When physical unfitness for work justifies dismissal-proiezionidiborsa.it
Courts deal with work-related issues every day. Accidents, holidays, pay, stress at work, layoffs and much more. Lately, the jurisprudence has been paying particular attention to the employer’s obligations regarding the safety of employees. Not only that, but recently the Supreme Court has dealt with another interesting issue. In particular, when it is legitimate for the employer to dismiss the employee for physical unfitness.
Among the issues most attentive to the courts there is, lately, that related to job security. By occupational safety, according to article 2087 of the civil code, it means both the physical and the mental one of the employees. In other words, it is the entrepreneur’s duty to implement all safety measures according to experience and the specifics of the work, avoiding, as much as possible, damage to its employees. However, it’s not just about physical damage. As, for example, the case of the prevention of classic accidents at work.
In reality, lately, particular attention has been paid to thework environmentand its ability to develop stressful conditions in workers. Indeed, responsibilities, deadlines, long working hours, the relationship with the boss and colleagues can contribute to the formation of stress, which in turn can lead to pathologies. Therefore, it is not just a matter of cases of unhealthy work environment, where, for example, episodes of mobbing occur. The Cassation, on the other hand, has recently specified that conditions of excessive stress at work could oblige the employer to pay compensation of the damage caused.
Conditions of excessive stress at work-proiezionidiborsa.it
Physical unfitness for duties
Another particularly interesting and topical issue is the one concerning the dismissal of the worker for physical unfitness for the duties. In particular, this is when the physical unsuitability for work justifies the interruption of the employment contract by the employer. The Court of Cassation explained it in sentence number 29250 case was that of a female workercleaner for a private company, who, after undergoing a medical examination, was fired for physical unfitness in the performance of his duties.
Therefore, the woman he asked the judiciary to review the company’s decision, asking, possibly, that the company would entrust her with different tasks, compatible with her state of health. The Supreme Court, to resolve the issue, started from the concept of job, i.e. tasks entrusted by the employer to the employee within the company organization.
The physical infirmity of the employee in the performance of his duties justifies the dismissal-proiezionidiborsa.it
This is when the physical unfitness for work justifies the termination of the employment relationship
The Court noted that the Civil Code contains, in article 2103, an important principle, useful for resolving the issue. The standard provides that it must be adapted the worker to the duties for which he was hired. Even if the employer has the possibility to modify the tasks of the employee, recalls the Court, this has a real right to be employed for the duties for which he was hired. It is normally forbidden to assign the worker tasks lower than those for which he was hired. In fact, the demotion is exceptionally possible only in two cases.
In this ruling, the Supreme Court clarifies that demotion is also possible in a third case. The Court explained that thephysical infirmity of the employee in the performance of his duties justifies dismissal. However, the employer must check that is not possible assign to the employee duties equivalent to those performed, or even even inferior. If this is possible, the employee must not be fired.
