1. Italian legal framework
Legal framework: Law 196/97; Legislative decree 276/03; Legislative decree 24/2012 (transposition of the EU Directive on TAW); Law 92/2002 (Labor reform)
The law establishes minimum standards for business premises, infrastructure or financial requirements for registration on Labor agency national Register
The law refers to the general circumstances in which the use of temporary labour is permitted as “reasons of a technical, productive, organisational or substitutive nature referable to the ordinary activity of the user firm”. It is also permitted by law to use leasing contracts to replace absent workers, for example those on maternity leave or impeded due to sickness or accident. The specific reason for use must also be stated in the contract between the user firm and agency. However, according to the labour law reform of July 2012 it is possible for temporary agencies to employ an agency worker for a maximum of 12 months (not extensible) without the obligation to indicate reasons for the use of a temporary agency work contract. This provision comes in addition to the other incidents where companies are not obliged to specify reasons for the use temporary agency work as stipulated by Law No. 24/2012 that adopted the EU Directive on temporary agency work (for further information see below in the chapter on equal treatment).
Sectorial collective agreements, applied in the user company, can fix quantitative limits (in percentage) on the use of labour-leasing contracts and specify detailed reasons for their use.
In Italy Taw we have the traditional triangular relationship, where the relation between agency and user company is by a commercial contract, between agency and worker is by an employment contract, between user company and worker is by the assignment.
Both contracts (commercial and employment) can be with fixed term or open ended.
The law still regulates the form of the contract between the user firm and the labour agency. This must contain various details: the authorisation issued to the leasing agency; the number of workers to be leased; the specific reasons for resorting to leased labour; indication of any risks to worker’s health and the safety and any measures adopted; the start and finish dates of the workers’ assignment contract; the work tasks assigned to the agency workers and their job classifications; and the workplace, working hours, pay, and legal conditions of the leased workers.
The user firm must also inform the agency of wage rates for comparable workers. In addition, the contract must state the obligations of the user firm and agency concerning workers’ pay and social security contributions, and may not contain any clause restricting the user firm from hiring the worker on conclusion of the leasing contract.
Labour agency is the employer but during the assignment worker is at user's disposal.
Temporary agency workers in Italy are guaranteed equal treatment as comparable employees of the user undertaking (including pay, leave, working time, rest periods, maternity leave). In particular, there is the principle of equal pay between temporary agency workers and colleagues at the user undertaking (including also the extra-minimum established by company level collective agreements). The 2003 law stated the possibility to derogate from the principle of equal treatment in order to support employment creation through temporary agency work In particular; it was possible to underpay the disadvantaged workers (derogation on salary).
In July 2012 in the context of a further labour law reform the Parliament removed the derogation from the principle of equal treatment with relation to pay for these categories.
At the same time, it is still possible - for a maximum period of 12 months without the possibility of renewal - to employ an agency worker without the obligation to indicate the reasons for the contract according to the new regulation.
2. Temporary workers in Italy
- The average monthly TAW (with fied term contract) in 2012 was about 263,000 with a decrease of about 10% compared to 2011
- Agency workers with an open-ended contract are about 10,000 (2012) with an incresing of about 50% compared to 2011
- The share of workers below 30 years is 58% of the total but the share of over-40s has doubled between 2002 (12.5%) and 2011 (25%)
- The share of female temporary agency workers increased significantly from 39.9% in 2000 to about 48% in 2011
- Agency workers in 2011 completed of 2.32 assignments per year on average, with an average duration of 47.7 days each. This duration varies by sector, commerce has an average of 29.6 days, industry 54.4 days, and public services 78.6 days.
- The structure of temporary agency employment by sector has changed over the years, with fewer workers employed in the manufacturing sector (down from 57.6% in 2002 to 44% in 2011) and increasing shares of temporary agency work in both private and public services. The share of private sector employment in total temporary agency work increased from 34% in 2002 to 42% in 2011
3. Social dialogue - collective bargaining and bilateral funds
The national sector agreement for temporary agency workers (referred to as ‘leased workers’ since the 2003 decree) plays an important role in regulating temporary agency work.
Three national-wide collective agreement (1998; 2002; 2008)
Right of information
Agencies are obliged to inform territorial trade unions when at least 20 contracts are involved.
Industrial relations
Ccnl establishes an articulate system of relationship beetween the Associations of Agency and Unions at national and local level (....t.b.d.)
Union rights and representation
Agency workers can take part at the assemblies of the workers of the user company when they are in assignment and, moreover, they can hold meetings in the office of the agency when they are not in assignment.
The national collective contract for temporary work agencies provides for 3 levels of representation:
o national agency representation: it is formed by a number of representatives elected according the number of temporary agency workers; it carries out negotiation activities with the agency at national level;
o local union delegates: (s)he is nominated by the unions which have signed the national collective labour agreement at regional or provincial level, and deals at local level with the agencies;
o company union representative: (s)he is elected or nominated among the agency workers in a user enterprise where at least 20 agency workers are employed at the same time for more than 3 months, in the proportion of one every 20 workers; (s)he has the task to deal with the agency, or the agencies, operating in the same user enterprise.
Working conditions
Trial periods are fixed as one day every 15 calendar days, up to an extended maximum of 13 days for assignments longer than six months.
Obligations between leasing agency and user firm are clarified and strengthened: the leasing agency must instruct the worker on the general risks of the sector to which he/she was assigned while the user firm must provide training during the first two hours of work on the specific risks connected with the job
Extensions assignment: max 6 for a maximum of 36 months.
Stabilisation: Leased workers must be hired on open-ended contracts if assigned for 36 months to the same user firm, or after 42 months of assignment to different user firms, provided that there has been no interruption (of at least 12 continuous months) due to worker refusal of a job offer. The agency is then bound to keep him/her as an employee for at least 12 months. If the agency cannot maintain the employee because of a lack of work, he or she will receive an ‘availability allowance’ of 700 euros per month for six months (seven months for workers aged over 50).
(.... t.b.d.)
Bilateral Funds
Formatemp
This Fund supports training and skills development of temporary agency workers.
The national collective agreement of 2008 puts great emphasis on the issue of training and re-training. Bipartite training fund established after the agency labour law 1997.
Managed jointly by temporary agencies organisation and trade unions
Financed by 4% of gross salary of each agency worker
Only training companies accredited by the fund carry out trainings
Nearly 150,000 temporary agency workers have been involved in some project of training in 2011
Ebitemp
Fund established by the national CA between the social partners
- Provide additional social benefits to agency workers (inclusion, health and safety, credit, childcare etc.)
- Analysing and monitoring training needs, planning and designing of training courses
- Funded by 0.2% of gross salary of each agency worker, paid by the agency
Fontemp
Fund established by the national CA between the social partners
- Bilateral fund that supports the insurance situation of temporary agency workers (membership is voluntary or tacit after six months in work) replacing the quota to be paid by the worker (1% of salary) during the period of work
- In the start-phase (still ongoing), bilateral funds add a further quota to reach 4% of the salary