Legislative Decree 231 has been in force in Italy since 2001 which contemplates the liability of all entities (even those without a legal personality) for crimes committed in their interest by persons that represent them or by employees. In the event of confirmed liability the entity may be subject to considerable sanctions including large fines, confiscation, prohibition to perform certain activities, suspension or revocation of authorizations, prohibition to sign contracts with the public administration and so on.
The only tool available to the company, in order to be free from liability, is the drafting of a suitable organizational model, which has been shown to be useful also for better work organization and for more effective monitoring of the actions of its employees. In fact, the model represents a set of rules and protocols which, although not compulsory, if drawn up for preventive purposes, allows the company to prevent or reduce the legal consequences of any of the criminal offences covered by Legislative Decree 231/2001. These include injury or death of an employee in the work place, unlawful disposal of production waste, unlawful processing of personal data, money laundering, corruption, bribery.
INAIL (National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work) also provides non-reimbursable funding every year for the adaptation of companies to the requirements of Legislative Decree 231/2001.