DOMANDE E RISPOSTE: Il diritto del lavoro nel contesto aziendale 

D. Cosa deve contenere un contratto di lavoro secondo la legislazione inglese? 

Ai sensi del Occupazione Rights Act 1996 (as amended by the Employment Act 2002 and the Good Work Plan reforms of 2020), an employer must provide all employees and workers with a written statement of particulars of employment from the first day of employment. Historically this could be provided within two months of starting work; since April 2020 it must be given on day one. 

La dichiarazione scritta deve contenere almeno: 

• I nomi del datore di lavoro e del dipendente. 

• La data di inizio del rapporto di lavoro e (se diversa) la data di inizio del rapporto di lavoro continuativo. 

• L'importo della retribuzione e la periodicità di pagamento. 

• Orario di lavoro, compresi i giorni della settimana e l'eventuale variazione dell'orario. 

• Holiday entitlement (including public holidays) and holiday pay. 

• Il posizione or locations of work. 

• La denominazione della posizione o una breve descrizione delle mansioni. 

• Periodi di preavviso. 

• Probationary period conditions (if any). 

• Congedo per malattia e diritto alla retribuzione. 

• Eventuali altri benefici (compresi quelli non previsti dal contratto). 

• Whether the employee volontà work outside the UK for more than one month, and if so on what terms. 

• Details of any training the employer requires the employee to complete. 

Per senior employees, the service agreement will typically go considerably further — covering bonus entitlements, share option rights, garden leave provisions, post-termination restrictions, intellectual property assignment, and disciplinary and grievance procedures. 

D. Che cos’è il “garden leave” e come funziona? 

Garden leave is a contractual arrangement by which an employer, having given notice to (or received notice from) an employee, requires the employee to remain at home during their notice period rather than attending work. The employee remains employed and continues to receive full pay and benefits during the garden leave period, but is not required to perform their duties and is typically prohibited from working for a competitor. 

Garden leave serves several commerciale purposes for employers: 

• Impedisce al dipendente di accedere ai rapporti con i clienti attuali, alle informazioni riservate e alle informazioni commerciali durante il periodo di preavviso. 

• It allows client relationships to naturally ‘go cold’ and to be transferred to other team members. 

• Funge da ponte tra la cessazione del rapporto di lavoro e l’inizio di eventuali restrizioni successive alla cessazione: il periodo trascorso in “garden leave” viene generalmente conteggiato ai fini della durata degli obblighi post-cessazione. 

To be effective, garden leave must be expressly provided for in the employment contract. An employee who has not been given a contractual right to be placed on garden leave cannot generally be kept at home on full pay without their consent — unless the employer is willing to accept the risk of a constructive dismissal claim. 

È importante sottolineare che, nel valutare la ragionevolezza delle restrizioni successive alla cessazione del rapporto di lavoro, i tribunali terranno conto del periodo di “garden leave” già scontato. Un periodo di “garden leave” di sei mesi scontato integralmente prima dell’inizio di un periodo di non concorrenza di sei mesi potrebbe far sì che quest’ultimo venga ritenuto più lungo di quanto ragionevolmente necessario nelle circostanze del caso. 

D. Che cos’è il TUPE e in quali casi si applica? 

TUPE — the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 — is the legislation that protects employees’ rights when the business or undertaking in which they work is transferred to a new employer. TUPE applies in two principal scenarios: 

Cessioni di aziende — where a business or part of a business (an ‘economic entity’) is transferred from one employer to another as a going concern. This typically covers an asset sale where the business continues as before under new ownership. 

Modifiche alla fornitura dei servizi — where activities that were previously carried out in-house are outsourced to a contractor, where an outsourced service is re-tendered and a new contractor takes over, or where an outsourced service is brought back in-house. 

When TUPE applies, the employees who are assigned to the transferring business or activity automatically transfer to the new employer on their existing terms and conditions. The new employer inherits the employees and all associated rights and liabilities, including outstanding employment claims. Any dismissal connected with the TUPE transfer is automatically unfair unless it is for an ‘economic, technical or organisational’ (ETO) reason entailing changes in the workforce. 

In the context of a share purchase, TUPE generally does not apply — because the company (and therefore the employer) remains the same; only the shareholders change. However, in an asset sale or in a business restructuring following acquisition, TUPE analysis is essential and should be undertaken before any decision is made about post-transaction staffing. 

D. Che cos’è un accordo transattivo e quando un dipendente dovrebbe firmarne uno? 

A settlement agreement (previously called a compromise agreement) is a legally binding contract between an employer and an employee by which the employee agrees to waive some or all of their legal claims against the employer in exchange for a financial payment and (usually) an agreed reference. Settlement agreements are most commonly used to resolve or avoid employment disputes — most frequently in the context of a redundancy, a performance management process, or a negotiated exit. 

For a settlement agreement to be legally valid and to effectively compromise the employee’s statutory claims, it must: 

• Deve essere in forma scritta. 

• Relate to specific complaints or proceedings. 

• Il dipendente deve aver ricevuto una consulenza legale indipendente da un consulente qualificato (in genere un avvocato) in merito ai termini e agli effetti dell'accordo. 

• Il consulente deve essere indicato nel contratto e deve essere in possesso di una polizza di assicurazione di responsabilità civile professionale in corso di validità. 

The requirement for independent legal advice is important: an employee must take advice from their own solicitor (paid for by the employer by way of a contribution to legal fees) before signing. An agreement signed without independent advice is not binding. 

Whether an employee should sign a settlement agreement depends entirely on the specific circumstances. The financial terms, the employee’s prospects in an employment tribunal, the value of any outstanding claims, the quality of the reference and any tax treatment of the payment are all factors to weigh carefully. Employees should always take specialist advice before signing — the contribution to legal fees provided by the employer is specifically intended to fund this. 

D. Quali sono le conseguenze del licenziamento di un dipendente senza aver seguito una procedura equa? 

Dismissing an employee without a fair process — or without a fair reason — exposes the employer to claims in the Employment Tribunal and, potentially, the civil courts. The primary risks are: 

Unfair dismissal — I dipendenti con almeno due anni di servizio continuativo hanno il diritto di non subire un licenziamento ingiustificato. Un licenziamento giustificato richiede sia una motivazione sostanziale valida (come esubero, comportamento scorretto, insufficienza professionale o violazione della legge) sia una procedura corretta (conforme al Codice di condotta dell’ACAS sulle procedure disciplinari e di reclamo). Una sentenza del tribunale che accerti il licenziamento ingiustificato può comportare il riconoscimento di un indennizzo di base (calcolato in base all’età, alla retribuzione e all’anzianità di servizio del dipendente) e di un indennizzo compensativo (con un limite massimo pari al minore tra 52 settimane di retribuzione e 115.115 sterline, a partire dall’aprile 2025). 

Wrongful dismissal — if the employee is dismissed without notice (or without pay in lieu of notice) in circumstances that do not justify summary dismissal, they have a claim for wrongful dismissal — essentially a breach of contract claim for the notice pay they were owed. Wrongful dismissal claims can be brought in the Employment Tribunal (up to £25,000) or the civil courts (no cap). 

Loss of restrictive covenants — as described in the chapter on restrictive covenants, a repudiatory breach of contract (including a wrongful dismissal) may render post-termination restrictions unenforceable. This can be a highly significant commercial consequence, particularly where the departing employee is a key person with valuable client relationships or access to sensitive business information.