Referendum, first question: Jobs act and redundancies

The first of the four labour referendums, promoted by the CGIL, calls for the cancellation of the discipline on dismissals of the contract with increasing protections introduced in 2015 with the Jobs act of the Renzi government, applied to those hired from 7 March 2015 onwards. In companies with more than 15 employees, in several cases of unlawful dismissal, there is no reinstatement in the workplace provided for by Article 18 of the 1970 Workers' Statute, but economic compensation of up to a maximum of 36 months. The goal of those promoting the referendum is to repeal the rule and 'prevent dismissals without just cause or justified reason'. The Jobs act, which came into force on 7 March 2015, introduced the indefinite-term contract with increasing protections in relation to length of service. In cases of unlawful dismissal, it provided for the abolition of reinstatement in the workplace replaced by a 'certain and increasing' economic compensation commensurate with length of service. Currently, there is no reinstatement but compensation in these cases: in the case of individual dismissals for economic/organisational reasons (so-called dismissals for objective justifications); in disciplinary dismissals; in collective dismissals if the criteria for choosing the workers to be dismissed are violated; if the dismissal is made in the case of illness before the expiry of the so-called 'comporto period'. There remains reinstatement in the workplace in cases of discriminatory dismissal (e.g. for reasons related to political or religious views, made during maternity leave or announced orally) and in specific cases of unjustified disciplinary dismissal.