The Italian legal system has remained relatively stable over time regarding the definitional concepts of employee and self-employed workers. With regard to non-standard work, as production models and forms of work have evolved, the legislator has progressively opened the legal system to such forms of employment.
In Italian law, there is a legal mechanism for the certification of employment contracts, expressly aimed at reducing litigation concerning the classification of employment relationships. However, workers are often compelled to agree to the procedure if they wish to be hired.
The system of industrial relations relies primarily on the autonomous regulation of the social partners, mostly at cross-industry level, and by practices adopted by the social partners, including at the level of each company. Within this system, non-standard workers, while often having dedicated trade union representatives, have only partially obtained effective access to representation and collective bargaining. The fragmented and informal nature of Italian industrial relations may itself be regarded as a systemic obstacle to non-standard workers’ access to social dialogue.
Project
Commisioned by
- Horizon Europe