COURT OF CASSATION: TRIAL PERIOD AGREEMENT NULL AND VOID, DISMISSAL FOR FAILING TO PASS THE TRIAL PERIOD UNLAWFUL
The Court of Cassation, Labor Section, with judgment No. 24201 of 29 August 2025 stated that, if the trial period agreement is null and void, the employer's unilateral termination of the employment relationship on the grounds of failure of passing the probationary period is unlawful.
Indeed, such dismissal is based neither on just cause nor on justified reason and, as a result, the employee is therefore entitled to reinstatement.
According to the Court's reasoning based on expressly cited case-law precedents (including the relevant ruling no. 128 of 16 July 2024 issued by the Constitutional Court), in the event of “genetic nullity” of the trial period clause contained in the individual employment contract, the unilateral termination by the employer due to failure to pass the genetically null and void trial period clause must be considered a case of dismissal without justification “due to the absence of material facts”. This implies the necessary recognition of the worker's right of the so-called “mitigated” reinstatement protection pursuant to Article 3(2) of Legislative Decree No. 23 of 4 March 2015.
