Contitolarità del rapporto di lavoro nel gruppo cartatterizzato da "unicità di impresa" - In the groups of companies, whenever determinate factors denote the existence of a "single economic entity", labour law judges, traditionally, disregard the general rule of separate personalities of companies. However, the fraus legi can no longer be regarded as an adequate key to understand this judicial mechanism, which, on the contrary, seems to be used by judges for the scope of general regulation. This paper, based, to some extent, on comparison either with company law or with the U.K. and Spanish legal systems, suggests a different interpretation of the aforementioned judicial mechanism, which appears to be more consistent with a regulatory approach. The conclusion is that, with regard to group of companies constituting a single economic entity, the legal concept of employer should be redefined in the light of the concept of joint-employment.
Key words: Groups of companies; Single economic entity; Ascription of legal responsibilities; Joint-Employers; Solidarity; Labour law, Commercial and Company law.
Parole chiave: Gruppi di imprese; Unicità di impresa; Impresa di gruppo; Imputazione dei rapporti di lavoro; Contitolarità; Solidarietà; Rapporti fra diritto del lavoro e diritto commerciale.