Workers who are wrongly
dismissed on the basis of groundless disciplinary complaints
will be able to get their posts back in specific circumstances
under amendments to the Jobs Act presented Tuesday by Premier
Matteo Renzi's government to the Lower House labour committee.
But workers laid off for economic reasons will only get
compensation under the controversial legislation that has
triggered labour protests.
Earlier in the day, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said
that his New Centre Right (NCD) party was close to reaching a
deal with Renzi's centre-left Democratic Party (PD) over changes
to the labour reform bill.
The NCD, a junior partner in Renzi's executive, has been
threatening to rebel after the government said last week it had
reached a deal with dissidents within PD about elements of the
controversial labour reform.
"We are very, very close to a deal with the PD over
labour," Alfano said.
"I spoke to (NCD Senate whip) Maurizio Sacconi last night
and I think we're there".
Last week, the government struck a deal with the PD rebels
to amend the Jobs Act and soften down changes to Article 18 of
the 1970 Workers Statute, which protects workers from unfair
dismissal.
Originally the Jobs Act stipulated that people hired from
now on who are unfairly dismissed would only have the right to
their jobs back if they are victims of discrimination, while in
other cases they would get compensation.
But under the terms of the deal with the PD rebels, people
who are sacked on the basis of a groundless disciplinary
complaint would also be entitled to get rehired.
The NCD complained that this distorted the original aim of
giving firms more freedom to hire and fire, and thus encourage
them to hire and help combat record unemployment levels.
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