Italy: an initial ruling calls into question the obligation to work on public holidays as written into employment contracts

The Rovereto labor tribunal (Trento) cancelled disciplinary sanctions for cashiers who had refused to work on public holidays, in spite of their employment contracts including the obligation to do so when their employer requests the same. The judge considered the clause in question to be null and void because it forced the worker to comply, throughout the life of the contract, with a choice that had been made “at a time of specific weakness such as at the moment of hire.”
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Judgement No.10/2016 handed down on 08 March by the Roverto labor tribunal addressed the issue of working on public holidays in a case over three cashiers working in the Eurospar supermarket, a subsidiary of Aspiag Service, who had received disciplinary sanctions for having refused work on certain public holidays. With support from Uiltucs, the cashiers were contesting the sanctions for a variety of reasons. The tribunal’s verdict relied on legal precedent from the Court of Cassation, based on

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