The Italian coffee break is 5 minutes. A detailed description is provided by Edoardo De Filippo in "Questi Fantasmi" (https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=YllQLj0h6mo), which, however, deals mostly with the making of the café and the domestic coffee break. The office coffee break is also part of the rite that is currently a candidate for the Unesco World Heritage Commission.

While the German coffee break takes place in a "resting place", usually in a seated position, and serves to regenerate, the much shorter Italian break has the function of stimulating all the senses and especially creativity. Coffee is invariably drunk standing up, either in the bar opposite or in front of the company's espresso machine. No sensible Italian employer would prohibit the spontaneous coffee break.

Against this background, in November 2021, the Court of Cassation ruling 32473/2021 was grist to the mill of the opponents of globalization. The Court of Cassation did not recognize the accident of an employee on her way to the bar opposite as a commuting accident. She had gone to the bar for personal reasons and had thus created a situation that was distinct from her work situation. The coffee break was not a physiological necessity and could also be delayed.

The Supreme Court thus ruled not only against the previous instances (Florence Regional Court and Florence Higher Regional Court), which had recognized the way to the espresso as a matter of course as part of the work process, but also against the sense of decency of a broad majority of the population.