Umberto Villa commented in Wolters Kluwer Italia’s Quotidiano Giuridico on Milan Court of Appeal ruling no. 552/2025, which confirmed the illegality of employers absorbing individual super-minimum wages in the presence of contrary company practice.

The case arose from an appeal by a worker who contested the absorption of the superminimum following the renewal of the national collective labour agreement. For over a decade, the company had maintained a consistent practice of non-absorption, establishing a binding company practice.

The Court reiterated that company practice, if consistent, generalised and favourable to the worker, represents an autonomous source of law comparable to a collective agreement and may even prevail over individual contractual clauses.

The decision is part of a well-established trend in Milanese case law (App. Milan nos. 416, 417, 433, 443/2025), confirming the need to carefully evaluate the practices in use in companies.