On 10 July 2018 the Italian Ministry of the Interior published Circular No. 5507, which specifies the conditions for the control of posted drivers carrying out cabotage in Italy. Carriers and truckers who do not comply with the regulations will face severe fines.
Previous formalities related to cabotage
The first changes related to the posting of drivers carrying out cabotage operations in Italy came into effect last year. Specifically, Act 96 of June 21, 2017 (Legge 21 giugno 2017 n. 96), which entered into force on June 24 last year. According to its provisions, it is no longer necessary to report each cabotage operation.
In addition, the posting company should notify the posting of the employee performing the cabotage by midnight on the day preceding the commencement of the transport operation. Previously, every transport should have been reported – from June 24 of last year, the submission of a posting is valid for three months.
Submissions on the Internet platform of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy can be made only in Italian. It is necessary to provide the amount of gross remuneration per hour and information on the form of reimbursement of travel expenses, meals and accommodation incurred by the driver during the posting.
In addition, the driver must have on board a copy of the application, employment contract, A1 certificate and sections of the remuneration translated into Italian. During the inspection of the police or other public officials, the is obliged to present them. A company representative appointed by the carrier in Italy should also have a copy of the application.
If the employee posted to Italy does not have the necessary documents with him in Italian, or they are incorrectly completed, the Act provides for a fine of 1 thousand up to 10 thousand euros for the carrier and in the amount of 150 to 500 euros for the driver.
In addition, inspection services may impose on the transport carrier a penalty in the form of an administrative detained vehicle in a situation where the amount of the mandate will not be paid during the inspection.
Recent changes in the regulations on posting
Circular No. 5507 introduces new guidelines defining the documentation necessary for the implementation of cabotage and the legal delegation of drivers on the territory of Italy. According to the document of July 10 this year, the driver’s contract should contain the following elements:
– identification of the employer and employee,
– place of employment (in the absence of a permanent or dominant workplace, an indication that the employee is employed in various places and the headquarters or place of business of the employer),
– start date and duration of the employment relationship,
– an indication whether it is an employment relationship for a definite or indefinite period,
– duration of work to be carried out abroad,
– determination of remuneration and components with an indication of the payment period,
– the level and qualifications assigned to the employee or the characteristics and a brief description of the work,
– a leave period to which the employee is entitled,
– working hours,
– terms of termination of the employment contract.
Lack of one of the above elements in the employment contract will result in imposing a fine.
The new guidelines will be burdensome
The introduced changes impose on foreign employers further burdensome duties – comments Ewa Sławińska-Ziaja from the Translawyers Office.
As the lawyer points out, the biggest problem is the translation of documents into Italian.
Employers hiring on the basis of civil law contracts may have greater difficulties – here you will also have to adjust these agreements to the Italian requirements.
It turns out, however, that foreign carriers are struggling with another problem. It is a matter of the national rules provided for the need to have a copy of the posting declaration on the vehicle.
The obligation to register employees online, introduced in March 2017 by the dedicated electronic system is impossible to implement. The website of the Italian Ministry of Labor simply does not work as it should. The future will show whether the new regulations are also illusory, or whether the Italian services actually intend to start controlling foreign trucks and impose such high fines on them” – says Ewa Sławińska-Ziaja.
Photo: Pixabay/jackmac34 CC0
