The Court of Cassation, with Order No. 1364 of 20 January 2025, clarified important aspects relating to the obligation of repêchage in the event of dismissal for justified objective reasons. In particular, the Court of Cassation – excluding the reinstatement of the employee – ruled that the obligation of repêchage does not require the employer to relocate the employee to lower tasks in the workforce if there are no tasks compatible with the dismissed employee’s professional profile.
The case originates from an appeal brought by an employee, who held the position of export salesman, who was dismissed following the cancellation of his position. Challenging the dismissal, the worker claimed that the company had not adequately explored all the possibilities of outplacement within the company, thus requesting reinstatement.
In the course of the proceedings, the Court of First Instance had held that the dismissal was unlawful from a procedural point of view, and had also recognised that the repêchage obligation had not been complied with. However, the Supreme Court, reforming the first instance ruling, established that the search for alternative duties should not extend to positions that are not strictly compatible with the employee’s professionalism.
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