Law No. 76 of May 15th, 2025, has come into force on June 10th, 2025. The latter concerns workers’ participation in the management and organisation of companies, as well as profits and consultation activities prior to employer decisions; it also defines a normative system aimed at promoting collaboration, occupational safety, and socio-economic valorisation of national companies. Law No. 76/2025 is now published on the Official National Gazette as of May 26th, 2025, and is entitled “Provisions for participation in the management, capital, and profits of companies”. The latter introduced, for the first time in our legal system, regulations aimed at encouraging employees to take an active role in strategic and organisational decisions affecting the companies where they work. As expressly provided for in the text of the law itself, Law No. 76/2025 is the first national attempt to fully implement section 46 of the Italian Constitution, which provides that employees must collaborate in the management of companies as prescribed by the reference law, so to allow the maximum social – as well as economic – expression of work. More specifically, companies adopting the so-called ‘dualistic’ system of administration and control (where these two functions are performed, respectively, by a management board and a supervisory board pursuant to sections 2409-octies et seq. of the Italian Civil Code), can now allow one or more representatives of the employees to sit within the supervisory board, in accordance with procedures and methods that may be governed by the collective agreement applicable to the employment relationship. On the other hand, companies operating under a single-tier governance system (pursuant to sections 2409-sexiesdecies et seq. of the Italian Civil Code) may allow one or more directors appointed to represent the interests of employees, who shall be specifically identified by the latter, to join the board of directors and the management control committee, if the applicable national collective agreement governs this possibility. Furthermore, Chapters III and IV of the Law at issue provide, respectively, for the economic and financial participation of employees in the company through instruments of worker participation in the company’s capital (e.g., allocation of shares to workers, even in lieu of performance bonuses), as well as the organizational involvement of employees. Regarding the latter, the legislation offers employers the possibility of promoting the establishment of joint committees (Article 7), composed of equal numbers of representatives from both workers and employers, with the task of submitting proposals for the improvement and innovation of products, production processes, services, and work organisation. Under the new legislation, employee representatives will also have a preventive consultation role “on company decisions” (section 9), through the establishment of additional joint committees that will perform these tasks in accordance with procedures, timetables, and venues defined in the relevant collective agreements. However, with specific reference to the consultation procedure itself, the law at issue outlines a precise regulatory framework, which includes the employer’s obligation to convene the joint committee assigned with advisory functions by written notice (including certified e-mails). Within a total of fifteen days since such a notification, the procedure shall be deemed to have been completed and, from that date, the employer shall have thirty further days to convene the committee and present the results of the consultation, as well as the reasons for any failure to implement the suggestions made, following which the companies may begin to define improvement and innovation plans jointly. Moreover, the new Law requires employees who participate in management, organisation, or consultation activities mentioned above to attend specialised training sessions lasting no less than ten hours per year, enabling them to acquire the necessary knowledge to perform these functions professionally. Finally, the Law at issue also establishes, within the National Council of Economics and Employment (CNEL), the Permanent National Commission for Worker Participation, which, among its various functions, will also be responsible for settling disputes concerning workers’ participation, collecting good practices, and proposing to the CNEL any corrective and improvement measures referring to these same topics. In conclusion, although Law no. 76/2025 is an important first attempt to involve workers in business decision-making actively, it does not truly embody the systemic shift long anticipated and initially conceived during the drafting of the Constitution. Hence, it must be noted that no actual obligation has been introduced for companies, nor have any new procedures been introduced for the involvement of workers employed therein that were not already provided for, perhaps within broader informative or consultation duties, by the collective bargaining agreements or the law. As a result, companies are, without any doubt, free to exercise their discretion as to whether to implement the process of involvement of employees, thus remaining far removed from examples already tested and consolidated in other European countries (such as the German co-determination system) regarding worker participation in governance and corporate results.
2026 - Morri Rossetti
