Up to six years in prison for those found guilty of the crime of illicit intermediation and labor exploitation, i.e. illegal hiring. The go-ahead came from the Senate Agriculture Committee, which gave the green light to the Corporal law, a government initiative, which is now ready for the Chamber. The text is expected to be debated by the assembly starting on Tuesday.
In the provision, that introduces the new crime modifying the current art.603 of the penal code, it is defined also a liability for companies that employ labor under exploitative conditions. In addition to being seized, they can be subjected to judicial control, at the disposal of the Gip, with the appointment of one or more administrators, chosen from among the experts in business management registered in the Register of judicial administrators.
In detail, it is punished with imprisonment from one to six years and a fine from 500 to 1.000 euros for each worker recruited anyone who recruits manpower to assign it to work for third parties in exploitative conditions, taking advantage of the workers' state of need, and whoever uses, hires or employs manpower, including through the intermediation of corporals, subjecting workers to conditions of exploitation and taking advantage of their state of need.
What is meant by exploitation it is the same new article of the penal code that explains it: the repeated payment of salaries in a way that is clearly different from the national or territorial collective agreements or in any case disproportionate to the quantity and quality of the work performed; the repeated violation of the legislation relating to working hours, rest periods, weekly rest, compulsory leave, holidays; the existence of violations of the rules on safety and hygiene in the workplace; the subjection of the worker to working conditions, surveillance methods, or degrading housing situations.
