September 23, 2025
Pay and benefits
Minimum wages, contractual dumping, and employee participation: new government powers on salary matters
Senate of the Republic

The Senate has definitively approved a bill delegating the Government to adopt, within six months, one or more legislative decrees aimed at strengthening collective bargaining and ensuring fair and dignified remuneration. Among the main innovations is the requirement to apply the minimum overall economic treatments provided by the most representative national collective agreements, both in direct employment relationships and in contracts and subcontracts.

The bill aims to counter the phenomenon of contractual dumping by limiting the proliferation of less protective contracts and promoting the spread of second-level bargaining. It also allows for the extension of the most relevant collective agreement to workers not currently covered by any agreement. Measures are also envisaged to support the renewal of expired contracts and to allow the Ministry of Labour to intervene in cases of prolonged contractual gaps.

Finally, the Government is entrusted with defining transparency and monitoring tools regarding remuneration, enhancing databases, traceability of applied contracts, and inspection activities, including semi-annual public reports on the effectiveness of the measures introduced.

September 6, 2025
Pay and benefits
Meal vouchers: the Supreme Court reaffirms they are not part of remuneration
Court of Cassation, Labour Section

An employee requested that meal vouchers granted by the company be considered as part of his remuneration. The company, however, argued that they were merely a welfare benefit with no wage-related nature. After lower court proceedings, the matter reached the Court of Cassation.

The Supreme Court confirmed that meal vouchers do not constitute remuneration, as they are not intended to compensate work performance but rather to promote employee well-being. Consequently, they are not included in the calculation of severance pay and do not affect other pay-related items. The ruling consolidates case law establishing that meal vouchers are a benefit, not a true remuneration component.

July 3, 2025
Pay and benefits
Company cars for mixed use: new taxation rules for fringe benefits
Italian Revenue Agency

With Circular No. 10/E of July 3, 2025, the Italian Revenue Agency clarified the tax changes introduced by the 2025 Budget Law and Decree-Law No. 19/2025 concerning the taxation of employment income derived from the mixed use of vehicles, motorcycles, and mopeds made available to employees.

The framework has been significantly revised: for vehicles registered, assigned, and delivered from January 1, 2025, the taxable value corresponds to 50% of a notional annual mileage of 15,000 km, calculated using ACI (Automobile Club Italia) tables, with reductions to 10% for electric vehicles and 20% for plug-in hybrids.

For vehicles already assigned for mixed use between July 1, 2020, and December 31, 2024, or ordered by the end of 2024 and delivered by June 30, 2025, the previous tax regime remains applicable. Outside these cases, the fringe benefit must be determined based on the general “normal value” criterion, limited to the portion attributable to private use.

The new rules have a significant impact on the determination of employees’ taxable income and corporate policies for assigning company cars.

August 29, 2025
Confidentiality and privacy
Private emails on company servers: the Supreme Court upholds the ban on mass monitoring
Court of Cassation, Labour Section

Former employees of a company were accused of engaging in unfair competition. To prove this, the company obtained their email communications stored on company servers, claiming they were freely accessible. The trial court admitted such evidence, ordering the employees to pay damages. The Court of Appeal, however, excluded the validity of the evidence, deeming the emails private correspondence.

The Court of Cassation upheld this latter interpretation, referring to the principles of the European Court of Human Rights: even emails sent or received at the workplace fall within the sphere of private life and correspondence protected under Article 8 of the ECHR. Therefore, employers may conduct checks only if they are proportionate, justified by specific needs, and preceded by adequate notice. Mass or non-defensive monitoring remains prohibited, even after the employment relationship has ended.

September 10, 2025
Business travel and relocation
Employee refuses relocation: dismissal unlawful if no justified reason exists
Court of Cassation, Labour Section

A company dismissed a worker who refused a transfer to another site about 200 km away, citing business reorganization. The employee challenged the decision, arguing that the original site remained open and her duties were still available.

The Court of Appeal upheld her appeal, finding that the transfer was not justified by proven organizational needs and that her refusal did not amount to insubordination.

The Court of Cassation confirmed this ruling, clarifying that an employee’s refusal to transfer may be legitimate if the measure is not supported by real and motivated technical, organizational, or production reasons. In such cases, dismissal following the refusal is unlawful, as an essential element of insubordination is missing. The ruling reiterates that the employer’s power must be exercised within the limits of good faith and fairness.

September 4, 2025
Employee monitoring
Poor performance justifies investigative checks by the employer
Court of Cassation, Labour Section

An employee challenged his dismissal for just cause, contesting the use of evidence gathered by private investigators. The investigation revealed that he had falsified his working hours and visited places unrelated to his job during working time. The Court of Appeal upheld the dismissal, and the Court of Cassation confirmed this ruling.

The judges found that an employer’s use of private investigators may target unlawful conduct by an employee that goes beyond mere breach of contractual obligations. Such monitoring must not result from arbitrary employer initiatives but must be prompted by inconsistencies in the employee’s performance. According to the Court, these inconsistencies may include, as in this case, significantly lower productivity compared with colleagues performing similar tasks.

September 4, 2025
Dismissal for subsequent unfitness
Suspension of pay lawful when unfitness is certified and the worker refuses alternative duties
Court of Cassation, Labour Section

An employee performing manual load-handling duties was suspended from work and pay after being declared temporarily unfit by the occupational physician, with no alternative tasks available within the company. She challenged the suspension in court.

The Court of Cassation upheld the company’s actions, ruling that when medical examination certifies temporary unfitness and no alternative work is available, suspension of both work and pay is lawful. The Court reiterated that the principle of reciprocity between work and pay ceases when the employee cannot perform the work for reasons not attributable to the employer. It also excluded any obligation for the company to initiate extraordinary medical reassessment procedures absent new elements justifying a review of fitness.