COVID-19 CRIMINAL ASPECTS

Article 42 c 2 of the “Cura Italia” Legislative Decree brings the Covid-19 infection back to the category of accident at work.

As we have already had the opportunity to say in previous articles, INAIL recognition and employer responsibility should not be confused:

• the INAIL investigation concerns only the eligibility for compensation for the accident and cannot lead to direct assessments or consequences on the civil or criminal liability of the employer;
• the object of the investigation by INAIL concerns the direction of evaluating the presence of the causal link
  between the illness contracted by the worker and the work activity, in order to establish whether to provide the insurance benefit;
• INAIL does not ascertain whether the Employer has violated the legislation (the "fault") or not;
• the "recognition of insurance coverage" by INAIL is an event, in itself, irrelevant with respect to the employer's liability.

The proposed new article 29-bis in the conversion law of Legislative Decree 23/2020 touches on a completely different topic (that of criminal liability) and tends to reduce the scope of the art. 2087 cc, identifying the diligent conduct expected from the employer with the timely compliance with the provisions contained in the shared protocols.

source: Lawyer Francesco Piccaglia De Eccher