CGIL launches 4 referendums, Jobs act in the crosshairs: which regulations are contested

A CGIL delegation with Secretary General Landini filed four referendum questions on labour issues with the Supreme Court today. In the crosshairs above all the Jobs act. There are three themes and four questions. The first two are on dismissals (one on the overcoming of the contract with increasing protections and the other on compensation in small businesses, provided for by the Jobs act); the third is on the reintroduction of the causes for fixed-term contracts (in this case the legislative reference is to a delegation of the Jobs act but also to the rule introduced by the Meloni government that leaves the individual parties the possibility of indicating needs of a technical, organisational or productive nature); the fourth is on contracts, on the responsibility of the principal on accidents.

"We are waiting for the formal publication in the official gazette of the questions we have submitted, but we think we will be able to collect the 500,000 signatures needed for the referendum by the summer," said the CGIL number one, after submitting the questions to the Supreme Court. The goal is to vote in the spring of 2025.

The term Jobs Act informally denotes a reform of labour law in Italy aimed at flexibilising the labour market. Promoted and implemented by the Renzi government through the enactment of several legislative measures, it was completed in 2016. 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. And in cases of unlawful dismissal it provided for the abolition of reinstatement in the workplace, replaced by economic compensation commensurate, precisely, with seniority (from a minimum of 4 to a maximum of 24 months' pay).

The main contents of the Jobs act are: the introduction of the indefinite-term contract with increasing protections and the possibility for the employer to dismiss an employee without just cause, providing for the application of Article 18 of the Workers' Statute after the first three years of the relationship, but reinstatement in the workplace is limited to some particular cases, being replaced in general by the right to obtain an indemnity by way of compensation; fixed-term contracts can be extended up to a maximum of five times (the sixth extension triggers permanent employment); the creation of the NASpI (New Social Insurance for Employment); a plan of incentives and decontribution for companies to encourage permanent hiring.