Question – Dearest editorial staff, I always look through your web-page. It is an incredibly important help to migrants. My question is: I wish to employ a seasonal worker. This citizen is in Italy on basis of seasonal labour, she lives in Trentino whereas I live in Emilia. She works in a restaurant. Can I apply to have her permit converted from seasonal to subordinated labour? She would be employed as a janitor. Is this possible?
Just another brief question: can a citizen that comes to Italy on basis of flows decree quotas change employment when he/she reaches Italy? Thanks a lot.
Answer – Conversion of permits is possible. Workers can convert their papers into subordinated labour, contracts can be both open end and determined in time. Seasonal workers that live in Italy on basis of seasonal labour can apply to flow decree. They need to fill a specific form in. If quotas are available, conversion can occur here in Italy. Seasonal labour permit must be valid when applying to flows decree. We are asked what happens in case seasonal labour permits expire while waiting for flows decree’s answer to come. Can citizens have a provisional permit issued? In fact it takes long (very long unfortunately) before flows decree’s answers come. Optic reading, a new system, which has not been made official yet, may make proceedings quicker – we hope. Theoretically speaking informatics systems should safeguard applicants from mistakes and so on, but practically speaking we do not know whether offices will be ready to quickly evaluate application forms or not.
It may take months to receive an answer from authorities. Unfortunately nowhere it is said what workers should do if seasonal labour permits expire.
Example – Seasonal workers’ employers apply to the conversion of papers while workers’ permit is still valid. Evaluation of forms may take months. What should they do if in the meanwhile residence papers expire? It is not fair that workers have to wait so much before they know whether their application is accepted or not (law establishes that evaluations should take the most twenty days). We therefore believe that they should be allowed (and some police headquarters do allow to) to suspend conversion up to the day an answer to application comes.
We anyway cannot assure citizens that all headquarters will act this way since no ministerial disposition is available on the matter. We believe that having citizens become irregulars – because of administrative times – would be shameful. Therefore if authorities cannot guarantee that times are to be respected, interested citizens should have the chance of avoiding clandestinity.
The question we are actually answering to asks whether employers can apply to employ seasonal workers that work in another part of Italy. Law and rules do not establish that conversion have to happen in the same place where seasonal labour occurs.
This means that application to have permits converted to subordinated labour (which allows to permits’ renewals) can both be given in by the same seasonal labour employers and by other ones. These can live anywhere in Italy.
If conversion is authorised workers can change their job (from tourism to agriculture, from housekeeping to factories) and the town/region where they live.
Example – A worker has a permit issued in Trento and he works there on basis of seasonal labour. He will be able to apply to have papers converted in Modena if he can prove to have employment and lodging over there. The only thing that needs to be verified is: does application need to be given in at the employer’s headquarters or at the employee’s.
Residence papers has always to be applied to at the headquarters where workers live. Police headquarters are determined by the workers’ residence/domicile. It does not depend on where workers actually work.
Theoretically speaking when a worker lives in Trento, he/she should apply to have papers converted in Trento even if he/she may then move to another town. This may lead again to another passage: he/she may need to move all proceedings to other offices.