Resignation, dismissal and Severance Indemnity (TFR) of domestic workers

The employment relationship can be terminated by the will of either the domestic worker or the employer. In the first case we can talk of resignation, while the second case concerns dismissal. For both the above it is necessary to duly notify the other party.

The notifications service of the termination of the employment relationship is addressed to employers, in the event of dismissal, and to domestic workers in the event of resignation.

START DATE AND DURATION

Notice times, due to dismissal or resignation, vary based on the weekly commitment and seniority acquired by the worker at the same employer.

If the employment relationship is more than 24 hours a week, the notice of dismissal must be 15 calendar days, if the worker has acquired a seniority of less than five years at the same employer; it will be instead of 30 calendar days, in the event that the length of service exceeds five years at the same employer.

If the employment relationship is equal to or less than 24 hours a week, the notice of dismissal must be 8 calendar days, for up to two years of seniority, or 15 calendar days, for over two years of seniority.

For workers who make use of an accommodation with the family, the notice must be 30 days for up to one year of seniority and 60 days for over a year of seniority. These terms are reduced by 50% in the event of the worker's resignation.

WHAT AM I ENTITLED TO?

In the event of failure by the employer to give notice, an indemnity equal to the remuneration corresponding to the period of notice due is due to the employee.
In the event of resignation, on the other hand, settlement of the amount that would have been due in that period is withheld from workers who fail to provide a notice during the period of notice.

When the employment relationship ceases, due to dismissal or resignation, the domestic worker is always entitled to a settlement, even if the work is precarious, infrequent and a few hours a week. This is also in the event of termination of the employment relationship during the trial period, if more than 15 days have elapsed.

To calculate the settlement amounts due by way of Severance Indemnity (TFR), the monthly remuneration must be taken into account, as well as the thirteenth payment and, for workers who consume two meals a day and sleep at home, the subsistence allowance for food and accommodation.

Calculations vary depending on the period to which the service refers. It is necessary to distinguish three periods, to which correspond three different ways of calculating the TFR severance indemnity:

• the first period is up to 31 until May, 1982;
• the second period is up from 1 June 1982 to 31 December 1989;
• the third period is from 1 January 1990 onwards.

Taking as an example an employment relationship, which began on 1 January, 1997 and ended on 31 January, 2019, with a total monthly payment of €900 (without changes over the years), the following calculation is made:
€900 x 13 monthly payments = € 11,700 (total annual payment)
11,700: 13.5 = € 866.67 (TFR)
Revaluations are applied to the amount obtained as stated in the table:

The final amount of € 25,128.17 thus calculated, represents the total revalued Severance Indemnity (TFR) due to the worker for the period of service from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2018. For the month of January 2019 there is no revaluation.

The law allows TFR to be paid each year, if claimed by the worker or employer, with the other’s consent. In any case, the law states that after eight years of service workers are entitled to an advance equal to 70% of the accrued TFR.

Starting from 29 January 2009, all notices relating to changes or termination of the domestic employment relationship must be submitted to INPS within five days of the event.

From April 2011, these notices must be made by users exclusively using the new on-line service for notifying changes and termination on the INPS website, or at the Contact centre on 803 164 (free from a land-line network) or on the number 06 164 164 from the mobile network.

The termination notice due to the death of the employer must be made by contacting the Contact Centre. The notifying party must have his own login details to access the Institute’s online services and must provide the operator with the employer’s tax identification number and the employment relationship code.

The notice is also effective for the relevant services, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, the Ministry of Health, the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL) and the prefecture or regional office of the Government.

Law No. 92, of 28 June 2012, (Employment market reform), in force since 18 July 2012, defines in Art. 4, paragraph 17 and following, the procedures to be followed for the purpose of validating the consensual termination or voluntary resignation of dependent workers, including domestic workers.

Starting from 12 March 2016, date of entry into force of the legislative decree No. 151 of 14 September 2015, (implementing decree of the so-called “Jobs Act”), the resignation and the consensual termination of the employment relationship must be carried out “exclusively by electronic means” on the appropriate forms available on the website of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies (article 26, paragraph 8, Italian Legislative Decree No. 151/2015).

The same Article 26, in paragraph 7, however, expressly provides that the new on-line procedure that replaced the validation procedure must not be applied to domestic work (cites "Paragraphs 1 to 4 are not applicable to domestic work").
From the combined provisions of paragraphs 7 and 8 (repeal of the previous legislation and failure to apply the new regulations), it follows that the validation of the resignation by the worker still applies only in the event of resignation or consensual resolutions prior to 12 March 2016.

The methods to be followed in this case were two, one alternative of the other:

• validation of the worker at the territorial job management or the regionally relevant Employment Centre, or at the offices identified by the national collective agreements signed by the comparatively more representative trade unions at national level (paragraph 17);
• signature by the worker of a specific statement at the bottom of the receipt of the notice of termination sent to INPS (paragraph 18).