The most onerous law is a relic of the 1970s and a touted accomplishment of Italy’s trade unions. Article 18 of the Workers’ Statute makes it impossible to fire even the most grossly incompetent employees. Perversely, it causes that which it seeks to prevent: unemployment.

According to the law, employers need to demonstrate not only that a terminated employee has failed in fulfilling work “objectives” and “expected performance,” but also must prove “the concrete and wanton negligence of the employee in achieving the work’s obligations.” The only “just cause” for termination is the deliberate refusal to perform whatever an Italian labor court deems necessary to fulfill “the work’s obligations.” Could a law be any vaguer?

If the court determines the employer has insufficient evidence, the employer must rehire the employee, fork over lost salary and pay a fine. Businesses with fewer than 15 employees have a choice between rehiring the employee or paying him 15 months of vacation—er, severance—before being able to send him on his way.

(Source: The Wall Street Journal)