Italy makes important changes to disability law

This decree is the latest of several recent legislative decrees implementing the 2021 delegation law on disability, which were necessary to adapt the Italian legal system to United Nations and EU guidance on the rights of persons with disabilities. 

The implementing legislative decrees published to date are the following: 

• a decree regarding the redevelopment of public services for inclusion and accessibility; 

• a decree establishing the National Guarantor Authority for the rights of persons with disabilities; and 
• the June 2024 decree, which defines the condition of disability and outlines the basic assessment, the multidimensional assessment, and reasonable accommodations. 

The primary changes made by these decrees are discussed below. 

Starting from 1 January 2025, there will be a National Guarantor Authority for the rights of persons with disabilities.  

The Guarantor will exercise functions such as: 

• monitoring and promotion of the effective enjoyment of the rights and fundamental freedoms of persons with disabilities; 

• combating instances of direct or indirect discrimination or harassment based on disability and the denial of reasonable accommodation; 

• receiving and evaluating reports on specific instances of disability discrimination and issuing reasoned opinions on those reports; 

• promotion of a culture of respect for the rights of people with disabilities through awareness campaigns, communication and projects, initiatives and positive actions. 

Under the most recent decree, the condition of disability is perceived in a new perspective. It rejects the exclusively medical approach that considers disability only as a pathology of the single individual. Aiming at the inclusion of disabled people, it instead adopts the idea that disability is linked to the interdependence between the subject and the broader context of social, cultural and environmental barriers.  

The new definition of disability is ‘a lasting physical, mental, intellectual, neurodevelopmental or sensorial impairment which, in interaction with barriers of various kinds, can hinder full and effective participation in different life contexts on an equal basis with others.’  

This also involves a new terminological approach whereby the obsolete expressions ‘handicap’ and ‘handicapped person’ are replaced by ‘condition of disability’ and ‘person with disabilities’. 

The concept of reasonable accommodation is not new to the Italian legal system. Both public and private employers are required by law to adopt ‘reasonable accommodations, as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in the workplace, to guarantee persons with disabilities full equality with other workers.’  

The Court of Cassation has often spoken of reasonable accommodations as organisational solutions and measures suitable for safeguarding the disabled person’s job.The Court has ruled that reasonable accommodations must not entail disproportionate financial burdens for the employer and must reconcile the interest of the disabled person with that of the employer in obtaining useful work.  

The law specifies that in order to determine whether the measures in question give rise to a disproportionate financial burden, it is necessary to take into account: 

• the costs they entail; 

• the company’s financial resources; 

• the size of the organisation; and 

• the possibility of obtaining public funds or other subsidies.  

The recent decrees further flesh out the notion of reasonable accommodation.  They provide a set of measures and adjustments necessary and adequate to guarantee the enjoyment and effective exercise of the fundamental rights and freedoms of the person with disabilities without imposing a disproportionate or excessive burden on the obliged subject. 

Under these rules, reasonable accommodation: 

• is subsidiary in nature, as it does not replace or limit the right to full access to the benefits, services and support recognised by current legislation; 
• must be necessary, adequate, relevant and appropriate with respect to the extent of the protection and to the contextual conditions in the specific case, and must be compatible with the resources actually available for the purpose. 

The person with a disability, a parent in the case of a minor, or the guardian or support administrator, are now given the right to make a specific written request to public and private entities to adopt a reasonable accommodation by formulating a proposal.  

In the event that an employer refuses reasonable accommodation, the person may: 

• ask the National Authority for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to rule that the refusal of reasonable accommodation is discriminatory; and 

• take legal action under legal provisions providing for the judicial protection of persons with disabilities who are victims of discrimination. 

A disability manager’s function is to  promote the implementation of programs to facilitate the inclusion of people with disabilities.  

Disability law requires public employers to appoint a disability manager (a ‘person responsible for the process of integrating people with disabilities into the workplace’).  

In the private sector, the law provides for the adoption of guidelines on targeted placement, specifically including guidelines aimed at promoting the establishment of a disability manager. The Guidelines on targeted placement that have been adopted in accordance with the law specify that the person responsible for job placement must facilitate the inclusion of workers with disabilities, both at the time of the entry into the workplace and in the ongoing management of the work environment.  

The Guidelines also provide that employers may outsource this function through trade associations or outside providers which have appropriately trained professional disability managers.  

These recent legislative developments in disability law demonstrate the growing attention towards the issue and the awareness of the importance of inclusion in all contexts, especially in the workplace.  

Creating an inclusive work environment is not only a question of ethics or respect for human rights, but also affects the well-being of the corporate climate in terms of productivity, innovation and image.