Crisis and Prospects of Labour Law in Italy

By Riccardo Del Punta

Labour law in Italy is going through a great transformation. Del Punta outlines the origins of the current style of labour law in Italy, developed from the 1960s after much social democratic effort from the close of WWII.

The protection offered by the law is based around the "dependent worker", ie someone who is operating under the exclusive control of one employer. This is common to most labour law in the western world. It is also an area that has changed drastically in recent years with much more contracting out and own account work, increased casualisation. The decrease in the number of manual workers, the decline in the following for social democracy under the assault of new right ideology and a fragmentation of unions have led to a crisis, according to Del Punta.

The push for flexibility of workers, partly spurred by increased European integration has also undermined the tradition of regulation in Italy.

The role of the state has changed with the role of the new right, and welfarism is under attack, which also affects labour regulation. So Del Punta sees that a labour marker has actually re-emerged in Italy, as the tight control that kept the lid on unemployment has gone. Flexibility has become the key. Outsourcing has been a big part of Italian industry for many years, but legislation has said that outsourcing must be to another enterprise, thus enabling continued regulation of conditions.

It has essentially been a soft way for flexibility for workers, in comparison to the complete undermining of many rights that has occurred elsewhere. Del Punta wonders whether it is enough to maintain a strong position in the globalised economy.

What he sees as an essential feature is the retreat of state based protection for workers but an increase in labur market protection via collective bargaining at the workplace level.

(LexisNexis Butterworths Employment Law Bulletin. vol. 9, no. 1 March/April 2003)