In this context, an employee who applies for leave to assist a person with a disability (Law 104/92) but uses it for different purposes is dismissable for just cause, as the “particularly odious and serious abuse of right” undermines the fiduciary element of the employment relationship (COURT OF CASSAZIONE – Secz. lav. – Judgment April 30, 2015, No. 8784).
In the event that the company has reasonable suspicions about an employee’s misuse of Law 104 leave, it may mandate our agency to carry out the necessary investigative verifications to confirm or refute the assumptions made.
Misuse of Law 104
pesso the word absenteeism is lumped in with the so-called “card cheats” generally referring to public administrations or controlled entities and private companies that provide public services.
Thus, cases referring to the private sphere come out of the count, either because of a relative importance to selling news or because of an unwillingness to make them public for obvious reputation issues.
The literature defines absenteeism as “systematic absence from the workplace” and is measured according to two units of measurement: frequency and duration.
Frequency is the number of times an individual has been absent from work in a given time frame while duration equals the number of consecutive days per absence.
Absences with a longer duration are statistically those related to actual illness and thus framed in involuntary absenteeism; in contrast, short and frequent absences are those more related to voluntary absenteeism.
Systematic absences are defined as leaves of absence, whether paid or unpaid, for illness or Law 104, requested on days considered hot (e.g., end and beginning of the week, bridges, pre/post-holidays) or otherwise implemented frequently and above the company average.
Absentee dreaming of a perfect physique
According to some studies, about 80 percent of companies to make up for their employees’ absences use overtime incurring a total cost of around 2 percent of the paycheck.
Another cost is that related to lost productivity from replacing workers, which averages around 31.1 percent.
Also to be considered is the action of managers in monitoring and managing absenteeism, which requires an average of 4.2 hours per week, practically 10 percent of one’s work week coming to a total of 210 hours per year for each manager.
Other unmeasurable costs are those related to the motivation of nonabsentee employees who perceive their colleague’s misbehavior without actually incurring a risk or penalty, and that related to employees who are forced to substitute, perhaps with overtime, for absent colleagues.
All of these issues, in addition to personal motivation, go to the detriment of the atmosphere within the company with risks of declining productivity and internal disagreements, which are often more dangerous than technical/production hiccups
Absentee shopping
An employee who regularly works two jobs, it should be pointed out, is not punishable, but if due to dual employment there is significant cause for absenteeism or otherwise, then the employer may take action against him.
Italian law provides for dismissal for cause if an employee is absentee to perform dual employment.
Where, however, there was only a double job, of which one has knowledge, without any labor or absenteeism issues, the employer cannot fire.
An employee who does double work is engaging in misconduct that is detrimental to the company, and such conduct may be considered far more serious if practiced for compensation under the table or in competition with the employing company or by breaching the duty of confidentiality.
The percentage of employees who become absentee to do double work is quite significant, which is detrimental to the company not only in economic terms but also in terms of productivity and market competitiveness.
Absentee for family business
Our intervention, which can be developed throughout the country, with the support of all the necessary and legally authorized investigative tools that will be necessary, aims to provide the Client with an investigative report containing the information essential to prove such a violation in order to initiate proceedings for just cause dismissal. Said documentation will possibly be supported by the testimony in court of the licensee or our investigative personnel who carried out the investigation.
