LABOUR | Ministry of Labour Issues Guidance on Articles 13 and 19 of the Employment Law

Note of the Ministry of Labour No. 6 of 27 March 2025 provides guidance on the interpretation of Law No. 203 of 13 December 2024, entitled “Provisions on Employment”, especially on Articles 13 and 19, respectively concerning the duration of the probation period and the rules on the de facto resignation.

Article 13 of the Law provides a quantitative criterion for determining the duration of the probation period for fixed-term contracts. The Note gives guidance by explaining that these criteria can always be derogated by the National Collective Bargaining Agreements (the NCBAs), which may provide for a shorter probationary period, considerd to be more favourable to the worker, and by explaining that for fixed-term contracts with a duration of more than 12 months, the probationary period will be calculated by multiplying one day of actual work for every fifteen calendar days, even beyond the maximum duration of 30 days.

Article 19 of the Law provides rules on the de facto resignation. In this instance, the interpretative issue concerned the duration of the period of unjustified absence, as the Law provided for two alternatives: either the term set by the NCBAs or, when absent, a 15-day term. The Note gives guidance on how to determine the term for the prolonged unjustified absence, stating that it must be at least 15 days and that the employer can send specific communication to the Territorial Labour Inspectorate as of the sixteenth day of absence.

Newsletter n. 106 – April 2025