DLP Insights

The Legislative Decree on contracts passed by the Council of Ministers reforms article 2103 of the Civil Code including the possibility for employers to unilaterally change a worker’s job duties within the same level and contractual legal employment category. Thus it will no longer be necessary to perform an evaluation on the equivalence of the duties for the purpose of clarifying the legitimacy of ius variandi.

In the new provisions for temporary work contracts, contained in the implementing legislative decree of the Jobs Act on the overhaul of contract types, the referral to applicable “objective cases” governed by Ministerial Decree of 23 October 2004 was not spared. It in turn referred to activity of a non-continuous nature already identified by a Royal Decree of 1923.

The code of contracts brings some significant changes to laws regarding part-time work. To cite only the most important ones, in terms of overtime the reform states that the employer’s request for performance of overtime may regard more than just single days, but also weeks or months and, even without specific collective provisions, the employer can ask the employee to perform additional work compared to the reduced hours, for up to 25% of the agreed upon weekly hours of work.

The draft of the legislative decree on simplifications, rejected in its first draft by the Government last 11 June, enacting article 1, paragraph 7, letter f) of Law 183/2014, rewrites the text of the Workers' Statute in terms of remote controls. In its new formulation basically the trade union and/or authorisation procedure handled by the local employment office (DTl) for installation of audio-visual systems shall remain the same, while provisions will be introduced regarding work instruments.

The enactment of the contract with increased protection based on seniority raises interpretation questions regarding the statute of limitations for remuneration due for employment.