Stability clause: unilateral penalty on worker is null and void

Employment contract – Ancillary clauses
Stability clause: a penalty applicable only to the worker is null and void
Tribunal of Rome

A worker, following his resignation, claimed payment of wage differentials, overtime compensation, and restitution of a sum withheld by the company in application of a stability clause (patto di stabilità). The employer contested the claims, arguing that the additional hours had not been proven and that the clause was valid.
The Tribunal recognised only two hours of weekly overtime, on the basis of a witness’s evidence, and dismissed the remaining claims for Sunday work, additional monthly payments, holiday pay, leave, and TFR (trattamento di fine rapporto, the statutory severance entitlement), as insufficiently substantiated.
The ruling is of particular significance as regards the stability clause. The clause provided for a penalty payable only by the worker in the event of resignation without just cause. According to the court, such a provision creates an unjustified imbalance: the employer already has the protection afforded by the notice period or the corresponding indemnity in lieu, whilst the worker remains the party most exposed to the economic consequences of termination.
The penalty was accordingly declared unlawful and the company was ordered to repay Euro 1,612.69. In practical terms, stability clauses must be structured with proportionate obligations and advantages on both sides: a unilateral penalty, lacking genuine contractual balance, risks failing to withstand judicial scrutiny.