Law no. 199 dated 29 October 2016, which amends illegal intermediation and exploitation of work set forth by section 603-bis of the Italian Criminal Code was published in edition 257 of the Official Gazette on 3 November 2016, just five years after its introduction in the Criminal Code by Law no. 148/2011. The amendments went into force on 4 November 2016. It should be noted that the penalties set forth by the above section are applied against anyone who provides intermediation services to recruit workers for third party employees and whoever takes on, employs or uses workers even through intermediation services, and exploits the same or takes advantage of persons in need. Whilst in the past the offence was considered to exist only in cases where the facts were committed using violence or threats, according to the new law the offence is considered to exist even without violence or threats, that are considered to be aggravating circumstances. The conditions considered to be “exploitation indicators” have also been modified and, for the specifics of the crime, may also exist separately. In particular, these conditions are: (i) repeated payment of wages in breach of national or regional collective bargaining agreements concluded by the most representative trade unions at a national level, or which are at least disproportionate with respect to the quantity and quality of work performed; (ii) repeated breach of the law on working times, rest periods, weekly time off, mandatory long-term leave and holiday leave; (iii) breach of workplace health and safety regulations; (iv) subjecting workers to degrading working conditions, supervision or housing.
