Migrants, the court: "It is forbidden to deny a contract if the residence permit is expiring."

The Milan Labor Court rules after a union appeal against Adecco: "It is discriminatory to exclude candidates if they have not renewed"

Excluding job candidates because their residence permit expires before the end of their contract is discriminatory. This is established by a ruling by the Milan Labor Court, which censured the corporate policy of the employment agency Adecco S.p.A., adopted when hiring workers of non-EU origin. The policy in question provided for the exclusion from the selection process of candidates whose residence permit expired before that of a hypothetical employment contract, regardless of the assessment of the candidate's skills and professional profile. The ruling follows an appeal filed on November 7, 2025, by CGIL Lombardia and NIDIL CGIL against what the court ruling defined as a "particular hiring policy." According to the judge, this practice specifically affected non-EU citizens holding a residence permit and working on a fixed-term contract. "Foreign workers legally present in the country have exactly the same rights as Italian workers, and equality applies first and foremost to the right to access employment," commented Valentina Cappelletti, General Secretary of the CGIL Lombardia. The Consolidated Law on Immigration, in fact, establishes that "foreigners may temporarily engage in work" even while awaiting the issuance or renewal of their residence permit, provided they possess the receipt certifying the request. Only in the absence of such documentation is the employer no longer required to continue the employment relationship after the permit expires. Adecco S.p.A. argued that the request for renewal of the residence permit was a voluntary decision by the worker and therefore not a given. The Court clarified that the law requires that the renewal request receipt be made available to the employer at least 60 days before the permit's expiration date, not upon hiring.

The requirement that a group of individuals, in this case foreign citizens, must immediately submit a residence permit renewal application, which is difficult to obtain when the permit is not expiring, was deemed by the judge to be discriminatory in itself. "We are satisfied with this outcome," Cappelletti concluded.

The court ordered Adecco S.p.A. to immediately cease applying this policy and adopt a practice that disregards the residence permit's expiration. The ruling was also ordered to be published on the company website.

Link to the site: https://milano.repubblica.it/c...