Notice on multiple complaint CPLT(2013)02870

Notice in English (can be automatically translated)

The European Commission refers to a series of complaints it has received concerning the lack of effective measures to prevent the abuse of successive fixed-term contracts in Italy and lack of penalties in cases of abuse.      

The employees and employment relationships concerned are: 

• staff employed in the Italian operatic and orchestral foundations;
• fixed-term contracts concluded with teachers and administrative and technical auxiliary staff ('ATA staff') in order to fill temporary vacancies;
• fixed-term contracts concluded with healthcare staff, including managers, in the National Health Service; 
• fixed term contracts concluded with workers in the higher art, music and dance education ('AFAM') for which the overseeing authority is the Ministero dell'Istruzione Università e Ricerca ('MIUR'), the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research;
• fixed-term contracts concluded with staff in public research institutions; 
• employment relationships between agricultural employers and fixed-term workers as defined by Article 12, subparagraph 2 of Legislative Decree No 375 of 11 August 1993, in particular forestry workers; 
• discontinuous voluntary firefighters who are called up by the national fire brigade. 

Some of these workers also complained about less favourable working conditions compared to permanent workers, in particular as regards the recognition of services provided under fixed-term contracts.

The Commission examined the relevant Italian law and concluded that it was not in compliance with clause 4 and clause 5 of the Framework Agreement on fixed-term work annexed to Directive 1999/70/EC[1]. Therefore, it decided to open infringement procedure (INFR(2014)4231)[2] with the sending of a letter of formal notice on 17 July 2019. An additional letter of formal notice was issued on 3 December 2020.

On 19 April 2023 the Commission sent a reasoned opinion to Italy, as the explanations provided by Italy in its replies to the letters of formal notice sent on 17 July 2019 and 3 December 2020 were not satisfactory. Italy has sent several replies to the reasoned opinion, most recently on 29 November 2024.  

Issues that have been addressed 

In respect of the following issues raised in case INFR(2014)4231, the Commission is pleased to inform complainants that following the reasoned opinion sent by the Commission, Italy has notified further measures and information addressing the identified breaches. In light of the replies to the reasoned opinion, the Commission considers that Italy has sufficiently addressed the following aspects:

• To address the lack of full compensation for damage / loss of opportunity due to misuse of successive fixed-term contracts, Italy amended Article 36(5) of Legislative Decree No 165/2001. Following that amendment, workers are entitled, in the case of misuse of successive fixed-term employment contracts or relationships, to compensation equivalent to between four- and 24-months’ worth of salary, depending on the seriousness of the infringement, the number of successive contracts between the parties and the overall duration of the relationship. This lump sum compensation is without prejudice to the worker’s right to prove that they have suffered greater damage. In the Commission’s view, this new right to compensation satisfies the requirement under Union law to lay down effective measures to sanction and penalise abuse of successive fixed-term contracts. 

  In particular, the Commission understands that the right to lump sum compensation is based only on the fact that such abuse has occurred, without the need to prove an actual damage or causality. According to the wording of the new provision, the right to lump sum compensation is not predicated on the expiry of the latest successive fixed-term employment contract or relationship, nor excluded in cases where the worker has passed a recruitment procedure and was hired for an indefinite duration. In the Commission’s understanding, this right applies not only where limits on the duration or the number of renewals of successive fixed-term contracts exist and are exceeded, but also where, in the absence of such limits, there are no objective reasons justifying the use of successive fixed-term contracts. The Commission understands, furthermore, that to claim compensation for possible higher damage, national courts may apply presumptions, based on general principles concerning the burden of proof, to avoid that it becomes excessively difficult for workers to claim full compensation. 

  On this basis, the Commission considers that there are generally no grounds for taking further procedural steps regarding the issues raised under INFR(2014)4231 with respect to the lack of effective measures to penalise and sanction abuse of successive fixed-term contracts and the lack of full compensation for damage / loss of opportunity due to such abuse. This assessment applies in particular to the following sectors concerned by those issues: (i) fixed-term teachers and ATA staff at schools, (ii) staff in the healthcare sector, (iii) staff of AFAM institutions, (iv) staff of operatic and orchestral foundations, (v) staff in public research institution, and (vi) workers in the forestry sector. As regards staff of operatic and orchestral institutions, the Commission notes, moreover, that a preliminary ruling procedure under Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union is pending on the same issue before the Court of Justice (case C-668/24) and further Commission action would in any case not significantly accelerate the resolution of the case. Where the Court of Justice establishes non-compliance of national rules with EU law by preliminary rulings, the Commission ensures appropriate follow up.

• Concerning the lack of full compensation for damage / loss of opportunity in the case of abuse of fixed-term contracts in the private sector, Italy amended Article 28(2) of Legislative Decree No 81/2015 to ensure that workers can claim full compensation for damage / loss of opportunity exceeding the lump sum compensation provided for in that legislation. The issue raised by the Commission in this regard appears to be addressed by that amendment.
• As regards the issue of a lack of effective measures to prevent the misuse of successive fixed-term employment contracts or relationships, the Commission notes that Presidential Decree No. 83 of 24 April 2024 laid down limits on the overall duration and the number of renewals of fixed-term employment relationships of ATA staff at AFAM institutions. These limits constitute measures to prevent misuse, in accordance with the Framework Agreement on fixed-term work. Moreover, with respect to seasonal staff employed by operatic and orchestral foundations, the Commission took into consideration information provided in reply to the reasoned opinion, which indicates that exceptions from the limits on the duration of fixed-term employment contracts or relationships apply only in the case of genuinely temporary needs. Specifically, according to the Italian authorities, seasonal contracts are used on a relevant scale only for the purposes of the summer festival held at the Arena di Verona. In that respect, a trade union agreement of 2 May 2017 limits the possibility to recruit seasonal workers to activities relating exclusively to the summer festival held at the Arena. In such cases, the use of fixed-term contracts appears to be objectively justified. Moreover, fixed-term contracts concluded only for a limited number of months each year cannot be considered successive. In the absence of evidence that the non-applicability of limits on the use of fixed-term contracts for seasonal activities leads to a misuse of successive fixed-term contracts in practice, the Commission considers that there are no sufficient grounds for taking further procedural steps in this regard. In the same vein, the replies to the reasoned opinion confirmed that the recruitment of fixed-term workers by agricultural and forestry holdings is limited to specific months each year. For the region of Sicily, this follows notably from Regional Act No 16/1996. Given that there are gaps of several months between the fixed-term employment contracts or relationships concluded in that sector, the Commission considers that these contracts or relationships cannot be qualified as “successive” within the meaning of the Framework Agreement on fixed-term work, even if they are renewed every year with the same workers. The Court of Justice of the European Union has notably held that a lapse of time equal to 60 days may generally be considered sufficient to interrupt any existing employment relationship and to have the effect that any contract signed after that time is not considered to be successive[3]. According to the Court of Justice, it would seem difficult for an employer, who has permanent and lasting requirements, to circumvent the protection against abuse afforded by the Framework Agreement by allowing a period of about two months to elapse following the end of every fixed-term employment contract. Considering this case-law, a misuse of successive fixed-term employment contracts or relationships has, in the view of the Commission, not been established as regards seasonal forestry workers.

Based on these considerations, the complainants concerned are informed, by means of this notice, that the Commission intends not to further pursue the issues  as specified above. However, should these complainants have any new information that might be relevant for the re-assessment of their case, they are invited to contact the Commission within four weeks of this notice, after which the assessment will be confirmed, and the complainants will be informed of the closure of their complaints. Any information that is received from complainants after the expiry of this deadline and that does not change the assessment will not be answered.

Issues that have not been addressed yet

Based on its analysis of the replies to the reasoned opinion, the Commission concluded that the following two non-compliances with EU law have not been addressed by the Italian authorities:

• The Italian law does not guarantee that fixed-term schoolteachers are entitled, like tenured teachers, to salary progression based on the completion of periods of service. This constitutes an infringement of the principle of non-discrimination of fixed-term workers vis-à-vis comparable permanent workers. The Commission decided on 12 February 2025 to send a letter of formal notice on this issue to Italy in a new case INFR(2024)2277 (see press notice).
• Italian legislation regarding ATA school staff lacks effective measures to prevent misuse of successive fixed-term employment contracts or relationships and allows to conclude such successive contracts to cover permanent needs. With respect to this issue, the Commission decided on 3 October 2024 to refer Italy to the Court of Justice of the European Union in case INFR(2014)4231 (see press release).

Issues that are still being assessed by the Commission

The Commission has not yet completed the assessment for the following issues raised under INFR(2014)4231:

• As regards the lack of measures to prevent the abusive use of successive fixed-term teaching contracts in the school sector, the Italian authorities have informed the Commission that national law now requires the holding of annual competitions to recruit permanent teachers to fill vacant and available posts. Moreover, the Commission notes that at least until 2026, competitions for the recruitment of permanent teachers are already programmed covering all structural recruitment needs. On the one hand, these elements aim to address any structural shortage of tenured staff and provide certainty regarding the date on which the relevant selection procedures must be organised. Therefore, they appear capable of serving as objective and transparent criteria ensuring that the renewal of fixed-term employment contracts responds to the genuine need of ensuring the continuity of teaching services while the recruitment of permanent teachers through public competitions is pending, and that the use of fixed-term employment contracts is necessary for that purpose. Consequently, the replies to the reasoned opinion indicate that the application of the relevant national legislation is consistent with the requirements of the Framework Agreement on fixed-term work. On the other hand, the Commission notes that published statistics still show a year-on-year increase in the number of fixed-term teachers. As the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union requires an assessment of whether the national legislation leads, in practice, to misuse of successive fixed-term employment contracts, it is appropriate to further monitor the practical effects of the measures notified in reply to the reasoned opinion, before taking a final decision on the next steps regarding this issue.
• Concerning fixed-term workers at public research institutions, the Commission  notes that following recent legislative amendments, periods of service completed by these workers are to be taken into account by way of length-of-service, upon recruitment on a permanent basis, provided that these periods were completed with the same institution, with duties of the same profile and area or category of classification. Certain doubts remain as to the conformity with the principle of non-discrimination of fixed-term workers, notably with respect to periods of service completed with a different research institution or under a different profile, and with respect to the category of ‘assegnisti di ricerca’ who do not appear to be recognised as fixed-term workers protected by the principle of non-discrimination under Union law. The Commission is also monitoring the planned reform of the rules on researchers’ careers as to possible conflicts with the obligation to effectively prevent the misuse of fixed-term employment relationships.
• Regarding discontinuous volunteer firefighters, the Italian authorities referred to a decree specifying the conditions for calling up these workers in emergency situations. Moreover, they informed the Commission that the practice of call-ups of discontinuous volunteer firefighters will not be allowed beyond 31 December 2024, as the tasks previously assigned to these workers will be discharged by permanent firefighters who are being newly recruited for that purpose. The Commission is monitoring whether these elements effectively address the issues raised under INFR(2014)4231 in practice.

Neither the Commission’s abovementioned decision to take further procedural measures regarding two of the issues raised under INFR(2014)4231 (referral to the Court of Justice of the European Union and a letter of formal notice in new case INFR(2024)2277) nor the fact that no further procedural steps are envisaged for issues that appear to be resolved, as specified above, preclude later procedural steps which the Commission may take regarding the issues that are still being monitored and assessed by the Commission.

Infringement procedure INFR(2014)4231 remains open. The Commission will keep the complainants informed through this website^[4] of any further follow-up procedural step it decides to take in that case or in case INFR(2024)2277.

[1] Council Directive 1999/70/EC of 28 June 1999 concerning the framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded by ETUC, UNICE and CEEP, OJ L 175, 10.7.1999, p. 43

[2] Infringements 

[3] See case C-362/13, Fiamingo, ECLI:EU:C:2014:2044, par. 71

[4] Decisions and other notices on multiple complaints (europa.eu)