New active labour market policies introduced

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A decree-law issued by the Italian government in April 2000 has introduced new rules on matching labour demand and supply. Job centres must deliver new services to long-term unemployed and "non-employed" people, involving counselling interviews and work-entry schemes.

Labour market policies in Italy are mainly passive rather than active, in that they give priority to monetary transfers (ie cash benefits) - partly through a system "social shock absorbers" to ease the blow of redundancies (IT9802319F) - instead of seeking to increase the employability of those out of work. Another key aspect of labour market policy is the marginal role played by public job placement centres in matching labour demand and supply.

Since the 1980s, and especially during the 1990s, labour market policies in Italy have undergone change. First, a process of deregulating the labour market has been under way which has helped the spread of so-called "atypical" work. Second, the job placement system has been reformed. The main changes, the introduction of which has not been free of difficulties or resistance, are the decentralisation of competences to the regional authorities and liberalisation - ie the fact that private organisations can now provide services to match job-seekers and vacancies (IT9710312F and IT9805165N). Third, at the company level, new instruments to handle employment crises (such as outplacement, the promotion of entrepreneurship, and training) have begun to be used, aimed at facilitating re-entry to employment. In the majority of cases, these are still modest initiatives and they flank the traditional "shock absorbers".

New rules for job-seekers introduced

On 20 April 2000, the government approved a decree-law which introduces important innovations as regards unemployment and job placement.

These new labour market policy measures are targeted on long-term unemployed and "non-employed" people. The former are people who have lost their jobs or left self-employment and have been in search of new employment for more than 12 months. The latter are people who have been in search of their first employment for more than 12 months. Under the new rules, unemployed and non-employed workers must report to a job centre (centro per l'impiego) – newly-introduced local structures – to certify their status as unemployed (for those currently out of work, a deadline of 180 days from the decree's entry into force has been fixed). Within the six subsequent months, the employment services must organise a counselling interview with the workers concerned and propose that they enter a scheme aimed at work entry, training or reskilling.

The decree has also introduced sanctions for those who do not abide by the rules. These sanctions are of two types. If unemployed or non-employed workers do not report to a job centre to certify their unemployment status, or if they fail to attend the counselling interview, they lose the status of unemployed worker. Moreover, if they refuse a job offer, whether open-ended or temporary (lasting for more than four months), within a 50-kilometre radius of their place of residence, they lose their length of unemployment record and thus some benefits. This, however, must be a job offer that matches the worker's qualifications and skills.

According to the decree-law, public job placement services must change radically. They must convert themselves into job centres and radically overhaul their operations: they will no longer be bodies with mainly administrative/bureaucratic responsibilities, and their activity will be targeted on active labour market policies using instruments such as counselling and training. The matching of labour demand and supply will no longer be based on classified lists but on databases containing both firms' needs and the occupational profiles of job-seekers.

Commentary

Labour market policies in Italy are shifting towards an emphasis on active measures, on the basis of what is happening in other countries of the European Union. The innovations introduced by the decree of 20 April 2000 reflect this trend.

Reform of the job placement system has therefore taken a further step forward. The decentralisation of competences to the regional level is accompanied by the creation of new local structures: job centres. A key factor is the effective implementation of these measures, which so far has tended to be slow or delayed, and differs from region to region.

As regards unemployment, the reform introduces new services (counselling, training, etc) and sanctions intended to facilitate the matching of labour supply and demand and to induce unemployed people to take a more active role in their search for employment. Obviously, one will have to wait and see to what extent these objectives will be achieved in practice. This will depend on numerous factors, both economic (eg the economic situation, the characteristics of the production system) and subjective (the skill levels of the unemployed workers, their expectations and motivation). It is also important that the former labour offices should operate in a way that really differs from the past.

Certification of unemployment status is also important to achieve reform of the "social shock absorbers", an issue on the agenda for talks between the government and the social partners. The emphasis on active labour market policies entails a redefinition of the role of passive policies. In the case of unemployed workers, however, it is crucial to strike a balance between employability and income protection. (Marco Trentini, Ires Lombardia)