Working life in Italy

Notes: Values for real GDP per capita are chain-linked volumes (based on 2010 data; €). The unemployment rate for men and women is the annual average as a percentage of the active population aged 15–74 years, and the youth unemployment rate is the annual average as a percentage of people aged 15–24 years. The employment rate for men and women is the annual average as a percentage of the active population aged 15–64 years, and the youth employment rate is the annual average as a percentage of people aged 15–24 years. GDP, gross domestic product.

Sources: Eurostat [sdg_08_10], for real GDP per capita and percentage change 2012–2022; [une_rt_a], for unemployment rate by sex and age; [lfsi_emp_a], for employment rate by sex and age.

Economic and labour market context

The 2022 update note to the economic and financial document (Nota di Aggiornamento al Documento di Economia e Finanza) (Ministry of Economy and Finance, 2022), approved by the Council of Ministers on 28 September 2022, is limited to an analysis of current trends and forecasts for the Italian economy and public finance under current legislation. After six quarters of higher-than-expected growth, which in the second quarter of 2022 brought gross domestic product (GDP) above the average for 2019 (the year before the COVID-19 pandemic), the economic outlook in September 2022 appeared less favourable. The global economy and the European economy are in a marked slowdown. Signs of a possible reversal of the expansionary business cycle are attributable to rising energy prices, the sudden rise in interest rates in response to rising inflation and the geopolitical situation. In 2022, the surge in prices increased the cost of energy imports in Italy to an unprecedented extent, pushing the trade balance into deficit after almost 10 years of uninterrupted surpluses. At the same time, the rise in inflation contributed to an increase in tax revenues that was much higher than estimated; the extra revenue generated was used by the government to mitigate the impact of energy price increases on households and businesses. The measures adopted by the Government in 2022 supported the country’s economy. By the end of 2022, GDP per capita had increased by 3.7%, from 7% in 2021, according to the International Monetary Fund. As a result of the positive revenue performance and public expenditure moderation, the government deficit as a share of GDP decreased from 9% in 2021 to 7.9% in 2022.

Legal context

The sources of Italian labour law can be divided into two groups: legislative sources (European, national and regional) and national collective bargaining agreements (NCBAs). Case law and instructions from the National Labour Inspectorate may have a significant impact on the management of labour relations.

Relationships between employers and employees are mainly regulated by laws, the NCBAs and decentralised collective bargaining agreements (DCBAs), leaving specific matters to be settled by individual labour contracts.

The most significant legal sources dealing with labour and industrial relations are as follows:

• the Italian Constitution (Articles 1, 3, 4, 35–41, 45, 46 and 99)
• the Workers’ Statute (Act No. 300/1970), the six titles of which deal with the following topics: the freedom and dignity of workers, trade union freedom, trade union activities, miscellaneous and general provisions, placement rules, final and criminal provisions
• framework agreements on the collective bargaining agreements and industrial relations systems of 1993, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2018 (protocols and consolidated texts)
• rules on individual dismissals (Article 18 of the Workers’ Statute, Act Nos. 604/1966, 92/2012, 23/2015)
• rules on collective dismissals (Act Nos. 223/1991, 92/2012, 23/2015)
• the Jobs Act (a labour law reform implemented through the enactment of several legislative measures between 2014 and 2016: Act Nos. 22/2015, 23/2015, 80/2015, 81/2015, 148/2015, 149/2015, 150/2015, 151/2015, 185/2016), which regulates individual and collective dismissals, flexible working arrangements, social safety nets, etc.
• working time regulations (Act No. 66/2003)
• the Consolidated Text on Health and Safety at Work (Act No. 81/2008)
• Act No. 104/2022, implementing Directive (EU) 2019/1152 and introducing new obligations for employers regarding information to be provided to employees in employment contracts
• Act Nos. 215/2003 and 216/2003, introducing measures to prevent discrimination based on sex, race, ethnic origin and discrimination in employment and working conditions

The industrial relations and collective bargaining system in Italy is not regulated by the legislature. Regulations regarding trade unions and employer representation and representativeness are almost non-existent in Italy. The inter-union system (ordinamento intersindacale) makes it possible to look at the effect of the application of industrial relations regulations on the dynamics of the Italian industrial relations system. Regulations of the inter-union system are set out in interconfederal agreements, framework agreements, protocols, regulations, and so on. These can be signed bilaterally, by confederations of workers and confederations of employers, or trilaterally, if the government participates. Mention should be made here of the Consolidated Text on Trade Union Representation (TU 2014), resulting from an agreement of 10 January 2014 between the General Confederation of Italian Industry (Confederazione Generale dell’Industria Italiana, Confindustria) and the Italian General Confederation of Work (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro, CGIL), the Italian Confederation of Workers’ Unions (Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori, CISL) and the Union of Italian Workers (Unione Italiana del Lavoro, UIL).

Industrial relations context

The Italian industrial relations and collective bargaining system is traditionally regulated by NCBAs. This system is based on power balances between the main trade unions (CGIL, CISL and UIL) – that is, confederal unions representing workers in all the economic sectors in Italy and leading cross-industry collective bargaining processes. At the time of the creation, development and national establishment of the three trade unions, they were aligned with the three dominant political forces and ideological traditions in Italy (that is, Marxist/socialist, Christian and republican traditions). Over time, and owing to the crisis of mass parties and strong political ideology, the three confederal trade unions have enabled different ideologies to coexist within them, although their original identities partly remain.

The need to formalise the industrial relations rules in Italy has emerged for two reasons: on the one hand, because of the emergence of autonomous trade unions and militant groups that have undermined the hegemonic position of the three confederations, and, on the other, the fading of major ideological conflicts between the confederations. The Italian industrial relations system has started to produce its own regulations, which are set out in interconfederal agreements, framework agreements, protocols, and so on.

The Italian industrial relations framework has undergone numerous changes in recent years, with a view to increasing the importance of decentralised bargaining and achieving a closer link between wages and productivity.

In 2018, Confindustria, the major employer confederation, and CGIL, CISL and UIL reached a cross-industry agreement on the bargaining system (Factory Pact (Patto della Fabbrica) of 9 March 2018). The agreement is meant to accompany the transformation and digitalisation of manufacturing and services, with an emphasis on effectiveness and participation. The agreement introduces a set of guidelines on the content and institutions of industrial relations and on some issues of mutual interest on which future deals should be negotiated. In particular, it covers the certification of representativeness and highlights the need to extend the agreement to employer organisations. The agreement also confirms the two-tier structure of the bargaining system, with NCBAs as the main pillar and DCBAs as instruments to support specific company-level practices and needs, and identifies a number of issues that will be covered by future negotiations, such as contractual welfare; training and skills development; health and safety as a priority area for the development of participatory industrial relations; active labour market policies to ensure a more inclusive and dynamic labour market; and participatory practices, especially innovative work organisational patterns, which should be promoted by DCBAs. One implementing agreement, on health and safety issues, was reached in December 2018.

It is worth mentioning the novelty of the unique alphanumeric code that the National Council for Economics and Labour (Consiglio Nazionale dell’Economia e del Lavoro, CNEL) assigns to each NCBA. Article 16-quater of Decree Law No. 76/2020, converted, with amendments, into Law No. 120/2020, provided that the data related to the NCBA applied to the employee must be indicated by the employer in their compulsory communications to the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies and in the monthly reports to the National Institute for Social Security (INPS), by means of the unique alphanumeric code assigned by CNEL when the contract is added to the CNEL archives. INPS Circular No. 170 of 12 November 2021 provided information on the passage of data through the Uniemens flow, facilitated by the unique alphanumeric code attributed by CNEL. Starting with the employers’ declaration of February 2022, the data are transmitted exclusively through the CNEL code. An exception is made for the collective agreements for the agriculture and domestic work sectors, for which the communication of employers with INPS also takes place through other information flows and for which the Uniemens source information is therefore partial. This makes it possible to obtain very precise data on the application of NCBAs for tax purposes.

The COVID-19 pandemic made collective bargaining more difficult, especially because of its economic impact and the uncertainty around recovery. However, negotiations for the renewal of sectoral agreements continued, and agreements were reached. In some cases, wage increases were scheduled over the duration of the agreements, to take into account the expected recovery period.

Since March 2020, discussions between the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Economic Development, the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL) and social partners have resulted in a shared protocol on measures to combat and contain the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace, which has been repeatedly amended and implemented. The protocol and its subsequent updates, developing the principles set out in Act No. 81/2008 (the Consolidated Text on Health and Safety at Work), provide the reference framework for the establishment of company-level health and safety protocols.

Compulsory vaccination against COVID-19 for workers was introduced. In 2021, access to company premises became conditional on the possession of a ‘green pass’ – that is, a certificate of vaccination or recovery from COVID-19. At the beginning of 2022, all public and private workers aged 50 and over required the reinforced ‘green pass’ – that is, proving the holder’s completion of the vaccination cycle – in order to access their workplace. The same general obligation, without the 50-year age limit, also concerned certain categories of workers considered ‘at risk’ of COVID-19 infection, namely workers in the public and private healthcare sector (doctors, nurses and other staff); workers of the Residenze Sanitarie Assistenziali (sociomedical residential facilities for non-self-sufficient older people and people with disabilities); school workers (in private and public schools of all levels, universities and training institutions); and workers in the defence, security and public rescue sector. A financial penalty was imposed for workers who did not comply with the vaccination requirements. Moreover, non-compliant workers were considered to be unjustly absent, but without disciplinary consequences, with the right to keep their jobs until they presented a ‘green pass’. Employers were not required to pay employees for days of unjustified absence. Until 15 June 2022, employers could, after five days of unjustified absence due to non-compliance with compulsory vaccination, suspend workers from service for the duration of the employment contract concluded for their replacement, for a period not exceeding 10 working days and renewable until 15 June 2022. On 15 June 2022, the requirement to be vaccinated to enter the workplace was abolished for almost all of the above categories of workers, with the exception of healthcare workers and workers employed in the Residenze Sanitarie Assistenziali, for whom the requirement expired on 1 November 2022.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the take-up of remote work in Italy. The use of this work arrangement increased during the pandemic, and it seems to be an emerging model that will characterise the future of work in Italy. On 7 December 2021, at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, an agreement was reached with the social partners on the first national protocol on agile working in the private sector. The protocol sets out the definition of remote working and the guidelines for national-, company- and territorial-level collective bargaining, in compliance with the regulations set out in Act No. 81/2017 and existing collective agreements. Collective bargaining is conducted to determine what measures must be implemented in specific sectors.

Trade unions, employer organisations and public institutions play a key role in the governance of the employment relationship, working conditions and industrial relations structures. They are interlocking parts in a multilevel system of governance that includes European, national, sectoral, regional (provincial or local) and company levels. This section looks at the key players and institutions and their role in Italy.

Public authorities involved in regulating working life

This section describes the public authorities involved in social dialogue, industrial relations and regulating working conditions.

CNEL was established by Article 99 of the Italian Constitution. See the section ‘Tripartite and bipartite bodies and concertation’ for details.

Even if not primarily involved in social dialogue at national level, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, the Ministry of Economic Development and local authorities are often required to facilitate social dialogue at company level in the event of company crises (that is, signing collective agreements in the event of collective dismissals or related to workers’ income support measures). In some rare cases (that is, when leading businesses or partly state-owned companies are facing difficulties), the government itself tries to foster, mediate and support social dialogue.

INPS is a non-economic public body that manages almost the entire Italian social security system, insuring most self-employed workers and employees in the public and private sectors. The institute is the pillar of the national welfare system.

INAIL is a non-economic public body that manages compulsory insurance against accidents at work and occupational diseases.

Following the entry into force of Act No. 149/2015, the National Labour Inspectorate was established. The inspectorate carries out inspections previously conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, INPS and INAIL. It is supervised by the Minister for Labour and Social Policies and controlled by the Court of Auditors.

The labour judge, in the Italian judicial system, identifies a specialised section (labour courts) of each ordinary court for the first instance, of each court of appeal for the second instance and of the Supreme Court of Cassation for the review of legitimacy, with the jurisdiction to adjudicate on particular matters relating to labour law and social security. Disputes concerning individual employment relationships, in addition to court decisions, can also be resolved through extrajudicial conciliation in one of the ‘protected forums’ established by the legislature. The procedure set out by law provides that the decision may be taken by a conciliation commission chaired by the director of the territorially competent provincial labour directorate and composed of representatives of workers and employers.

The National Agency for Active Labour Market Policies (ANPAL) promotes people’s rights to work, training and professional development; coordinates the national network of employment services; and is responsible for the labour market information system.

Representativeness

Criteria to determine social partners’ representativeness have been modified several times over the years. The first and only provision, until 1970, was in Article 39 of the Italian Constitution, which provides a single criterion based on the number of associates. The memorandum of understanding signed on 3 July 1993 (Protocollo d’Intesa) by social partners and the government introduced key changes to worker representation in Italy. Unitary trade union representatives (RSUs) can be appointed by workers by means of elections and in lieu of company trade union representatives (RSAs).

On 14 January 2014, Confindustria, CGIL, CISL and UIL signed the TU 2014, whereby new rules on representativeness were established. In particular, according to the TU 2014, in order to participate in national collective bargaining trade unions must reach a representativeness threshold of 5%, measured as the average of the percentage of union members and of the percentage of votes obtained by the same unions in RSU elections. NCBAs are binding if signed by trade unions reaching a representativeness level of 50% + 1 and if approved by the majority of workers through a referendum. Moreover, the TU 2014 states that firm-level agreements are binding if signed by the majority of RSU members or by the RSA receiving the majority of proxies from employees.

Trade unions

About trade union representation

Employees enjoy the constitutionally enshrined right to organise and join unions (Article 39) and to strike (Article 40). These rights provide the freedom to join trade unions and to not participate in strikes.

The Workers’ Statute (Article 17) indicates the prohibition of ‘trade unions of convenience’ (sindacati di comodo) or ‘yellow unions’ – that is, trade unions established and supported by employers and their organisations.

With regard to categories of workers and sectors excluded from the right to join trade unions, the only limits in force in Italy concern military and police corps members. Both these categories have the right to associate in trade unions, but under a system of separation – that is, in unions formed, directed and represented exclusively by police/military officers (as provided by Act No. 121/1981 for police members and Act No. 46/2022 for military members, following Constitutional Court ruling 120/2018). Both the military and the police are forbidden to strike.

As for trade union density and membership in Italy in 2010–2022, the trend is negative. However, no precise figures can be reported for 2020–2022. Italy lacks a transparent system for measuring workers’ trade union membership, and trade unions tend not to release official and precise data, nor formally certified data (that is, validated by independent authorities).

The negative trend in unionisation points to a general dislike among Italian citizens for aggregation and participation in intermediate bodies, embodying a general crisis of representation, both at political and at trade union level.

Trade union membership and density, 2010–2022

Notes: * Proportion of employees who are members of a trade union. ** Trade union membership of employees derived for the total union membership and adjusted, if necessary, for trade union members outside the active, dependent and employed labour force (i.e. retired workers, self-employed workers, students, unemployed people). n.a., not available.

Source: OECD and AIAS (2021).

Main trade union confederations and federations

The largest trade union confederations in terms of membership in Italy are CGIL, CISL and UIL. Bearing in mind that Italian trade unions tend not to release official and precise data, nor formally certified and validated data, the following self-declarations can be reported.

• CGIL states that it has more than 5 million members.
• CISL states that it has more than 4 million members.
• UIL states that it has more than 2 million members.

It is not possible to report the official data because they are not available. Communications from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies regarding self-declared data are awaited.

Main trade union confederations and federations*

Notes: * Please note that data on trade union membership are not official or formally certified, as they have not been validated by independent authorities. Data are released directly by trade unions or by their research centres. ** Pensioners’ trade unions often engage in negotiations over local public policies with municipalities. n.a., not available.

Employer organisations

About employer representation

No obligations are incurred when joining an employer organisation, except for the obligation to apply the NCBA negotiated and signed by the employer organisation. In recent years, employer organisations have complemented their traditional role of interest representation in their relationship with trade unions with two other functions:

• the provision of services in support of their members’ business activities and development
• in the framework of political economy and governance, the promotion of forms of dialogue with political institutions on tax issues, strategic investments, European reforms, etc.

Interorganisational innovations, particularly in the field of small and medium-sized enterprise organisations (joint bodies providing their members with welfare and services), have been thriving.

Regarding employer organisation density and membership in Italy in 2012–2022, the trend cannot be determined because of a lack of official data.

Employer organisation membership and density, 2012–2022 (%)

Note: * Percentage of employees working in an establishment that is a member of any employer organisation that is involved in collective bargaining. n.a., not available.

Main employer organisations and confederations

Employer organisations participating in CNEL

It is not possible to report the official data because they are not available. Communications from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies regarding self-declared data are awaited.

Main employer organisations and confederations*

Note: * Please note that data on employer organisations membership are not official or formally certified, as they are not validated by independent authorities. Data are released directly by employer organisations or by their research centres. n.a., not available.

Tripartite and bipartite bodies and concertation

At institutional level, CNEL is a consultative body established by the Italian Constitution (Article 99) that includes representatives of social partners and civil society.

CNEL is managed by 64 board members, nominated every five years. Specifically, 10 members are appointed directly by the presidents of the republic: two are proposed by the President of the Council of Ministers; the others are nominated by the President of Italy following a consultation procedure where social partners and non-governmental organisations propose board members within their quotas.

CNEL has the right to create legislation, and carries out many important functions, such as drafting reports, opinions and surveys at the request of the parliament, government or regions on draft acts or on relevant issues related to economic and social policies. Furthermore, CNEL manages, implements and updates the national archives of bargaining agreements.

Paritarian institutions (enti bilaterali) are set up jointly by employers and trade unions with the aim of providing their members with welfare and services. These institutions have become increasingly important in recent years. There are several types, and they can be established by employer organisations and trade unions at cross-sectoral or sectoral level. Paritarian institutions are managed jointly by social partners and have an internal organisational structure consisting of an assembly, an executive board, a president, an executive director and a monitoring committee. These administrative bodies are usually appointed by social partners every three or four years. Joint bodies deal with several issues, such as wages, skills, training, working time and unemployment scheme benefits. They can be classified as institutional funds or non-institutional funds.

The bodies can be considered institutional funds inasmuch as the law sets out specific goals for collective bargaining to be pursued through funds, or specific schemes to be implemented through them; the funds include pension funds, private healthcare funds, unemployment funds and vocational training funds. Non-institutional funds are those that pursue goals or implement schemes that are self-regulated by collective bargaining.

Main tripartite and bipartite bodies

Workplace-level employee representation

Two types of workplace-level representation co-exist in Italy: RSAs and RSUs.

RSAs are established at company level at the workers’ initiative within the trade unions that sign the NCBA applied in the company concerned, as provided for by the Workers’ Statute(Article 19). According to the Constitutional Court ruling 231/2013, RSAs may also be formed by trade unions that are not signatories to the collective agreements applied, but that actively participated in the associated collective bargaining process.

At the beginning of the 1990s, collective bargaining replaced, in most production sectors, RSAs with RSUs, which are regulated by cross-sectoral agreements and not by law. RSUs are established by the trade unions that signed or formally recognised the TU 2014. In the civil service, however, RSUs are regulated by Article 42 of Act No. 165 of 30 March 2001.

There are no significant differences between RSAs and RSUs in terms of activities or powers. Their role is the same: negotiating company-level collective agreements with the employer, and participating in information and consultation procedures. RSUs replace RSAs at collective bargaining level, and are elected by all workers. RSAs/RSUs can be set up in production units with more than 15 employees.

Regulation, composition and competence of the representative bodies

The central concern of employment relations is the collective governance of work and employment. This section looks at collective bargaining in Italy.

Bargaining system

Collective agreements do not have an erga omnes effect in Italy: they are not legally binding for all workers in the sector. They are binding only on employers belonging to the organisations that have signed them, or that choose to adopt and apply them. Otherwise, the application of collective agreements is voluntary for the employer, who chooses which agreement to apply.

NCBAs are concluded for the whole Italian territory and ARE applied to all employees of the same sector (at a centralised level). At this level, the main aspects of employment relations are established, such as minimum wage, working time, job classification and working conditions.

Certain specific aspects of work, such as incentive remuneration schemes, performance bonuses, productivity standards and special types of indemnities, are regulated in DCBAs. Legislation in recent years introduced incentives to encourage the spread of both workplace performance-related schemes and company welfare schemes to increase the number of beneficiaries among workers, and to extend productivity bonuses.

Wage bargaining coverage

NCBAs can be cross-sectoral, sectoral or related to specific occupations within one or more sectors, depending on the level of negotiations conducted by social partners.

DCBAs mostly take place at company/workplace level, in the private manufacturing and service sectors as well as in the public administration sector. However, in some sectors decentralised agreements are concluded at territorial level. For example, in the construction sector DCBAs are concluded at provincial level, and the same applies to agriculture and tourism; in the artisanal sector, DCBAs are negotiated at regional level.

Collective wage bargaining coverage of employees

Notes: * Percentage indicates the coverage of NCBAs signed by CGIL, CISL and UIL. ** Percentage of employees working in local units where more than 50% of the employees are covered by a collective pay agreement against the total number of employees who participated in the survey.

Sources: Eurofound, European Company Survey 2013/2019 (including private sector companies with establishments with more than 10 employees (Nomenclature of Economic Activities codes B–S), with multiple responses possible); Eurostat [earn_ses10_01], [earn_ses14_01], [earn_ses18_01] (including companies with more than 10 employees (Nomenclature of Economic Activities codes B–S, excluding O), with a single response for each local unit); CNEL (2022); OECD and AIAS (2021).

Bargaining levels

The most important level of collective bargaining for wage-setting in Italy is the sectoral level. Italian NCBAs for each economic sector contain provisions dedicated to minimum wages. These include tables structured based on minimum wage thresholds related to the tasks of workers at each level. The maximum length of the working day, depending on the sector and the type of activity carried out, is also defined in NCBAs.

However, the regulation of some aspects of the remuneration structure and working time management, such as incentive plans, fringe benefits, remote work and overtime remuneration is delegated to decentralised-level agreements.

Levels of collective bargaining, 2022

Notes: The Italian interconfederal level (livello interconfederale) does not address individual employment relationships but defines the rules governing collective bargaining and covers some general issues, such as apprenticeships. It provides the rules for the coordination of the sectoral bargaining level with the decentralised bargaining levels, and it establishes the general reference criteria for wage bargaining, including for the protection of the purchasing power of wages.

Articulation

According to the TU 2014, DCBAs should concern only the issues delegated to them by NCBAs or by law. Basic rights and minimum wage levels are established at national/sectoral level, while DCBAs aim to adapt the general conditions to specific contexts, in accordance with the mandatory provisions set out at national/sectoral level or by law.

Timing of bargaining rounds

NCBAs are generally renewed every three years. DCBAs have variable durations, but renewals tend to follow the timing of NCBAs, avoiding the overlap of negotiations. However, agreements concerning productivity standards and productivity bonuses tend to be renewed every year, at least to revise the variable objectives.

On the basis of the TU 2014, in order to avoid the excessive prolongation of bargaining rounds, social partners agreed that the proposals for renewal must be submitted six months before the expiry of an NCBA.

In the event of a delay in renewing the NCBA, its clauses are ultra-active – that is, they remain valid until the next renewal. This situation is not uncommon in Italy, especially as regards NCBAs related to more fragmented economic sectors.

Coordination

Horizontal and vertical coordination mechanisms are in place in the Italian bargaining system: NCBAs regulate wages in line with the provisions of the 2009 interconfederal framework agreement on the reform of collective bargaining arrangements. The agreement provides a reference framework for sectoral renewals to consider inflation projections, with the aim of ensuring the preservation of the purchasing power (horizontal coordination). Moreover, the agreement envisages the introduction of opening clauses in sectoral agreements, which should be managed by the national bargaining parties (vertical coordination).

Extension mechanisms

The effectiveness of Italian collective agreements is not extended by law. Employers can apply a collective agreement to their workers even if they are not a member of an employer organisation that signed it. Employer organisations and trade unions can sign a collective agreement even if they have not negotiated it (they may do so by ‘following’ it).

NCBAs provide for a minimum wage for employees in the sector they apply to. However, NCBAs apply to workers only if the employer decides so.

Article 36 of the Italian Constitution states that workers are entitled to remuneration commensurate with the quality and quantity of their work (the proportionality principle) and in any case to ensure them and their families a decent living (the sufficiency principle). According to Article 2099(2) of the Civil Code, in the absence of agreement between the parties, remuneration is determined by a judge. In the absence of further specific legislation on minimum wages, the constitutional principle is implemented by the ‘sufficient wage jurisprudence’, based on the combination of Article 36(1) of the Constitution and Article 2099(2) of the Civil Code. In particular, the Italian Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione) states that only minimum wages established in NCBAs signed by the most representative social partners meet the requirements outlined in the Constitution. Therefore, wage provisions contained in NCBAs represent the criteria to assess wages set in individual contracts. Consequently, workers can sue their employers in labour courts in order to gain wages in line with parameters established by NCBAs. This is a case law mechanism to defend the wage conditions, especially for workers in union-weak sectors.

Derogation mechanisms

In principle, the law defines non-derogable principles. The NCBAs supplement these principles with detailed rules tailored to each economic sector, which should be non-derogable with respect to DCBAs.

Nevertheless, collective agreements can provide for opening clauses. Opening clauses mean a deviation from an NCBA and/or law (the TU 2014). The 2009 framework agreement introduced a preliminary scheme of opening clauses. Article 8 of Act No. 138/2011 introduced the possibility that DCBAs (contratti di prossimità) could introduce derogations to NCBAs and, in certain cases, even legislation. Pursuant to Act No. 81/2015, derogations from NCBAs and DCBAs with regard to the regulation of tasks and flexible work (for example, quota clauses in fixed-term work) are possible.

Expiry of collective agreements

The 2009 framework agreement has adopted general rules regarding the timing of contractual renewals. NCBAs are in force for three years regarding legal aspects as well as pay. If a collective agreement is not renewed on time, a specific economic bonus is awarded to workers. According to the TU 2014, NCBAs can also establish the involvement of cross-sectoral social partners when sectoral social partners do not manage to agree on the contractual renewal. Collective agreements cease to be effective on the date of termination. The parties can continue to apply them, but they are not obliged to do so, unless the ultra-activity of specific provisions is expressly stated in the NCBAs. This happens in the vast majority of cases.

Peace clauses

Although it is formally possible to call a strike during negotiations, social partners have autonomously regulated this issue by establishing peace obligation periods and procedures in interconfederal and sectoral agreements. These agreements cover the negotiation phase and include mechanisms of dispute resolution related to industrial action and disputes.

Legal aspects

The right to strike is enshrined in Article 40 of the Italian Constitution, which entered into force in 1948. Indeed, the Workers’ Statute does not intervene directly in the matter of strikes, but it does include strikes among the protected rights concerning anti-union conduct by employers under Article 28, and prohibits discrimination based on strikes under Article 15.

In the silence of lawmakers, case law has produced numerous rulings that have removed the limits to the exercise of the right to strike (remnants of the fascist corporative legal system) from the Italian criminal code.

There are numerous regulations in the Italian legal system that prevent the employer from carrying out acts aimed at limiting the right to strike, such as the nullity of dismissal caused by participation in a strike.

The right to strike is considered an ‘individual right exercised collectively’, as the interest pursued by the strike has a collective nature. Two requirements must be met for a strike to be considered lawful: (1) the interruption of the work activity is organised on a collective basis, and is promoted by a trade union or by a non-unionised group of workers to protect the collective interest; and (2) the industrial action takes place on a voluntary basis.

The exercise of the right to strike results in the suspension of the two fundamental obligations of the employment relationship: the employee has the faculty not to perform the work; and the employer is not obliged to pay the employee for working time that was not worked because of their participation in the strike.

With regard to the workers targeted, the following types of strikes can occur in Italy:

• general strike (abstention from work affecting all workers in the country)
• sectoral strike (abstention from work affecting only one economic sector or one category of workers)
• local strike (abstention from work affecting only workers from a certain geographical area)
• company-level strike (abstention from work affecting workers in a specific company)

With regard to strike characteristics, the following types of strikes can occur in Italy:

• ordinary strike (abstention from work)
• white strike (workers, instead of abstaining from work, mindlessly apply the working regulations, causing inconvenience and slowdowns)
• articulated strikes (aimed at altering the functional links between the elements of production, so as to produce maximum damage to the employer with minimum loss of pay for strikers)
• intermittent or ‘hiccup’ strike (involves workers stopping work for short, irregular periods)
• rotating or ‘checkerboard’ strike (different groups of workers or departments within an organisation take turns striking)

With regard to the reasons for striking, the following types of strikes can occur in Italy.

• Ordinary strike (abstention from work for economic/professional purposes).
• Political strike (abstention from work for political purposes). A distinction between a pure political strike and a political-economic strike is necessary. The first pertains to the prevalence of political choices or general political orientations, without a precise economic claim, while the second is aimed at obtaining political interventions that specifically concern the socioeconomic conditions of workers. The Constitutional Court declared the pure political strike legitimate for the first time in its ruling No. 123/1962. According to the court, it is precisely the ‘economic aims’ of the strike that make it possible to differentiate between a purely political strike, as a mere freedom of the worker, and a political-economic strike, as a right of the worker.
• Sympathy strike (abstention from work in solidarity with other groups of workers, with whom there is a commonality of interests, or with an individual worker). Act No. 146/1990 regulates the right to strike in essential public services, irrespective of if they are provided by the public administration or private enterprises. Essential public services are those that ensure constitutionally protected rights (such as the rights to education, health, public safety and mobility) or public order and public interests. They include, for instance, local transport, emergency services, hospitals, the fire service, infrastructure services, final school examinations. The general criteria are that a notice period must be respected when a strike is called and that minimum services must be ensured in the event of a strike in these services, in order to balance the exercise of the right to strike and other protected rights or interests. The minimum services can be established by collective agreements or law. A special national commission for the application of the law on the right to strike in public essential services (Commissione di garanzia dell´attuazione della legge sullo sciopero nei servizi pubblici essenziali) was established.

Developments in industrial action

Communications from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies regarding self-declared data on strikes are awaited.

The Civil Service Strikes Dashboard is the tool through which the Civil Service, in accordance with the provisions of Law 146/1990, fulfils its obligation to report all information on national strikes in the civil service, including participation data (local and/or regional strikes are excluded).

• Minister for Public Administration: Cruscotto degli scioperi nel pubblico impiego

Dispute resolution mechanisms

Collective dispute resolution mechanisms

A labour dispute is defined as collective when it arises from conflict between employer organisations and trade union organisations.

The Directorate-General for Labour Relations and Industrial Relations carries out mediation activities in the event of labour disputes and, in general, in corporate crises of national importance – that is, involving operational and production units located in several regions. In particular, the directorate-general:

• carries out mediation activities for the stipulation and renewal of NCBAs
• is competent to manage the joint examination procedures necessary for the submission – to the Directorate-General for Social Security and Training – of applications for the authorisation of extraordinary wage supplementation treatments for company reorganisation and crises
• is competent to carry out the administrative phase of collective dismissal procedures pursuant to Act No. 223/1991

For more information about collective labour disputes, see Ministry of Labour and Social Policies (undated-a), and for more information about the Directorate-General for Labour Relations and Industrial Relations, see Ministry of Labour and Social Policies (undated-b).

Individual dispute resolution mechanisms

The labour judge, in the Italian judicial system, identifies a specialised section (labour courts) of each ordinary court for the first instance, of each court of appeal for the second instance, and of the Supreme Court of Cassation for the review of legitimacy with jurisdiction to judge in matters related to labour law and social security.

Disputes concerning individual employment relationships, in addition to court decisions, can also be resolved through conciliation: the procedure set out by law provides that decisions may be taken by a conciliation commission chaired by the director of the territorially competent provincial labour directorate and composed of representatives of workers and employers. This dispute resolution instrument was envisaged to alleviate the workload of labour courts and reduce delays in their proceedings.

Furthermore, another quite frequent form of conciliation in practice takes place through the parity conciliation commission provided for in many collective labour agreements. Union and employer representatives participate in this procedure, and the person performing the mediation functions is designated by the trade union to which the employee belongs.

Use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms

Reporting about how often alternative forms of labour dispute resolution are used compared with labour courts is not possible, as these data are not available.

‘Individual employment relations’ refers to the relationship between the individual worker and their employer. This relationship is shaped by legal regulation and by the outcomes of social partner negotiations over terms and conditions. This section looks at the start and termination of the employment relationship and entitlements and obligations in Italy.

Start and termination of the employment relationship

Requirements regarding an employment contract

According to applicable legislation, the minimum working age is fixed at 16 years, except for specific forms of apprenticeship, for which it is fixed at 15 years. Written employment contracts are generally not required (except in some cases, such as apprenticeships), but the employer is obliged to inform the worker in writing of their working conditions. To be valid, the employment contract has to be agreed on by both parties. The parties to the employment contract must have legal capacity and the capacity to act.

Dismissal and termination procedures

Given the regulatory stratification and complexity of the dismissal regime in Italy, two schemes for the individual dismissal regime are proposed, based on when workers were hired.

Regime applied to workers hired before 7 March 2015

Notes: * Termination of employment and payment of compensation. ** Regarding disciplinary rules on penalties. *** The conciliation procedure in the case of dismissals for objective reasons in production units with more than 15 employees. n.a., not available.

Regime applied to workers hired after 7 March 2015

Since 2018, the Constitutional Court has repeatedly intervened to censure the reform introduced by Act No. 23/2015 (part of the Jobs Act). It declared as unconstitutional the automatism in the quantification of the indemnity to be paid to an unjustly dismissed employee (where there is no just cause or justified reason for dismissal), rigidly measured only on the seniority of service of the employee unjustly dismissed (Judgment No. 194/2018). Subsequently, the court issued Judgment No. 150/2020 to censure the same regulation, stating that even in the case of unlawful dismissal for formal defects the indemnity cannot be automatically and rigidly measured based only on seniority. More recently, the Constitutional Court intervened on the same legislation, censuring the merely compensatory protection from unlawful dismissal for justified reasons (Judgment Nos. 59/2021 and 125/2022), including in small enterprises (Judgment No. 183/2022).

Following the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, several legislative measures suspended individual and collective dismissals for economic reasons. Since August 2020, the ban on dismissals has not been absolute and has not applied, for example, in the case of the cessation of company activities for winding up; insolvency without the continuation of company activities; and the signature of a company agreement by the most representative trade unions at company level, with the aim of stimulating the consensual termination of a contract of employment (in this case, the worker automatically benefits from temporary unemployment schemes). The ‘redundancy freeze’ ended in April 2022.

Entitlements and obligations

Parental, maternity and paternity leave

Parental leave (voluntary)

Article 2 of Act No. 151/2001 defines parental leave as the voluntary abstention of a male or female worker for periods in addition to those included in compulsory maternity or paternity leave. The right to abstention applies during the first 12 years of the child’s life. Where both parents take parental leave, the maximum period of abstention from work shared between the two is fixed at 10 months, in accordance with the following rules.

• The working mother is entitled, after her maternity leave (compulsory abstention), to a continuous or fragmented period not exceeding six months.
• The working father is entitled, from the birth of the child, to a continuous or fragmented period not exceeding 6 months, which may be increased to 7 if he abstains from work for a continuous or fragmented period of no less than 3 months; in the latter case, the total period of 10 months shared between the two parents is increased to 11 months.
• Single parents are entitled to a continuous or fragmented period of no more than 11 months.

During the parental leave, the employee’s financial allowance is calculated at 30% of the average global daily wage. In the case of single parents, an indemnified leave of nine months in total is granted. In 2023, the INPS allowance was increased from 30% to 80% of the average daily global remuneration, in accordance with the following criteria: it is (1) split between the parents; (2) received for a maximum duration of one month; and (3) received up to the child’s sixth birthday or the sixth year of the child’s entry into the family, in the case of adoption.

Parental leave should not be confused with compulsory maternity or paternity leave. These are mandatory, whereas parental leave is voluntary.

Compulsory maternity leave

Pursuant to Article 16 of Act No. 151/2001, and subsequent amendments, mothers must abstain from work, subject to exceptions, in the following periods:

• during the two months preceding the expected date of childbirth, except as provided for in Article 20 of Act No. 151/2001 (flexible leave)
• if childbirth occurs after that date, the period between the presumed date and the actual date of childbirth
• during the three months after childbirth, except as provided for in Article 20 of Act No. 151/2001 (flexible leave)
• during the additional days not taken before childbirth, if childbirth occurs earlier than the expected date

Compulsory paternity leave

Pursuant to Article 27-bis of Act No. 151/2001 (introduced through Act No. 105/2022), the father is entitled to 10 days off work. In the case of twin births, he is entitled to 20 days. The working father can request them all together or in instalments, from two months before the birth until five months afterwards. The leave can also be enjoyed by the father during the working mother’s compulsory maternity leave. Compulsory leave is also granted to fathers taking alternative paternity leave (see the following section).

Alternative paternity leave

Pursuant to Article 28 of Act No. 151/2001, the working father has the right to abstain from work for the entire duration of the mother’s compulsory maternity leave, or for the part that would have been due to the working mother in the event of the death or serious illness of the mother, the abandonment of the child by the mother, the child being entrusted exclusively to the father.

Statutory leave arrangements

Sick leave

Sickness constitutes a case of temporary supervening inability to work, which does not entail the termination of the employment contract, but only a suspension of the employee’s obligation to work (as set out in Article 2110 of the Civil Code).

The period of illness during which the employee may not be dismissed (periodo di comporto) is generally regulated by national collective bargaining. NCBAs contain special rules on the period for part-time and fixed-term workers, with the aim of avoiding excessively onerous consequences for the employer.

Pregnancy-related illnesses and occupational illnesses or accidents at work are excluded from the periodo di comporto.

If sick, the employee must inform their employer as soon as possible before the beginning of his/her working day. A doctor must certify the state of illness, submitting the certificate to INPS through an online procedure. INPS makes the certificate available to the employer.

According to Act No. 562/1926, the employee should receive a special indemnity from the INPS, calculated as 50% of basic remuneration from the 4th day to the 20th day of illness. From the 21st day on, the indemnity amounts to 66.66% of basic remuneration. Collective agreements usually establish the integration of the mandatory sick indemnity by employers and ensure the full coverage of pay during sick periods, with some thresholds in terms of annual days of sick leave.

Retirement age

Act No. 201/2011 radically reformed the Italian social security system, allowing for a yearly increase in the retirement age in order to adapt it to the population’s increasing life expectancy.

As part of measures addressing retirement rules and pension benefits, and following a long phase of consultations with trade unions, the 2017 Budget Law introduced three early retirement schemes targeting people aged at least 63 who are no more than three years and seven months away from statutory retirement age: the social advance pension payment (anticipo pensionistico sociale), the advance pension payment (anticipo pensionistico) and the temporary supplementary advance annuity (rendita integrativa temporanea anticipata). Specific categories of disadvantaged people have the opportunity to access the social advance pension payment, which is funded by the state. The advance pension payment can be accessed by other workers upon taking out a 20-year loan intended to pay back the anticipated sum, and a life insurance policy subsidised by the state. Finally, workers enrolled in supplementary private pension schemes have the opportunity to apply for the temporary supplementary advance annuity, an advance pension payment subject to a 15% maximum taxation rate.

The Budget Law also eliminated caps on the value of supplementary pension contributions that can be exempted from income taxation, a measure that is likely to promote the establishment of contractual pension funds as part of collective bargaining agreements.

Another measure was introduced in early 2019 – that is, an anticipated retirement scheme, which will last for three years, for people whose age and years of contribution add to 100 (the ‘quota 100’).

The 2023 Budget Law (Act No. 197/2022) provides for the following innovations.

• Provisions on access to ‘flexible early retirement’ (quota 103): On an experimental basis in 2023, it was possible to obtain the right to early retirement upon reaching a registry age of at least 62 years and a minimum contribution period of 41 years.
• Extension of the social advance pension payment: The right to access the payment provided by INPS (until retirement age is reached) was extended into 2023 for subjects in specific situations who are at least 63 years of age and are not already holders of a basic pension. The allowance is granted to workers who perform physically demanding tasks, civilians whose disabilities comprise 74% or more of their capacity, unemployed people who have exhausted the relevant New Social Insurance for Employment treatment (or equivalent) and caregivers.
• Changes to and the extension of the ‘Women’s Option’ (opzione donna): The possibility of accessing pension treatment was extended into 2023 for female workers who, by 31 December 2022, had accrued a contribution period equal to or greater than 35 years and a registry age of at least 60 years, reduced by 1 year for each child up to a maximum of 2 years, and who belonged to one of the following categories: caregivers, people whose disabilities comprise 74% or more of their capacity and dismissed workers or employees of companies in crisis.

For workers, pay is a reward for their work and their main source of income; for employers, it is a cost of production and a focus of bargaining and legislation. This section looks at minimum wage setting in Italy.

The National Institute of Statistics (Istat) published a report in 2021 analysing data collected in 2018. According to the report, in 2018 the average annual gross salary per employee amounted to €35,062. It was highest in the industry sector, at €36,610, and lowest in the construction sector, at €31,967. Women earn about €6,500 less per year than men (€31,335 compared with €37,912), partly due to the lower number of paid hours they work: on average, 1,552 hours for women and 1,840 for men. In addition, in terms of hourly pay, the average for women is lower (€15.20). They earn €1 less per hour than men (€16.20). The macro-sector ‘other services’ has the highest hourly wages (€17.80 for women and €19.40 for men), as it includes the education sector (which employs about a third of the employees in the macro-sector), where the teaching staff have a particularly low number of (nominal) hours of service. The gender pay gap, calculated as the percentage difference between the average hourly earnings of men and women compared with men’s hourly wages, was 6.2% in 2018 and reached 15.9% in the tertiary sector and 14.2% in the industry sector. See the table below for details.

Pay and gender pay gap

Source: Istat, 2021.

As data collection takes place every four years, more recent data compiled by Istat are not available.

Minimum wages

The Italian legislation does not provide for a statutory minimum wage.

The minimum wages are set at sectoral level by NCBAs, which set out minimum economic standards for the whole sector they apply to throughout the country. Italian NCBAs contain tables providing minimum wages in the ‘economic part’ of the collective agreement. These tables are structured in minimum wage thresholds based on several criteria, such as the tasks, duties and seniority of workers. Wages are decided exclusively by negotiation between the social partners, without state intervention.

In the absence of an agreement or mutual consent between the employer and the employee, wages and salaries may be determined by labour courts in accordance with standards set by NCBAs applicable to the relevant sector.

DCBAs may enhance these standards through provisions on issues such as rates, performance bonuses and bonuses based on productivity. Wages and salaries of all workers are usually paid on a monthly basis. Employees may receive various additional wage elements, for instance additional monthly salaries (a 13th monthly payment, which is legally compulsory, and a 14th monthly payment, if provided for by an NCBA).

Regarding the comparison of adult and youth salaries, only 2018 Istat data, as compiled in 2021, are available. These data reveal large differences by age and level of education in hourly pay. Young people (under 30 years old) have an hourly wage (€11.10) that is 39% lower than that of workers over 50 (€18.20) and 26% lower than that of employees aged between 30 and 49 (€15). Employees with primary education have an hourly wage of €12.10, 17.7% less than employees with secondary education (€14.70) and 43.7% less than those with tertiary education (€21.50).

Working time is ‘any period during which the worker is working, at the employer’s disposal and carrying out his activity or duties, in accordance with national laws and/or practice’ (Directive 2003/88/EC). This section briefly summarises the regulation of and issues regarding working time, overtime, part-time work and working time flexibility in Italy.

Working time regulation

The regulation of the working day in Italy has a constitutional basis (Article 36(2)).

Working time is primarily regulated by Act No. 66/2003 and subsequent amendments, incorporating into national law the EU Working Time Directive. Rules apply to all employees of the private and public sectors. The standard number of weekly working hours is fixed at 40, unless more favourable provisions contained in NCBAs reduce this duration. In any case, the weekly working time cannot exceed 48 hours per week, including overtime hours, calculated over a reference period not exceeding four months, unless more favourable provisions contained in NCBAs reduce the duration or increase the reference period up to 6 months, or up to 12 months for objective and explicitly stated organisational reasons. The abovementioned provisions do not apply to executives. A good number of provisions on working time do not apply to managers and other employees with autonomous decision-making power and functional autonomy.

Company-level collective agreements may affect working time by modifying the general rules set out in NCBAs, subject to the abovementioned legal limits.

Overtime regulation

The legal basis for overtime regulation is Act No. 66/2003 and subsequent amendments.

Unless differently provided for by NCBAs, which define the grounds on which overtime work is permitted, overtime work should be used sparingly and in exceptional technical or production-related circumstances. In any case, overtime should be agreed between the employer and the employee and cannot exceed 250 hours a year. According to the law, NCBAs provide for higher payment for overtime hours or, alternatively, for compensatory rest periods.

Decentralised agreements can set out different provisions to regulate overtime in order to better manage working time within firms.

Part-time work

‘Part-time work’ in Italy refers to employment in which working hours are fewer than the standard 40 hours per week. The reduction in working hours can be implemented in three different ways.

• Horizontal part-time: The employee works every working day, but for a short number of daily hours.
• Vertical part-time: The employee works full days, but only on specific days.
• Mixed part-time (part-time misto): This is a combination of the two types described above.

By virtue of the principle of non-discrimination, part-time workers must not be treated differently from full-time workers with regard to economic and regulatory conditions. Part-time workers are entitled to the same economic treatment and hourly pay as full-time workers, proportional to the hours worked; they are also entitled to the same rights as full-time workers in all respects, except for allowances or other economic treatment, which, if dependent on the hours worked, are reduced proportionally in compliance with the pro rata temporis principle.

Part-time work is generally governed by NCBAs, with some specific aspects regulated at firm level. Part-time work must be agreed on between the employee and the employer, and part-time employment requires a written contract for evidentiary purposes.

Night work

Pursuant to Article 1 of Act No. 66/2003, as subsequently amended, a night worker is a worker who, as part of his/her normal working time, works at least three hours of his/her daily working time during night-time. Act No. 66/2003 (Article 1(2)) defines night-time as any period of no less than seven consecutive hours including the time span between 00:00 and 05:00.

Shift work

Article 1 of Act No. 66/2003, as subsequently amended, defines shift work as any method of work organisation based on shifts, in which workers are assigned to the same working stations according to a certain pattern, for example on a rotational basis. The pattern may be continuous or discontinuous, and requires workers to perform a job at different times over a given period of days or weeks.

Weekend work

According to Article 36(2) of the Italian Constitution, the worker has the right to a weekly rest period and cannot renounce it. According to Act No. 66/2003 and subsequent amendments (Article 9), every seven days the worker is entitled to a rest period of at least 24 consecutive hours, normally on a Sunday, and that rest period should be calculated as an average over a period not exceeding 14 days. It should be noted that the 11 daily hours of rest must be added to these 24 hours, so that the total number of hours of weekly rest amount to 35 consecutive hours. The weekly rest period may be fixed on a day other than Sunday, and may be implemented through shift work for staff engaged in a wide range of activities.

Thanks to the intervention of the legal system, the circumstance of carrying out Sunday work and taking weekly rest on another day is sufficient to establish the right to an hourly wage increase, normally regulated by an NCBA.

Rest and breaks

Daily break

The legislation does not refer to a daily limit for the duration of work. However, it can be inferred that the maximum daily working time in Italy is 13 hours, as Act No. 66/2003 (Article 7) provides for the right of the worker to 11 consecutive hours of rest every 24 hours. The act provides for a daily break during the working day if it exceeds six hours. These breaks are regulated by NCBAs, and may not last less than 10 minutes.

Working time flexibility

Working time flexibility is not regulated by law. The law only sets out the maximum number of working hours, leaving all other aspects to social dialogue and contractual freedom within specific limits for certain categories of workers or circumstances (such as night work). Some types of time flexibility strategies are beginning to be provided for or introduced in collective agreements, but the general trend of NCBAs is to fix working hours within a specific time span, generally from 09:00 to 18:00.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the take-up of remote work in Italy. Beyond the COVID-19 emergency and related lockdown, it seems to be an emerging model that will characterise the future of work in Italy. On 7 December 2021, at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies, an agreement was reached with the social partners for the first national protocol on agile working in the private sector. The protocol sets out the framework for the definition of remote work performance. It identifies the guidelines for national-, company- and territorial-level collective bargaining, in compliance with the regulations set out in Act No. 81/2017 and existing collective agreements. It also states that measures to be implemented in the specific sectors should be determined by collective bargaining. With regard to working time flexibility, work activity carried out remotely is characterised by the absence of a precise work schedule and autonomy in the performance of tasks within the scope of the working objectives. Flexible working may be divided into time slots, identifying, in each case, the period of disconnection in which the worker does not perform work; specific technical and/or organisational measures must be adopted at company level to guarantee disconnection.

Maintaining health and well-being should be a high priority for workers and employers alike. Health is an asset closely associated with a person’s quality of life and longevity, as well as their ability to work. A healthy economy depends on a healthy workforce: organisations can experience loss of productivity through the ill health of their workers. This section looks at psychosocial risks and health and safety at work in Italy.

Health and safety at work

Occupational safety and health in Italy is regulated by Act No. 81/2008, as amended. The fundamental aim of implementing the legislation was to reorganise and coordinate in a single and unified text the regulations previously in force on safety in the workplace, most of which had been abrogated.

INAIL is a non-economic public body that manages compulsory insurance against accidents at work and occupational diseases. Compulsory INAIL insurance covers any accident occurring due to a ‘violent cause at work’ from which death, permanent incapacity or temporary absolute incapacity for more than three days results. There must be a relationship, even an indirect cause-and-effect one, between the work activity performed by the injured person and the accident causing the injury. Moreover, accidents at work differ from occupational diseases in that the triggering event is sudden and violent, whereas in the latter the causes are slow to produce an effect and the effect builds up over a long period of time. INAIL protects workers in the case of accidents that occur during their normal commute between their home and the workplace. These are known as commuting accidents (infortunio in itinere).

INAIL (2023) data depict the following situation.

Between January and December 2022, compared with the same period of 2021, there was a marked increase in work accident reports (due, in part, to the higher number of reports of accidents as a result of COVID-19 and, in part, to the increase in ‘traditional’ accidents, both at work and on the way to work) and a decrease in fatal work accidents (due to the considerably lower number of deaths from contagion, which, however, is counteracted by the simultaneous increase in commuting accidents leading to death). A total of 697,773 reports of accidents at work were submitted to INAIL in 2022, an increase of 25.7% compared with 2021. A total of 1,090 reports of fatal accidents at work were submitted to INAIL in 2022, 131 less than the 1,221 registered in 2021 (-10.7%), with a decrease in reports received in all months from January to April (-33.8%) and an overall increase in May–December (+7.1%).

It may be useful to compare the 2022 data with those recorded before the pandemic, in 2019, to highlight the trends in accidents recorded, including COVID-19 infections. Reports of accidents at work received by INAIL from January to December 2022 (697,773) increased by 8.7% compared with the same period of 2019 (641,638). If we analyse the accident reports from 2022 excluding COVID-19 infections, the comparison with 2019 shows instead a decrease of 9.5%. It should be noted that the prevalence of COVID-19 cases among all reported accidents increased in 2022 (about 17%) compared with 2021 (7.7%), although it was lower than in 2020 (23.6%). The analysis of fatal accidents reported excluding COVID-19 infections indicates that in 2022 the number decreased compared with 2019, by 0.5% (compared with an increase of 0.1% if infections were included): in fact, the prevalence of COVID-19 cases among all reported deaths decreased significantly in 2022 (by 0.6%) compared with 2020 (33.3%) and 2021 (15.2%).

Psychosocial risks

Psychosocial risk factors are aspects of work design, organisation and management, and environmental and social contexts, that can cause damage to the worker’s psycho-physical health; these factors need to be adequately assessed and managed, in order to avoid the onset of mental health conditions in workers.

In this regard, Article 28 of Act No. 81/2008, as amended with the contents of the European Framework Agreement of 8 October 2004, specified the obligation to assess the risk of work-related stress and, consequently, that relating to its management by the employer.

With the subsequent insertion in Act No. 81/08 of Title X-bis, the legislator introduced the obligation for the employer – in the context of the protection of sharps injuries in the hospital and healthcare sector – to ‘ensure the health and safety of workers in all aspects related to their professional life, including psychosocial factors and work organisation’.

In relation to the sociodemographic changes of recent decades and in line with the indications of the European strategies for the protection of health and safety at work, among the obligations in Article 28 of Act No. 81/2008 is taking into account, in the assessment of risks, those ‘related to gender differences, age, origin from other countries and those related to the specific type of contract through which the work is performed’.

Skills are the passport to employment; the more highly skilled an individual, the more employable they are. People with good skills also tend to secure better-quality jobs and better earnings. This section briefly summarises the Italian system for ensuring skills and employability and looks at training provision.

National system for ensuring skills and employability

ANPAL is the national body for active labour policies. It promotes people’s right to work, training and professional development, coordinates the national network of employment services and is responsible for the labour market information system. In the organisational structure of the agency there are collegial bodies with representatives of the most representative social partners.

The following lines of action of ANPAL should be mentioned here.

Guaranteed employability of workers (GOL): The GOL programme is a reform action envisaged in Italy’s national recovery and resilience plan to upgrade active labour policy services. It includes €4.4 billion in resources. It is meant to involve 3 million beneficiaries by 2025, including 800,000 in training activities, 300,000 of them related to digital skills. The GOL programme is implemented by the regions and autonomous provinces on the basis of regional plans approved by ANPAL. ANPAL plays a coordinating role in the programme, which is coordinated by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies.

New Skills Fund: This is a public fund co-financed by the European Social Fund, set up to counter the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It allows companies to adapt workers’ skills by allocating some of their working hours to training. Staff training hours are paid from the fund, thanks to contributions from the state and the European Social Fund, managed by ANPAL.

Youth Guarantee: The programme is an EU initiative born out of the need to tackle the difficulties of job placement and youth unemployment. ANPAL is the Italian managing authority of the Youth Guarantee. The programme is mostly implemented by the regions, as intermediate bodies, and ANPAL centrally manages some special projects.

A specific type of employment contract was created to serve as a ‘bridge between education and the world of work’. This is the apprenticeship, in which the employer is obliged not only to pay remuneration to employees, but also to train them. In return, the employer can benefit from some tax relief and reductions in social security contributions, as well as providing a sub-minimum wage to the apprentice. The apprenticeship is deemed to be an indefinite contract, but there is a specific date (when the training can be considered concluded) when the employer can dismiss the employee. If dismissal does not occur, the apprenticeship automatically turns into a full-fledged indefinite contract.

Currently, there are three kinds of apprenticeship:

• apprenticeships aimed at helping students obtain a vocational qualification, targeting people between 15 and 25 years old
• profession-oriented apprenticeships for people between 18 and 29 years old
• apprenticeships enabling students to conduct research or obtain a higher education qualification, targeted at people between 18 and 29 years old who hold a second-level diploma.

Training

The main public institutions that have to be considered when talking about training are the regions. They come into play in relation to both apprenticeship and internship regulations. As to apprenticeships, the regions have to define and structure an important part of the apprentice’s training (basic and cross-cutting training), whose cost is shouldered by them. As to internships, the regions must provide for some regulatory principles, such as the minimum amount of indemnity to be provided to the intern.

Vocational training joint institutions (fondi interprofessionali) must also be considered. These are special quasi-public bodies promoted by social partners through confederal agreements signed by employers’ and employees’ most representative organisations and unions. Pursuant to Act No. 388/2000, companies must finance these vocational training joint institutions with 0.30% of the contributions paid to INPS if they adhere to the legislation.

Paritarian vocational training institutions fund training activities – at both sectoral and territorial levels – that companies can decide to implement for their employees.

The principle of equal treatment requires that all people – and, in the context of the workplace, all workers – have the right to receive the same treatment, and will not be discriminated against on the basis of criteria such as age, sex, disability, nationality, race and religion.

Article 3 of the Italian Constitution states: ‘All citizens have equal social dignity and are equal before the law, without distinction of sex, race, language, religion, political opinion, personal and social conditions.’ Equality is one of the fundamental principles of the Italian legal system.

Before the implementation of Act No. 903/1993 (that is, the fundamental basis of the regulation of work for women), Act No. 125/1991 introduced the objective of ensuring equal opportunities and the recognition of the implementation of the ‘positive actions’ (azioni positive) instrument. The contents of these laws were incorporated into two single texts: (1) the consolidated text on the protection and support of maternity and paternity (Act No. 151/2001); and (2) the Code of Equal Opportunities between Men and Women (Act No. 198/2006 and subsequent amendments, implementing EU Directive 2006/54/EC).

Other regulations are provided for by Italian legislation to protect the employment of minors (Article 37(3) of the Constitution; Act No. 977/1967, in large part replaced by Act No. 345/1999 and Act No. 262/2000), immigrants (Act No. 286/1998 – that is, the consolidated text on immigration), other minorities (Act Nos. 215/2003 and 216/2003) and people with disabilities.

NCBAs may provide more favourable rules for the inclusion of minorities.

Generally, labour courts are the bodies entrusted with ensuring equality at work. Dismissals for discriminatory reasons (political, sexual, religious and others) are considered null and void.

Mention should be made here of the corporate Gender Equality Certification System, whose purpose is to promote the adoption of gender equality and women’s empowerment policies at company level. Certification takes place on a voluntary basis and at the request of the company. According to Act No. 162/2021 (the Gribaudo Act), the system provides for a bonus principle that is realised through the introduction of incentives at social security and tax levels.

The Italian national recovery and resilience plan envisages the creation of a ‘conditionality clause’ – that is, a constraint on economic operators awarded tenders to allocate at least 30% of the additional employment created in the performance of the contract to young people under 36 and women (without an age limit), for essential related activities. The measure, governed by Article 47 of Act No. 77/2021, establishes that contracting entities should include in the calls for tender specific clauses aimed at the inclusion of obligations, including recruitment, as a necessary requirement for participation, and the possible assignment of additional points to the bidder that complies with equal opportunity requirements (Lavorosì, 2022).

Equal pay and gender pay gap

According to Article 37(1) of the Italian Constitution, female workers have the same rights and, for equal work, the same pay as male workers.

Article 28 of Act No. 198/2006 (Code of Equal Opportunities between Men and Women) reaffirms the constitutional protection of equal pay for working men and working women, for equal work or work of equal value. Furthermore, Article 46 of the same act stipulates the obligation for public and private companies with more than 50 employees to draw up a report at least every two years on the situation of the remuneration actually paid to staff, to ensure their transparency.

Act No. 162/2021 (the Equal Pay Act (legge sulla parità salariale)), amending Act No. 198/2006, adopts two lines of action. The first is a series of measures to counter the gender pay gap upstream, through bonuses for companies that stamp out discrimination. The second provides for measures to encourage women’s participation in the labour market. Despite the long list of legislative measures, the gender pay gap is still very wide in Italy. According to the 2022 European Institute for Gender Equality gender equality index, women continue to earn less than men, with an average monthly wage that is 16% lower (see also Eurostat, undated). This gap widens among people over 65, with women in this age group earning 36% less than men, and between women and men who have completed tertiary education (with a gender pay gap of 35 percentage points).

As for the link between collective bargaining and the gender pay gap, NCBAs establish a minimum wage for each sector, which all employers must comply with, with no gender discrimination. If this characteristic of NCBAs in Italy makes it possible to reduce gender wage differences, clarifying some characteristics of the labour market and of DCBAs could help explain the pay gap. On the one hand, observing the tasks of workers, it should be highlighted that a strong segregation places women in the lowest levels of the minimum wage tables of NCBAs (only 18% of women are in managerial positions). On the other hand, even for the same job/task, it is possible to identify a pay gap. The gap derives from the attribution of ‘super-minima’, productivity bonuses, other bonuses and fringe benefits through DCBAs, still based on criteria of quantity of work and physical presence in the office. In rare cases, social partners have started to experiment with forms of collective bargaining geared towards taking the gender gap into account.

Quota regulations

The possibility of introducing a gender quota in Italy is today regulated by Article 42 of Act No. 198/2006 (Code of Equal Opportunities between Men and Women).

After the entry into force of Act No. 125/1991, which provided for the possibility of introducing gender quotas, some experiments were conducted. These were considered limited and qualitatively disappointing, except for a few rare virtuous experiences at company level. Therefore, Act No. 196/2000 attempted to strengthening the ‘positive actions’ instrument in Italy by assigning new steering prerogatives to the national equality committee. Today, quotas can be promoted by private (trade unions and employers) and public bodies (the national equality committee and equality councillors).

Gender quotas in quoted companies and publicly controlled companies were introduced by Act No. 120/2011 (the Golfo-Mosca Act), which enabled an increase in the number of women sitting on boards of directors. These are genuine ‘pink’ quotas, reserving one third of board seats for women.

Legal provisions to facilitate the access of people with disabilities to the labour market also exist. The Italian legislation promotes the employment of people with disabilities through compulsory hiring (assunzioni obbligatorie) (through Act No. 68/1999). People with disabilities include people with physical and mental impairments, those whose disabilities are medically certified as comprising more than 33% of their capacity, people who are blind and those who are deaf-mute.

Employer organisations

Confindustria and its affiliates

• General Confederation of Italian Industry (Confindustria)
• National Association of Constructors (ANCE)
• National Federation of Electrotechnical and Electronics Industries (ANIE)
• Federation of National Associations of Mechanical and Related Industries (ANIMA)
• Federation of Rubber and Plastic Industries
• Italian Federation of Food Industry (Federalimentare)
• National Federation of the Chemical Industry (Federchimica)
• Association of Italian Metalworking Industry (Federmeccanica)
• National Federation of Transport Industry (Federtrasporto)
• Federation of Textile and Fashion Industries (SMI)

Other organisations

• Italian Banking Association (ABI)
• General Association of Italian Cooperatives (AGCI)
• Italian Association of Insurance Companies (ANIA)
• Confederation of Italian Associations of Craft Businesses (CLAAI)
• National Confederation of Craft Trades and Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CNA)
• Italian Confederation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Confapi)
• Italian Confederation of Manufacturing Industry and of Private Enterprises (Confimi Industria)
• Confartigianato Imprese
• Italian General Confederation of Companies, Professional Activities, and Self-employment (Confcommercio)
• Confederation of Italian Cooperatives (Confcooperative)
• Italian Confederation of Businesses in the Trade, Tourism, and Service Sectors (Confesercenti)
• National Association of Cooperatives and Benefit Societies (Legacoop)

Trade unions

CGIL and its affiliates

• Italian General Confederation of Work (CGIL)
• General Association of Managers, Professionals, and High-Profile Professions (Agenquadri-CGIL)
• Federation of Knowledge Workers (FLC-CGIL)
• Italian Federation of Workers in the Trade, Tourism, and Service Sectors (Filcams-CGIL)
• Italian Federation of Workers in the Woodworking, Construction, Raw Material Extraction, and Related Sectors (Fillea-CGIL)
• Italian Federation of Workers of the Transport Sector (FILT-CGIL)
• Federation of White and Blue-Collar Metalworkers (FIOM-CGIL)
• Italian Union Federation of Workers in the Insurance and Banking Sectors (FISAC-CGIL)
• Federation of Agro-industry Workers (FLAI-CGIL)
• CGIL Public Employment Union (FP-CGIL)
• New Labour Identities (NIDIL-CGIL)
• Trade Union of Workers in the Communication Sector (SLC-CGIL)
• Italian Pensioners’ Union (SPI-CGIL)

CISL and its affiliates

• Italian Confederation of Workers’ Unions (CISL)
• School Workers’ Union (CISL Scuola)
• Physicians’ Union (CISL Medici)
• Research Workers’ Union (FIR-CISL)
• University Workers’ Union (CISL Federazione Università)
• Italian Federation of the Agricultural, Food, Environment and Industry Sectors (FAI-CISL)
• Federation of the Energy, Fashion, Chemical, and Related Sectors (FEMCA-CISL)
• Italian Federation of Workers in the Construction and Related Sectors (FILCA-CISL)
• Italian Federation of Metalworkers (FIM-CISL)
• Italian Federation of Tertiary Service Networks (FIRST-CISL)
• Italian Federation of Trade Unions of Workers in the Tourism, Trade Service, and Related Sectors (Fisascat-CISL)
• Italian Federation of the Transport Sector (FIT-CISL)
• Federation of Workers in Electricity Companies (FLAEI-CISL)
• National Federation of Security Workers (FNS-CISL)
• National Pensioners’ Federation (FNP-CISL)
• Public Employment Union (FP-CISL)
• Postal Workers’ Union (SLP-CISL)

UIL and its affiliates

• Union of Italian Workers (UIL)
• Italian Federation of Workers in the Construction and Related Sectors and in the Woodworking Sector (Feneal-UIL)
• School Workers’ Union (UIL Scuola)
• Italian Union of Agrifood Occupations (UILA)
• UIL Trade Union of Workers in the Banking, Tax Collecting, and Insurance Sectors (UILCA)
• Italian Union of Workers in the Communication Sector (Uilcom)
• UIL Federation of Local Authorities (UILFPL)
• Italian Union of Metalworkers (UILM)
• Italian Union of Workers in Constitutional Bodies (UIL Organi Costituzionali)
• Italian Union of Workers in the Textile, Energy, and Chemical Sectors (UILTEC)
• Italian Union of Retired Workers (UIL Pensionati)
• Italian Union of Postal Workers (UIL Poste)
• Italian Union of Civil Servants (UILPA)
• Italian Union of Workers in the Fields of Research, University, and Advanced Training in Arts, Music, and Dance (UILRUA)
• UIL National Association of Temporary, Autonomous, and Atypical Workers, and Partite IVA (UILTemp)
• Italian Union of Transport Workers (UILTRASPORTI)
• Italian Union of Workers in the Tourism, Trade, and Service Sectors (UILTuCS)

Other union organisations

• National Professional Association of Civil Aviation (ANPAC)
• Italian Confederation of Executives and High-Level Professions (CIDA)
• Italian Confederation of Free Workers’ Unions (CISAL)
• Confederazione dei Comitati di Base (COBAS)
• COBAS School Workers’ Union (COBAS della Scuola)
• General Confederation of Free Workers’ Unions (Confsal)
• Independent Union of Bank Workers (FABI)
• Federmanager
• Italian Federation of Journalists (FNSI)
• General Union of Labour (UGL)
• Rank-and-File Workers’ Union (USB)

Government

• Ministry of Labour and Social Policies
• Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy
• Italian Government Presidency of the Council of Ministers

Other links

• National Agency for Active Labour Market Policies (ANPAL)
• National Council for Economics and Labour (CNEL)
• National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL)
• National Institute for Public Policy Analysis (INAPP (formerly ISFOL, Institute for the Development of Vocational Training for Workers))
• National Labour Inspection Office
• National Institute for Social Security (INPS)
• National Institute of Statistics (Istat)

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