The Legislative Decree 104/2022 on ‘Implementation of Directive (EU) 2019/1152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union‘ of June 27, 2022 has been published in the Italian Official Gazette.
The measure is scheduled to enter into force on 13 August 2022, although the provisions of Decree 104/2022 apply to all employment relationships already established as of 1 August 2022 (art.16).
What’s new in the field of posting of workers abroad
The main innovations introduced in the Legislative Decree No. 104 of 27 June 2022 concern the information that the employer will have to provide to workers posted abroad as part of a transnational provision of services. Article 4 of Decree 104/2022 amended the provisions of the Legislative Decree No. 152 of 26 May 1997 on the information that the employer must provide to the worker.
A worker who is posted in the context of a transnational provision of services or sent on a mission to another Member State or to a third country for a period longer than four consecutive weeks must be informed by the employer in writing, prior to his departure, of any change in the elements of the employment relationship, as well as of the following additional information:
- the country or countries in which the work abroad is to be performed and its anticipated duration;
- the currency in which remuneration will be paid;
- the benefits in cash or kind relating to the work assignments; where applicable, information as to whether repatriation is provided for, and if so, the conditions governing the worker’s repatriation;
- the remuneration to which the worker is entitled in accordance with the applicable law of the host Member State;
- where applicable, any allowances specific to posting and any arrangements for reimbursing expenditure on travel, board and lodging;
- the link to the single official national website developed by the host Member State pursuant to Article 5(2) of Directive 2014/67/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council.
Why should employers abide by the new provision
The above information is supplementary to and in addition to the essential information that the employer must provide to the worker at the beginning of the employment relationship (nature and duration of the employment, organisation of working time, remuneration, applicable collective agreement, the title, level, nature or category of the employment attributed to the worker, etc.).
We believe it is necessary to emphasise that it is mandatory for the employer to provide employees sent abroad for periods of more than four consecutive weeks, with the remuneration due to the posted worker under the contract applicable in the country of destination, among other information.
The document containing the information referred to in Article 4 of Legislative Decree no. 104 of 27 June 2022, which transposes EU Directive 1152/2019 into Italian law, will therefore be considered mandatory and must be made available to the authorities of the host country upon request (under Directive 2014/67/EU).
Exemptions from Legislative Decree 104/2022
The obligation to disclose information that the employer must provide to the employee does not apply to employees of public administrations serving abroad, nor to seafarers and fishery workers.
Sanctions in case of non-compliance
Paragraph 4 of Article 5 of the new Decree 104/2022 specifies that, in the event of failure to provide information or in the event that the information is provided late or incompletely, an administrative fine ranging from €250 to €1,500 shall be imposed for each worker concerned.
