As from 2 March 2024, the employment of a worker in violation of laws regulating service contracts and secondment procedures is punishable by imprisonment of up to one month or a fine between EUR 5,000 and EUR 50,000 (INL, note no. 1091/2024).
A service contract (Art. 1655 Civil Code) differs from temporary work (somministrazione di lavoro) for:
- the organisation of the necessary means by the employer-contractor, which may also result from the exercise of organisational and managerial power over the employees for the performance of the contract,
- the assumption by the employer-contractor of the business risk (Art. 29, par. 1, Legislative Decree No. 276/2003).
Secondment, on the other hand, occurs when an employer temporarily places one or more employees at the disposal of another party for the performance of a given work activity in order to satisfy its own interests (Art. 30, par. 1, Legislative Decree No. 276/2003).
In presence of service contract and secondment that do not meet the requirements established by law, both the user (contractor or secondee) and the employer (contractor or seconder) shall be punished with the penalty of imprisonment up to one month or, alternatively, a fine of EUR 60 for each employee and for each day of employment (Art. 18, par. 5-bis, Legislative Decree No. 276/2003 and Art. 29, par. 4, Decree Law n. 19/2024).
Without prejudice to the fact that the amount of the fine may not be less than EUR 5,000 or more than EUR 50,000, the amount of the fine is increased in the event of repeated offences (Art. 18-quinquies, Legislative Decree no. 276/2003).
We remain available for any further clarification.