As has already been pointed out, severance pay in Italy follows a binary systemon the one hand, the discipline governed by theArticle 1751 of the Civil Code and, on the other hand, the regulation of AECs. (cf. also Collective bargaining. Origins, value and enforceability. And if a contractor is a foreigner, do they apply or not?)

The current version of Article 1751 of the Civil Code, as amended by Legislative Decree 1999 No. 65, implementing Directive 86/853/EEC, provides that:

"upon termination of the relationship, the principal is obliged to pay the agent an indemnity if the following conditions are fulfilled:

  1. the agent has procured new customers to the principal or significantly developed business with existing customers;
  2. the principal still receive substantial benefits arising from business with such customers;
  3. the payment of this allowance is fairtaking into account all the circumstances of the case, in particular the commissions that the agent loses and that result from business with such customers."

The third paragraph of the same article states that theallowance is not due when:

  • the principal terminates the contract for a default attributable to the agent, which, because of its seriousness, does not permit the continuation, even temporarily, of the relationship;
  • l'agent terminates the contractunless the termination is justified by circumstances attributable to the principal or by circumstances attributable to the agent, such as age, infirmity or illness, for which the agent can no longer reasonably be asked to continue the activity;
  • when, pursuant to an agreement with the principal, theagent assigns to a third party the rights and obligations which it has by virtue of the agency contract.

About the amount of the indemnity, pursuant to Article 1751(3) of the Civil Code, it:

"may not exceed a figure equivalent to oneannual allowance calculated on the basis of the annual average of the remuneration received by the agent over the last five years and, if the contract dates back less than five years, on the average of the period in question."

The criterion in Article 1751 of the Civil Code, does not contain any calculation methodbut only a ceiling (i.e. an annuity to be calculated on the basis of the average commission of the last five years) and two conditions to the fulfilment of which the accrual of the indemnity is subject, namely that

  • the agent has procured new customers and/or 'intensified' the turnover of existing ones;
  • the indemnity is "equitable" in light of "all the circumstances of the case including the commissions that the agent loses as a result of the termination of the contract.

On the other hand, the contractual regulation of AECs establishes a certain and precise method of calculation based on three different items:

  • the indemnity for termination of the relationship (the 'FIRR', consisting of an annual provision in the special fund managed by ENASARCO) calculated on the basis of the AEC;
  • l'supplementary customer allowancepaid to the agent even in the absence of an increase in clientele, (equal to approx. 4% on the total amount of commissions and other sums accrued);
  • l'allowance meritocraticlinked to an increase in customers and/or turnover.

As can be seen, both systems have within them both advantages and disadvantages for the contracting parties.

I advantages for the agent of theindemnity pursuant to Article 1751 c.c. are the fact that the compensation paid by the court is often higher than that provided for in the CEC.

The disadvantages normally lie in the fact that:

  • only a maximum is set, but a calculation criterion is absolutely missing;
  • the burden of proving the increase/intensification of the clientele and the fairness of the indemnity rests entirely on the agent;
  • the indemnity is excluded in all cases where the agent is terminated from the contract without just cause.[1]

As for the allowance calculated according to the AEC i advantages are quite obvious, given that:

  • a clear and defined calculation criterion is configured;
  • FIRR and client indemnity are due (subject to exceptions) at all times, even in the event of termination by the party;
  • no burden of proof is placed on the agent.

As to the disadvantages for the agent, it should be noted that, in fact, the indemnity paid under Article 1751 of the Civil Code is very often higher than that guaranteed by the AEC.

It should be noted that the European Court of Justice, in a ruling of 23 March 2006,[2] ha disputed the legitimacy of the severance payment as regulated by the AEC. Such agreements, according to the Court, may only derogate from the rules laid down in Directive 86/653/EEC if, on analysis ex antethe application of the AEC would result in the agent being treated economically more favourably than under Article 1751 of the Civil Code. Now, since there are no calculation tools that make it possible to predict the amount of the codified indemnity and it can only be known and calculated after the termination of the relationship and since, according to the Court, the assessment as to whether the treatment of the AEC is (always) more favourable than the civil law discipline must be made ex anteit is clear that, following this reasoning, only a calculation system that always guarantees the maximum allowance can be considered in line with the principles dictated by the directive and the ruling of the Court of Justice.[3]

Despite the ruling of the Court of Justice, However, the orientation of the Supreme Court appears to be in the process of consolidation according to which the criteria for quantifying the severance indemnity provided for by collective bargaining must in any event be considered as a minimum treatment which must be guaranteed to the agent, subject to the need for the judge, once he has ascertained the existence or non-existence of the requirements provided for by Art. 1751 of the Civil Code, to carry out a kind of case-by-case assessment in order to evaluate the fairness of the solution resulting from the AEC, with discretionary power, taking into account all the circumstances of the concrete case.[4]

It should be noted, however, that there is a minority orientation of the jurisprudence on the merits, which has held the AEC to be inapplicable to our system and has therefore not recognised the discipline set forth therein as a guaranteed minimum for the agent.[5]

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[1] Art. 1751 (2) (1): "The indemnity shall not be due [...] when the agent terminates the contract, unless the termination is justified by circumstances attributable to the principal or by circumstances attributable to the agent, such as age, infirmity or illness, for which the agent can no longer reasonably be required to continue the activity"

[2] Court of Justice 2006, C-465/04.

[3] Baldi-Venezia, Il contratto di agenzia, 2014, GIUFFRÈ; Bortolotti, L'indennità di risoluzione del rapporto secondo il nuovo Accordo Economico Collettivo Settore industria, 2014, www.newsmercati.it.

[4] Cass. Civ. 2009 no. 12724; Cass. Civ. 2012 no. 8295; Cass. Civ. 2013 no. 18413; Cass. Civ. 2014 no. 7567; Cf. Baldi-Venezia, Il contratto di agenzia, 2014, GIUFFRÈ, "This solution does not appear satisfactory and, above all, does not concretely identify the quantification criteria to be adopted, leaving the judge of merit with a wide margin of discretion, which does not militate in favour of the future identification of precise and uniform criteria to the detriment of a principle of certainty'..

[5] Tribunale Treviso 29 May 2008; Tribunale Treviso 8 June 2008; Tribunale di Roma 11 July 2008.