Italy Just Made It Illegal for an Algorithm to Fire You
By Daniel Rao Starting today, it is illegal in Italy for an algorithm to fire you. Legislative Decree 179/2026 — published in the Gazzetta Ufficiale on October 8 and in force from October 23 — makes Italy the first major economy to write into law what the rest of the world has only argued about: no hiring, firing, disciplinary, or performance decision may rest solely on automated processing. Break the rule and the dismissal is void. The final word on your job must come from a human being, and no, your consent does not count as an exception. A note on method before we go further, because it matters for a law this consequential. We went looking for Article 41's full text in the official gazette before writing a word of this — and hit the same wall as the Italian employment lawyers now advising clients on it. The provision's published text is not independently readable at primary source, so everything below rests on corroborated professional reporting — DLA Piper, Consulenti ...