based companies must take into account (and comply with) the increasing protections provided by legislators in favour of the workforce, as confirmed by recent reforms. Below is an overview of the main reforms. Service contracts and joint liability of the principal company The joint liability of the principal company within ser - vice contracts ( contratto di appalto di servizio ) has been crucial for many years, partly due to the key role played by the service contract in the context of Italy’s economy and productivity. One of the main principles of the relevant legislation establishes that the principal company is jointly liable with the contractor company – as well as the subcon - tractors, if applicable – with respect to the remunera - tion and social security contributions of the contrac - tor’s employees, with consideration of the period of performance of the contract and within two years of the termination of such contract. This rule clearly represents an example of enhanced protection in favour of workers employed in increas - ingly fragmented production chains, where the risk of non-compliance by the contractor (and in turn by subcontractors) increases with greater fragmentation of the production chain. The rationale is to ensure employees can take direct action against the princi - pal company, which does not (and cannot) choose the contractor’s personnel while benefitting from their work activities. What’s new: extension of the scope of the contractor’s joint responsibility One of the most significant changes in service contract execution is the recent extension of the principal com - pany’s responsibility with respect to the national col -
lective bargaining agreement (NCBA) or the territorial collective bargaining agreement applied by the con - tractor company. In fact, as a result of recent reforms, the principal company may be held accountable not only if the contractor does not guarantee appropriate economical treatment of its employees in accordance with the bargaining agreement applied, but also in the case where the contractor does not apply a bargaining agreement signed by the most representative national trade union in the sector and area most closely con - nected with the activity covered by the contract. In summary, the principal company must stay alert regarding the type of collective bargaining agreement applied by the contractor, since any claim brought against the latter by its employees based upon the application of an incorrect bargaining agreement (eg, one giving rise to worse economic treatment com - pared to others or one that is not consistent with the relevant sector) can potentially involve the principal itself as a jointly liable subject. As a matter of fact, the contractor’s employees may directly bring such claim to the principal even without involving the contractor itself, as is usually the case, given that they normally have a greater chance to satisfy their demands vis-à- vis the principal rather than the contractor. The rationale behind this principle is clearly to prevent the principal company from benefitting from contrac - tual dumping of the contractor, and to uphold the con - stitutional right to fair and proportionate remuneration for the contractor’s employees regardless of the fact that their work is substantially carried out for a com - pany different from their “paper” employer. The abrogative referendum: nothing new The topic of joint liability of the principal company has been the focus of recent debates, in part due to the repeal referendum held on 8–9 June 2025 in Italy. In fact, one of the referendum items proposed the repeal of paragraph 4-bis of Article 26 of Legislative Decree 81/2008, which excludes the principal company from liability for work accidents resulting from risks specific to the contractor’s activity. However, the referendum did not meet the legally required quota, and the prin - cipal’s joint responsibility has thus not been extended (yet).
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