{"id":70032,"date":"2026-05-29T14:40:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T12:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lexia.it\/?p=70032"},"modified":"2026-05-29T14:40:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T12:40:16","slug":"insight-393-june-01-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lexia.it\/en\/2026\/05\/29\/insight-393-june-01-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"”Rights and Duties in Employment Relationships” – Insight No. 393 of june 01, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

4 March 2026
Null Dismissal
Dismissal of a Pregnant Manager Is Null Without Proof of Serious Fault<\/strong>
Tribunal of Treviso<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A manager brought proceedings to challenge the disciplinary dismissal served on her during pregnancy. The company alleged that she had made personal use of a company credit card and held her responsible for an overstocking situation in the warehouse. The worker maintained, by contrast, that the use of the card for personal expenses had long been tolerated and was common practice within the company and the owning family, whilst the charges relating to warehouse management had been formulated in generic terms.
The Tribunal upheld the claim and declared the dismissal null and void. The court reiterated that, during the period of maternity protection, termination is permitted only where the worker is guilty of serious fault, a notion that is distinct from and more demanding than mere just cause or subjective justified reason.
In the present case, the company failed to establish that requirement. The documentary evidence disclosed the existence of a company practice permitting members of the family and certain managers to use company cards for personal purposes within specified spending limits. As regards the warehouse charge, the Tribunal highlighted its generic nature and the absence of any evidence capable of demonstrating seriously faulty conduct on the part of the manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 May 2026
Industrial Relations
RSU: Halting Elections Already Under Way Is Unlawful and May Expose the Employer to Anti-Union Liability<\/strong>
Court of Cassation, Labour Division<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The case arose from the commencement of the procedure for the renewal of the RSU (Rappresentanza Sindacale Unitaria, Unitary Trade Union Representation) at a large retail company. After one trade union had called the elections, it decided to withdraw from the procedure. In the meantime, another union had already submitted its list of candidates. The company, considering the electoral procedure to have been validly suspended, failed to provide the Electoral Committee with the list of workers entitled to vote and to make premises available for the conduct of the elections. The lower courts classified this conduct as anti-union in nature.
The Supreme Court confirmed that conclusion, clarifying that once the electoral procedure for the renewal of the RSU has been initiated, the trade union that promoted it retains no power to revoke or suspend the elections. According to the Court, the electoral process is managed by the Electoral Committee, an autonomous body responsible for all activities necessary through to the announcement of results. It follows that the employer is required to cooperate exclusively with that body, providing the tools indispensable for the conduct of the ballot. Any refusal to cooperate constitutes anti-union conduct, as it prevents legitimately participating trade unions from taking part in the electoral process on a regular basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 May 2026
Dismissal for Just Cause
Persistent Lateness and Loss of Trust: Dismissal for Just Cause Upheld<\/strong>
Court of Cassation, Labour Division<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A worker employed in a technical capacity at a client of his employer challenged the dismissal for just cause, contesting the validity of the disciplinary procedure and arguing that the conduct alleged was not sufficiently serious to justify termination. Both the Tribunal and the Court of Appeal dismissed the claim, and the matter came before the Court of Cassation.
The Supreme Court confirmed the lawfulness of the termination, placing weight on the overall picture of the worker’s conduct. The proceedings had disclosed a pattern of systematic delays in commencing work, sometimes amounting to several hours, accompanied by failures in the management of assigned tasks and non-compliance with instructions received. Such conduct had also had repercussions on the company’s relationship with its client, undermining the reliability of the services provided.
The ruling reaffirms that the assessment of just cause does not depend on any single isolated episode, but on whether the overall conduct is capable of irreversibly compromising the relationship of trust. Where a worker’s behaviour manifests persistent non-compliance with contractual obligations and a clear disregard for the employer’s organisational authority, dismissal may be proportionate even in the absence of conduct amounting to a criminal offence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 May 2026
Contracts and Outsourcing
Public Procurement: A Worker’s Notification Is Sufficient to Trigger Wage Protection<\/strong>
Court of Cassation, Labour Division<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A worker employed under a public procurement contract brought proceedings to recover unpaid wages, seeking to hold the contracting public authority jointly liable. The Tribunal dismissed the claim against the public body and the Court of Appeal upheld that decision, finding that a prior communication sent by the worker was insufficient to activate the protection mechanism provided for in public contracts. The matter was then referred to the Supreme Court.
The Court of Cassation reversed the outcome of the proceedings, clarifying that the protection afforded to workers in public procurement contracts operates through an intervention mechanism that requires the contracting authority to act during the performance of the contract. For this purpose, it is not necessary for the worker to formulate a formally structured request, provide a detailed quantification of the claim, or expressly demand direct payment.
A notification of the wage default is sufficient to require the authority to carry out the necessary checks on the contractor and to adopt the measures provided for. A more restrictive interpretation of the provision would risk emptying the guarantee of its content and rendering it ineffective in precisely the situations for which it was introduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 May 2026
Individual Dismissal
Dismissal by Ordinary Email: The Means of Transmission Does Not Invalidate the Termination<\/strong>
Court of Cassation, Labour Division<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A worker challenged the disciplinary dismissal served on him by the company, arguing that it was invalid because it had been communicated by ordinary email rather than by the means prescribed by the applicable collective agreement. The claim was dismissed at first instance and on appeal, and the matter came before the Supreme Court.
In confirming the decisions of the lower courts, the Court clarified that the collective agreement provisions governing the means of transmitting disciplinary measures do not affect the validity of a dismissal where the termination was in any event set out in writing. The collective agreement provisions regulate the subsequent stage of communicating the act, not its formation.
According to the Court, dismissal is a unilateral act that takes effect upon receipt: the essential requirements are therefore the written form and the worker’s ability to become aware of the act. The use of a different channel of transmission, in the absence of a specific provision attaching invalidating consequences to such a choice, does not render the termination null and void or ineffective.
The ruling confirms a principle of practical significance: irregularities in the means by which a dismissal is communicated are not in themselves sufficient to invalidate the act where the communication has achieved its purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

21 May 2026
Industrial Action
Right to Strike: The Hague Court Recognises It as a Trade Union Freedom Protected by ILO Convention No. 87<\/strong>
International Court of Justice<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The request for an advisory opinion had been submitted by the International Labour Organisation following a long-standing dispute between trade union and employer representatives as to whether the right to strike could be regarded as one of the freedoms guaranteed by Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association.
In the advisory opinion issued on 21 May 2026, the International Court of Justice held that the right to strike falls within the protection afforded by the Convention, notwithstanding the absence of an express textual reference. According to the Court, the freedom of workers’ organisations to organise their activities and pursue their programmes encompasses the right to resort to collective work stoppages as an instrument for the protection of occupational interests.
The opinion also draws weight from the practice developed by ILO supervisory bodies, which have recognised strike action as an essential element of freedom of association for several decades. The Court nonetheless specified that the opinion does not define in precise terms the limits, modalities of exercise, or conditions of legitimacy of strike action, matters which remain subject to national legal frameworks and further applicable international instruments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 April 2026
Employment Contract – Ancillary Clauses
Non-Competition Clause Null Where the Territorial Limit Is Defined by Reference to the Effects of the Activity<\/strong>
Tribunal of Milan<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A worker challenged the interim injunction granted at the company’s request to enforce a non-competition clause entered into upon termination of the employment relationship. The challenge was based, among other grounds, on the nullity of the clause for indeterminacy of its territorial limit.
The Tribunal of Milan upheld the challenge and found the clause to be invalid. Rather than identifying specific geographical areas, the clause extended the prohibition to any place in which the worker’s activity might produce effects, even in part, irrespective of the location in which the work was performed.
According to the court, a formulation of this kind renders the territorial scope of the restriction indeterminate and prevents the worker from ascertaining with sufficient certainty the actual extent of the prohibition assumed. The provision therefore conflicts with the requirement that a non-competition clause should allow the worker, from the moment of signing, to make a clear assessment of future employment prospects.
The ruling confirms the established approach whereby clauses that link the prohibition to the effects of the worker’s activity, particularly in the current technological and digital context, risk expanding the territorial scope of the clause in an unforeseeable manner and thereby rendering it wholly null and void.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

4 March 2026Null DismissalDismissal of a Pregnant Manager Is Null Without Proof of Serious FaultTribunal of Treviso A manager brought proceedings to challenge the disciplinary dismissal served on her during pregnancy. The company alleged that she had made personal use of a company credit card and held her responsible for an overstocking situation in the … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[666],"tags":[],"area":[],"collana":[],"competenza":[],"class_list":["post-70032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nInsight No. 393 of june 01, 2026 - LEXIA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""Rights and Duties in the Employment Relationship" - Insight No. 393, June 01, 2026 - Discover More - LEXIA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lexia.it\/en\/2026\/05\/29\/insight-393-june-01-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Insight No. 393 of june 01, 2026 - 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