Certification Committe

What is the certification?

The certification of employment contracts, introduced by Legislative Decree No. 276 of 2003 (the so-called Biagi Reform), is a voluntary and joint procedure through which the contracting parties can request and obtain from a specialized Committee a certification that confirms that the employment contract they intend to sign or have already signed meets the legal requirements of form and content.

The aim is to reduce litigation in labour matters by clearly defining the rights and obligations of the parties from the outset and ensuring that the contract accurately reflects the agreement between the two parties.

Procedure for requesting certification

The certification procedure is voluntary and is initiated by submitting a formal request, signed by both contracting parties, to the Certification Committee.

The start of the certification phase must be communicated to the competent Territorial Labour Inspectorate (ITL) and must be completed within 30 days from the receipt of the request, unless additional documentation is required.

The certification act issued by the Committee must be reasoned, contain the deadline, and specify the authority where an appeal can be submitted, as well as an explicit reference to the civil, administrative, social security, or tax effects for which the certification is requested.

Certified employment contracts and the related documentation must be kept at the certification offices for at least five years from their expiration date.

Benefits and Opportunities

The two main advantages of certification can be summarized as follows:

• Legitimacy of contract qualification: the Certification Committee actively assists the parties in drafting the contract and verifies and validates the legal requirements for form and content.
• Immutability of the contract: the certified qualification has an effect on third parties (such as INPS, INAIL, the tax administration, and the Ministry of Labour) and remains effective until a court judgment. This makes it a substantial tool for reducing disputes.

The effect of certification is the temporary ineffectiveness of any act that presupposes a different qualification of the contract than that certified.

Such measure can be challenged before the Labour Court only in cases of erroneous contract qualification, discrepancies between the certified negotiation program and its actual implementation, defects in consent, and after completing the mandatory conciliation attempt with the Committee itself.

Subject of Certification

The Certification Committee established at Guglielmo Marconi University has national competence and handles:

Voluntary certification of contracts

What can be certified:

• All contracts involving, directly or indirectly, a work performance;
• Waivers and settlements;
• Subcontracting agreements;
• Certification of individual contract clauses;
• Conciliations;
• Mediation in resignations and consensual terminations;
• Assistance and consulting for employment contracts;
• Sub-supply;
• Network contracts.

Mandatory certification of contracts

Certification regulated by Legislative Decree No. 276/2003 and Presidential Decree No. 177/2011 concerns contracts related to activities performed in environments suspected of contamination or confined spaces, imposing severe penalties for companies that do not request it. The goal is to attest to the suitability to operate in the market and perform work in such environments.

What must be certified:

• Subcontracting agreements;
• Sub-subcontracting agreements (even if referring to self-employed workers);
• Flexible employment contracts.

Documents

Founding Decree

Commission Regulations