LABLAW  is pleased to offer a professional insight with the e-book COVID-19 : HEALTH EMERGENCY AND PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT IN ITALY which provides an update to the most recent regulations concerning the management of the workforce in Italy.  This e-book has been updated with the most recent changes to workforce management in Italy brought about by the “Cura Italia” decree as well as the DCPM – Decreto del President del Consiglio dei Ministri of April 26^th, 2020 which implements new rules for Phase 2 of the pandemic lockdown.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses known to cause ailments ranging from the common cold to more serious diseases such as the  Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

The Onset of the Pandemic:

On December 31^st, 2019, China reported a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown etiology to the World Health Organization (WHO) – which was later identified as a new Coronavirus, in the city of Wuhan, in the Chinese province of Hubei.

The disease caused by the new Coronavirus was given, on February 11^th,  2020, the name: “COVID-19”, where “CO” stands for crown, “VI” for virus, “D” for disease and “19” indicates the year in which it manifested.On March 11^th, 2020 the WHO declared that COVID-19 was of a pandemic nature.

Currently available information suggests that the virus may cause both a mild flu-like symptoms and a more serious form of the disease. In such cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.

The Italian Ministry of Health is keeping a record, with the Italian Regions,  in order to continuously monitor of the situation. Further operational information can be obtained through the Regional Health Authorities in Italy or through the toll-free number of the Italian Ministry of Health (which when dialing from Italy is 1500).

It is recommended to only use the information available from the following sources: WHO – The World Health Organisation, ECDC  – The European Center for Disease prevention and Control, EU-OSHA  – The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, The Italian Ministry of Health, and ISS – The Italian Higher Institute of Health.

As for the conditions of transmission, the primary route seems to be made through the droplets of the breath of infected people, which causes the main pandemic risks to be concentrated in the places of transit and gatherings such as  public areas, transport and, of course, workplaces.

The Lockdown:

As is already well known, the new infectious COVID-19 disease  has had a great diffusion nationally and internationally, which led to the adoption of drastic containment measures : Lockdown.  These are still in force – having been introduced by legislative measures of an emergency character aimed at mediating the impact on the business economy, organizations, and incomes.

It is now clear that coexistence with the virus, in the absence of a vaccine and / or a definitive cure, will be long and this requires both citizens and economic operators to make profound changes in the management habits, production processes, as well as the adoption of extraordinary measures for the prevention and continuous containment of the contagion risk – especially in the exercise of business activities.

In light of the multiple emergency measures that have been adopted  in Italy and the impact of these on the life of companies, as well as the obligations generally incumbent on employers by law, this Operational Guide provides indications about the behaviors to be adopted in reference to the management of the workforce in Italy, as well as ideas of interpretation for a correct and simpler application of the rules adopted so far – which in many cases must be coordinated with the provisions in force in the Italian labor law system.

For updates and information on the latest changes to Italian workplace management regulations in other languages
please contact LABLAW at +39 02 30 31 11 or  info@lablaw.com.