The Constitutional Court introduces a new loophole in the employment law: by sentence number 22 of 2024, it declared the constitutional illegitimacy of article 2, first paragraph, of legislative decree no. 4 March 2015. 23, regarding the term “expressly», thus allowing the reintegration into the workplace of dismissed workers and thus removing the limits on new hires (with the contract with increasing protections introduced by the same decree). The Employment Act distinguishes between dismissals for economic reasons (which strictly exclude reinstatement) and void dismissals, for which the employee may be forced to return. Well, for the Consulta, the Employment Law “did not provide for – and therefore did not allow – the distinction between express nullities and non-express nullities, but envisaged a distinction only for unjustified disciplinary dismissals”.
“This is a decision that certainly has a significant impact on the protection of unfairly dismissed workers. – explains Francesco Fraschini, labor law lawyer, to Repubblica – I am thinking, for example, of the case of retaliatory dismissal, which occurs with a specious complaint, simply because the worker has asserted his right. The law expressly speaks of discriminatory dismissal, and not of retaliatory dismissal, which is rather an elaboration of case law, which will now be even more justified to assert before the courts, even in cases of dismissals of workers benefiting from increasing protections. .
The reactions
“We are happy that this sentence has been pronounced,” declared Ivana Veronese, UIL confederal secretary. “This sentence – he specifies – is a step forward.” Satisfaction also from CISL. “We think it is acceptable because it extends the protection of workers also to cases of invalidity not expressly provided for by law,” underlines Confederal Secretary Mattia Pirulli. This will have “a positive operational impact without affecting the founding principles of the contract with the increasing protections which have too often been the subject of criticism of the employment law”. The CGIL, however, reserves the right to comment in detail, satisfied with the sentence but against the whole of Legislative Decree n.23.
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