Jobs Act: dismissal for cause

In a recent decision, the Supreme Court ruled on the scope of reinstatement protection in the event of dismissal for cause provided by Article 3 of the Jobs Act, applicable to employees hired after 7 March 2017.

Despite the rule providing for reinstatement to be linked to the non-existence of disputed material facts, the Supreme Court considered that reinstatement should occur not only when the material facts of a case did not take place, but also when they are insignificant from a disciplinary perspective.

The Supreme Court underlined that if the material facts are not unlawful, it must be considered by law as if they had not occurred.

The decision applies principles established under a previous legislative framework (ie, the Workers' Statute as amended by the Fornero Law in 2012), which it was thought had been replaced by the Jobs Act in 2017.

At the same time, the Supreme Court clarified that an evaluation of proportionality between an employee's unlawful conduct and their dismissal cannot be considered for reinstatement purposes.

An evaluation of disproportionality may give rise only to compensation in the amounts recently increased by the Constitutional Court.

For further information on this topic please contact Annamaria Pedroni at Stanchi Studio Legale by telephone (+39 02 546 9522) or email (a.pedroni@stanchilaw.it).