From the latest changes in the Italian employment sector, to the impact of the economic crisis on this legal practice, our next thought leader, Angelo Zambelli, co-managing partner of Grimaldi Studio Legale, gives his outlook on the changing landscape of employment law and his thought leadership in this ever-evolving legal world.
With almost 30 years’ experience in this sector, what would you say have been the key changes in Italian employment law over that time?
The key changes over that time include the wide reforms recently enacted in 2015 that involved almost all areas of employment law in Italy, and in particular the protection of employees in case of unfair dismissal and the industrial relations systems.
In fact, the economic crisis that was faced since 2008 has led the Government to enact a very significant reform of the protections of the newly hired employees (hired from March 7th 2015) in case of unfair dismissal, reducing the cases of reinstatement in the event of unfair dismissal and providing the newly hired employees with a progressive increase of protection during the employment relationship, with an indemnity that will increase along with the employees’ length of service.
In particular, the Legislative Decree has introduced a ‘dual track system’: in the event of unfair dismissal the newly hired employees are subject to the regulations recently entered into force, whilst to the employees hired prior to the enforceability of the same, the previous and more protective labour regulations continue to apply.
In addition, the reform enacted by the Government in 2015 also restricted the use of CIG (Wage Guarantee Fund) which was largely requested for by the Unions during the bargaining processes within reorganisations: this restriction has indeed entailed a change in industrial relations as the Unions are no longer able to ask the employer to use this cushioning system in a significant number of situations - as it happened in the past - as a matter of negotiation.
As the leader of your firm’s employment law team, what are the most common issues that arise in the Italian labour law landscape and how do you overcome these on a daily basis?
Italy, together with the other Southern Europe countries (such as Greece, Spain and Portugal), has been one of the countries most affected by the economic crisis. In recent years there has been an increase in the number of restructuring plans having an impact on the workforce employed. Although the Italian economy is slowly recovering, companies continue to put in place such plans, thus seeking the assistance of lawyers in implementing them. We are therefore often requested by clients to represent them in front of the Unions within the reorganisation processes and relevant downsizing activities of subsidiaries of Italian and international groups.
Having won several awards in the Labour sector, what would you say have been your biggest achievements pertaining to labour law?
Apart from the various awards I have received in my career, I would say that the biggest achievements regard one restructuring process I have managed from a labour law perspective.
In particular, I represented Alitalia, the pre-eminent air carrier in Italy, in trade Union negotiations and labour law issues connected with the purchase of the air carrier’s assets; the biggest deal that had ever taken place in Italian Industrial Relations, and led to hiring more than 10,000 employees of the 20,000 existing personnel in the former Italian company.
I also successfully represented such air carrier in the first 12 judicial proceedings before the Labour Court of Milan against the selection criteria agreed to with the Trade Unions. These agreements, which were drafted and concluded with Trade Unions with the assistance of my department, allowed CAI to select and engage 10,000 employees.
As a thought leader, how have you helped monitor the developments and changes of the employment law legislation?
I would say that I have helped monitor the developments and changes of the employment law legislation by publishing several books on employment law and Trade Union issues, the latest of which are: Trade Union Law – Industrial Relations after the Jobs Act (2015), Individual and Collective Dismissals Before and After the Jobs Act (2015), Collective Dismissal (2014), E-Book on Trade Union Law (2012), Trade Union Law and Industrial Relations (2012), Dismissals and Disciplinary Procedure (2012) and Labour Procedure Case Law Collection (2010).
In addition, I am also an established lecturer at many conferences organised by Il Sole 24 Ore, Synergia, AIDP (Associazione Italiana per la Direzione del Personale), AGI (Associazione Giuslavoristi Italiani), IBA (International Bar Association), ELA (Employment Law Alliance) and ABA (American Bar Association).
Do you think there are still big steps to go for Italian employment legislation? How do you envision a solution?
During the last years, the wide reforms enacted have significantly changed the employment law landscape in Italy. However, there are still big steps to go for Italian employment legislation, such as the introduction of the whistleblowing legislation in the private sector, and a smart working legislation, both currently under debate in the Italian Parliament.
As far as whistleblowing is concerned, it is important to highlight that for a long time in Italy there was not a specific legislation on whistleblowing. This is now slowly changing. In fact, Law 190/2012 introduced a specific legislation on this matter, although it only refers to civil servants. In addition, Legislative Decree no. 72/2015 (implementing the Directive 2013/36/EU) - that entered into force in June 2015 - has introduced the obligation for banks and financial institutions, as well as for their parent companies, to adopt specific procedures for the internal reporting by personnel of acts or facts that may constitute a violation of the relevant activity.
In your IBA publication ‘Labour and Employment Compliance Handbook’, what are the primary considerations raised in the section pertaining to Italian law?
The ‘Labour and Employment Compliance Handbook’ provides an accurate and detailed knowledge of labour and employment laws. In the last version of the Handbook I analysed all the new reforms enacted in 2015 in Italy, including unfair dismissals, maternity and paternity leave, the reduction of the number of different types of employment contracts and employees monitoring legislation.
