The repechage duty must be limited to lower duties compatible with the employee's skills, professional background and training at the time of dismissal. In the case at issue, some employees challenged the dismissal, complaining that it had not been pre-ceded by an assessment of their possible repêchage, meaning their assignment to a different job that would have allowed them to keep an occupation for tasks available within the company. The Supreme Court clarified that the repêchage for duties other than those previously performed by the employee must be closely related to the employee's professional skills at the time of dismissal. The obligation, indeed, does not include the employer's duty to provide the employee with training to make the employees fit to perform the various (in this case lower) tasks hypothetically available. Therefore, when a redundancy occurs, the duty of redeployment to other jobs available, while extend-ing to lower positions, is limited to those that are compatible with the employee's professional back-ground at the time of dismissal. The employee's right to keep an occupation, for the court, must still be balanced with the employer's right to have its business organization productive and efficient. In the case under examination, the employees' training was not related to the one required for the per-formance of the lower duties available; thus, the Supreme Court dismissed their challenge.
2024 - Morri Rossetti
