On 26 February 2021 the Rome Labour Court issued a decision which extends the ban on individual dismissals due to the COVID-19 pandemic to cover executives.

Law 604/1966 sets out the framework for individual dismissals for objective reasons, which the government has used during the COVID-19 pandemic to ban individual dismissals. However, Law 604/1966 does not apply to executives.

Executives' protection in the event of dismissal is provided by collective agreements and is of an economic nature (with some exceptions that are provided for by law).

Nonetheless, in the present case, the Rome Labour Court extended the ban on dismissals to cover the executive and ordered the employer to reinstate him in his job.

The decision appears inconsistent with the legislation.

The legislative interpretation provided by this decision reinforces the doubts of constitutional legitimacy that the ban on dismissals due to the COVID-19 pandemic has raised.