Until 30 April 2022, to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 infection, anyone working in the private sector (including employees over 50, without prejudice to the vaccination obligation and related sanctions) is required to possess and submit a Covid-19 green pass (recovery, vaccination or test to access workplaces). This provision applies to those who carry out any work or training, including those under the employer’s executive power or volunteers, including those under external contracts. Those exempt from vaccination based on the appropriate medical certificate issued according to the criteria defined in the Ministry of Health circular are excluded. Workers who declare they do not possess the above certification or do not have it when entering the workplace are unjustified absentees until they submit the certification. This must be done no later than 30 April 2022, without disciplinary consequences and keeping their position. No pay or other compensation or emolument shall be due for days of unjustified absence. After the fifth day of unjustified absence, the employer may stipulate an employment contract for replacement, but for up to ten working days, renewable until 30 April 2022. The worker is allowed to return immediately to the workplace as soon as they have the necessary certification, if the employer has not already entered into an employment contract to replace them. This is under art. 9-septies of Decree Law no. 52/2021, converted into Law, with amendments, by Law no. 87/2021 and its subsequent amendments and additions (see, most recently, Law Decree no. 1/2022 as amended by the annex to conversion law 18/2022 and Decree Law no. 24/2022).
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On 5 January 2022, the Council of Ministers, based on a proposal from the Prime Minister and Minister of Health, approved a law-decree that introduces “urgent measures for dealing with the COVID-19 emergency, in particular in workplaces, schools and institutes of higher learning”. The decree-law was published in the Official Gazette last 7 January and became effective 8 January.
According to what the Council of Ministers declared through its own press release, the new measures were aimed at “slowing the growth curve of cases related to the pandemic and provide greater protection to those categories which have greater exposure and greater risk of hospitalisation”.
The introduced measures include the extension from 8 January 2022 to next 15 June, of the vaccine obligation for Italian citizens and other Member State citizens resident in Italy as well as other non-EU citizens or persons in violation of the laws regarding entry into and residency in Italy who are fifty years old. The obligation in question “does not apply in cases of a verified health risk in relation to specific documented clinical conditions, attested by the patient’s primary care physician or vaccinating physician, in relation to the Ministry of Health’s circular letters concerning exemption to the anti SARS-Cov-2 vaccination; in such cases the vaccine can be omitted or deferred”.
Furthermore, according to the Decree, as of next 15 February and until next 15 June, all workers with an age equal to or greater than 50, must possess and show a Covid-19 green pass certification of vaccination or recovery (so-called “reinforced Green Pass”) to access job sites.
For the periods in which the vaccination is omitted or deferred, the employer will assign the worker in question to duties, even different, with no decrease in remuneration, in order to prevent spread of cases.
Moreover, the Decree in question states, in art. 3, that “the employer (editor’s note regardless of the size requirement) can suspend the worker for the duration corresponding to that of the employment contract stipulated for the substitution, but for a period not greater than ten work days, renewable until the aforesaid tern of 31 March 2022, without any disciplinary consequences and with the right of the suspended worker to keep his/her job”.
The control procedures will remain those currently in use, the workers who communicate that they are not in possession of a reinforced Green Pass or do not possess one at the time of access, shall be considered unjustified absences. They shall have the right to keep their job without any disciplinary consequence until presentation of the same, and by 15 June 2022.
Workers without a reinforced Green Pass shall be denied access to the workplace. Violation of this ban exposes the worker to a fine from 600 euro to 1500 euro, without prejudice to the disciplinary consequences according to the respective sector rules. The fine from 400 euro to 1,000 euro for employers for failure to comply with the control measures remains unchanged.
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On 24 December 2021, Decree Law 221, entitled “Extension of the state of national emergency and further measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic” (the “Decree“), was published in the Official Gazette, effective from 25 December.
Because of the health risk associated with the spread of COVID-19, the state of emergency declared by the Council of Ministers on 31 January 2020 was extended to 31 March 2022.
As a result, specific provisions in the labour field to contain the COVID19 virus have been extended to that date.
Green Pass in the workplace
Until 31 March 2022, public and private sector workers are required to hold and display a Green Pass when entering the workplace .
Therefore,
The basic Green Pass, i.e. the certificate issued following a swab (molecular or antigenic), vaccination or recovery from Covid, is sufficient. Workers exempt from the vaccination campaign continue to be excluded.
The Green Pass is required to participate in in-person training courses.
Simplified remote working procedure
The simplified procedure for reporting remote working has been extended to 31 March 2022. Until that date, the individual agreement required by the ordinary regulations of Law 81/2017 is unnecessary, and the electronic and massive notification to the Ministry of Labour is sufficient.
Health monitoring
The health monitoring obligation for workers who are more exposed to the risk of contagion due to age, immunosuppression and previous Covid-19 infection or other illnesses that make them particularly vulnerable remains confirmed. The company or INAIL physician can ascertain the suitability of such workers for the task to which they are assigned. Unsuitability for the job does not justify employment termination by the employer.
Work performance of vulnerable persons
Until 22 February, vulnerable workers will continue to remote work under the Collective Agreements, if any. This can occur by assigning the worker to a different task included in the same category or classification, as defined by applicable contracts and specific vocational training carried out remotely. A decree of the Minister of Health, in agreement with the Ministers of Labour and Social Policy and Public Administration, will be adopted within 30 days from the entry into force of the Decree (i.e. by next 24 January). This will identify the chronic illnesses with a lower level of clinical compensation and implications of severity to be considered.
Parental leave
The provisions of art. 9 of Decree Law no. 146/2021, converted with amendments into Law 215/2021 ( “Fiscal Decree”), which regulate parental leave during the emergency period, have been extended until 31 March.
The possibility for workers who are parents of cohabiting children under 16 to take parental leave if suspended from in-person teaching, covid-19 infection or quarantine, is extended. These periods are compensated at 50 per cent of pay until the child reaches 14 years of age.
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With its message no. 3589 of 21 October 2021, INPS provided clarifications on the use of its institutional portal “Greeenpass50+” for the massive control of the Covid-19 Green Certificate, “Green Pass“), by private and public employers with more than 50 employees who are not NoiPa members.
The service provided by INPS – which obtains the information by directly querying the DGC National Platform – (PN-DGC) – allows the asynchronous verification of the Green Pass referred to the list of tax codes of its employees, known to the Institute at the time of the request.
The service can be used by interested companies after having been accredited by the Institute following the website procedure (accessible in the companies and consultants’ service section) by providing the tax codes of the checkers, i.e. those authorised to check the workers’ Green Pass, who will then be enabled.
The service includes three distinct phases:
Through this system, INPS will daily use Uniemens flows to identify the employees of accredited companies and check their possession of the Green Pass, while checkers can daily view all the company employees, checking the Green Pass only for those who are working.
The response will be a list of the names provided and the verification outcome, expressed by a red cross or a green tick.
If the system specifies that the worker does not have a valid Green Pass, they have the right to request that their certificate is checked when accessing the workplace using the Verifica C19 application.
In the Official Gazette no. 246 of 14 October 2021, the Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers of 12 October 2021 (the “Prime Ministerial Decree” or the “Decree“) was published.
The Prime Ministerial Decree, supplementing and updating the first Decree of 17 June, sets out the verification methods carried out by public and private employers, from 15 October, on the Covid-19 “Green Pass” held by employees.
The Decree explains the new Green Pass verification functions, which complement the “VerificaC-19” app already used to access places where it is mandatory to exhibit the certificate.
In the private sector, daily and automated verification of Green Pass possession can take place through:
The checks only concern the staff in service for whom access to the workplace is provided on the day on which the verification is carried out, excluding employees absent for different reasons (e.g. holidays, illness, leave) or are remote working.
Checking must be started at the employer’s request and made available only to authorised personnel on the employer’s behalf.
If the check’s outcome does not result in possession of a valid Green Pass, the employee may request a new verification of their certificate when accessing the workplace through the “Verifica C-19” app.
Finally, the Decree provides important clarifications on personal data protection. It specifies that when carrying out checks, the employer
Please note that the Data Protection Authority has expressed a favourable opinion on the new Prime Ministerial Decree’s guidelines, [web. doc. no. 9707431], confirming its compliance with personal data protection regulations.
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