{"id":72482,"date":"2026-07-20T10:17:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T08:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lexia.it\/?p=72482"},"modified":"2026-07-20T10:17:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T08:17:31","slug":"insight-399-july-20-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lexia.it\/en\/2026\/07\/20\/insight-399-july-20-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"”Rights and Duties in Employment Relationships” – Insight No. 399 of july 20, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

1 June 2026
Null dismissal
Retaliatory dismissal: pretextual charges may lead to reinstatement<\/strong>
Court of Cassation, Labour Division<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A worker had been dismissed after refusing to carry out activities outside her duties and to work during a period of wage integration (cassa integrazione). The employer had then alleged a delay of a few hours in notifying the continuation of sick leave and purported administrative errors. The Tribunal had declared the termination unlawful, whilst the Court of Appeal had found it null and void as retaliatory, ordering reinstatement and compensation.
The Court of Cassation confirmed the decision. The retaliatory nature of a dismissal may be established through serious, precise, and consistent circumstantial evidence. In the case examined, the manifest pretextual nature of the charges, the prior intent to end the relationship, and the request to return the company keys demonstrated that the dismissal had been decided as a reaction to the worker’s legitimate conduct.
The Court further reaffirmed that, in order to establish the employer’s liability for health-related damages, it is not necessary to prove a single unified pattern of persecution. It is sufficient that the employer created or tolerated a stress-inducing environment, even through isolated acts of conduct, capable of harming the worker’s dignity and psychophysical integrity.
The ruling calls on companies to verify the genuine substance of disciplinary charges and to intervene promptly on the organisational conditions that may give rise to stress and personal harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

26 May 2026
Working time, holidays and leave
Even managerial staff have working time limits: health remains the boundary that cannot be crossed<\/strong>
Court of Cassation, Labour Division<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A hypermarket director worked approximately twelve hours a day, six days a week, with minimal breaks and extensive commercial, organisational, and personnel management responsibilities. The workload, sustained over a number of years, had caused depressive and anxiety disorders. Following dismissal for exceeding the sick leave entitlement period, the worker brought proceedings. Both the Tribunal and the Court of Appeal recognised the company’s liability, the right to compensation for overtime, and reinstatement.
The Court of Cassation confirmed the decision. Even staff with managerial functions, though not subject to ordinary working time limits, cannot be deployed beyond the threshold of reasonableness. The assessment does not depend solely on the number of hours worked, but also on the quality and intensity of the commitment required. Where the workload becomes particularly burdensome and wearing, the worker is entitled to overtime compensation, which cannot be absorbed by the managerial allowance.
The Court further reaffirmed that absences attributable to illness caused by a harmful work organisation cannot be counted towards the sick leave entitlement period. Where the causal link is established, a dismissal founded on those absences is unlawful and may result in reinstatement.
For companies, a managerial role does not eliminate the obligation to monitor workloads and working hours: it is necessary to prevent rhythms incompatible with health, even where the employee enjoys broad autonomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9 June 2026
Pay and benefits
Individual superminimum: absorption remains the rule absent a specific contractual provision to the contrary<\/strong>
Court of Cassation, Labour Division<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The dispute arose from a claim brought by a number of workers challenging the company’s decision to absorb the individual superminimum (superminimo, a contractual top-up element above the minimum pay scale) recognised at the time of hiring, and seeking restitution of the amounts withheld. After the claim was upheld at first instance, the Court of Appeal dismissed it and the Court of Cassation confirmed that decision.
The Supreme Court reaffirms that the individual superminimum is, as a general rule, a component of remuneration that may be absorbed by subsequent pay increases. That rule may be departed from only where there exists a specific provision, whether individual or collective, conferring a non-absorbable character on the superminimum.
It therefore falls to the worker to demonstrate the existence of the agreement or other source justifying the full retention of the element. The prolonged failure to apply absorption is not, in itself, sufficient to establish the existence of a company practice; what is required is consistent, uniform, and generalised conduct on the part of the employer. Furthermore, clauses in subsequent renewals of the collective agreement do not automatically alter the regime of superminima already granted, unless there is an express provision to that effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 June 2026
Individual dismissal
Dismissal without prior disciplinary challenge: reinstatement does not follow automatically in small businesses<\/strong>
Court of Cassation, Labour Division<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A worker had been dismissed for just cause following an unjustified absence lasting several days. The employer had, however, communicated the termination directly, without a prior written disciplinary charge and without allowing the employee to put forward a defence.
The Court of Appeal had declared the dismissal unlawful, but had excluded reinstatement on the ground that the company employed fewer than fifteen workers. The worker then sought full reinstatement protection, arguing that the omission of any disciplinary charge rendered the dismissal null and void.
The Court of Cassation dismissed the appeal. The total absence of a disciplinary charge eliminates the entire disciplinary procedure and renders the dismissal without justification. However, this defect does not constitute a nullity of such a kind as to require reinstatement in every case.
In small businesses the size threshold remains decisive. Where the workforce falls below the prescribed limit, the absence of a disciplinary charge does not allow that threshold to be overcome and results only in the economic protection provided for employers of that size.
The ruling requires companies always to initiate the disciplinary procedure before terminating employment. At the same time, it clarifies that, in businesses below the threshold, even a fundamental procedural omission does not automatically lead to the restoration of the employment relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4 June 2026
Industrial relations
Trade union disputes: the employer may address employees but without pressure or disparagement<\/strong>
Tribunal of Bologna<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Following a corporate merger, the company and trade union representatives had begun discussions on the industrial plan, the performance bonus, and training. During the dispute, the employer circulated communications to employees on the state of the negotiations, the strike action taken, and the reasons for the failure to reach an agreement. The trade unions reported the company’s initiative as anti-union conduct, considering it an attempt to bypass and discredit them. The claim had been dismissed at the summary stage and the unions had lodged an opposition.
The Tribunal confirmed the dismissal of the claim. The employer may communicate directly with employees even during a trade union dispute, provided it acts with fairness and good faith. The communication becomes unlawful where it obstructs the negotiating process, disseminates false information, delegitimises the representatives, or affects the exercise of the right to strike.
In the case examined, the company’s messages expressed its position in respectful terms, without personal attacks or inaccurate information. The negotiations had continued and no concrete limitation of trade union prerogatives or of participation in strike action had emerged.
The ruling clarifies that employer neutrality does not require silence. Companies may inform workers, but must avoid pressure, misleading accounts, and communications capable of distorting the free conduct of trade union relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15 April 2026
Employment contract – Ancillary clauses
Stability clause: a penalty applicable only to the worker is null and void<\/strong>
Tribunal of Rome<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A worker, following his resignation, claimed payment of wage differentials, overtime compensation, and restitution of a sum withheld by the company in application of a stability clause (patto di stabilit\u00e0). The employer contested the claims, arguing that the additional hours had not been proven and that the clause was valid.
The Tribunal recognised only two hours of weekly overtime, on the basis of a witness’s evidence, and dismissed the remaining claims for Sunday work, additional monthly payments, holiday pay, leave, and TFR (trattamento di fine rapporto, the statutory severance entitlement), as insufficiently substantiated.
The ruling is of particular significance as regards the stability clause. The clause provided for a penalty payable only by the worker in the event of resignation without just cause. According to the court, such a provision creates an unjustified imbalance: the employer already has the protection afforded by the notice period or the corresponding indemnity in lieu, whilst the worker remains the party most exposed to the economic consequences of termination.
The penalty was accordingly declared unlawful and the company was ordered to repay Euro 1,612.69. In practical terms, stability clauses must be structured with proportionate obligations and advantages on both sides: a unilateral penalty, lacking genuine contractual balance, risks failing to withstand judicial scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12 June 2026
Social safety nets
NASpI and self-employment: no repayment required for months preceding the commencement of activity<\/strong>
Tribunal of Milan<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A worker, following her dismissal, had received NASpI (Nuova Assicurazione Sociale per l’Impiego, the statutory unemployment benefit) until March 2021. In April of the following year she had commenced a self-employed activity, notifying INPS promptly, whereupon the Institute had discontinued the benefit. Years later, the Institute had demanded repayment of Euro 2,263.02 in respect of the first three months of 2021, arguing that the professional income generated during the year required the benefit to be regarded as having lapsed from 1 January.
The Tribunal upheld the claim. The mere holding of a VAT registration number, in the absence of any activity or income, does not extinguish the right to NASpI. Furthermore, the commencement of a self-employed activity may affect the benefit only from that point onwards: it does not permit recovery of amounts legitimately received when the state of unemployment was still genuine.
The ruling therefore excludes the possibility that annual income may cause the lapse of entitlement to be backdated to the beginning of the calendar year. In the case examined, the worker had promptly notified the commencement of her new activity and owed nothing in respect of the preceding period.
In practical terms, INPS may not demand repayment of monthly instalments received prior to the actual commencement of self-employment merely because the total income for the year exceeds the prescribed limits. Prompt notification and accurate indication of the estimated income nonetheless remain essential.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 June 2026Null dismissalRetaliatory dismissal: pretextual charges may lead to reinstatementCourt of Cassation, Labour Division A worker had been dismissed after refusing to carry out activities outside her duties and to work during a period of wage integration (cassa integrazione). The employer had then alleged a delay of a few hours in notifying the continuation … 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-72482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nInsight No. 399 of July 20, 2026 - LEXIA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""Rights and Duties in the Employment Relationship" - Insight No. 399, July 20, 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\/07\/20\/insight-399-july-20-2026\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Insight No. 399 of July 20, 2026 - 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