Attorney Francesco D’Amora of QLT Law & Tax contributes to an article in Huffington Post Italy analyzing the shifts underway regarding the minimum wage in the private sector, emphasizing how collective bargaining and unions are called to redefine their weight and functions in the evolving legal framework.
The analysis notes that legislation delegates to the government the responsibility to establish a fundamental minimum economic treatment for workers, consistent with Article 36 of the Italian Constitution. Yet the normative path opted to reinforce the existing system (notably the most widely applied national collective bargaining agreements, CCNL) rather than imposing a single uniform hourly floor across all sectors, due to complexities associated with regional differences, job classifications, and varying remuneration components.
Three key dimensions emerge:
General applicability of the most used CCNLs: even for employers who do not directly adhere, via an extension “erga omnes” in the relevant sectors.
Assurance of a minimum comprehensive economic treatment: ensuring workers receive at least the minimum economic standards set by the reference CCNLs.
State intervention in case of contractual impasse: granting governmental powers where collective renewals are absent or delayed long-term.
The article underscores that the new framework does not eliminate the central role of collective bargaining, but rather reorients it, pressuring unions and parties to define clearer and measurable criteria for minimum wage levels. This shift demands revisiting contractual practices, classifications, and the core economic minima to be embedded in CCNLs, with sectoral differentiation duly considered.
In closing, the piece emphasizes that while the Italian system will not adopt a single uniform hourly floor across all, it seeks harmonization that ensures real minimum rights. The legislature and government must next delineate elements used to compute the “comprehensive minimum” and regulate situations of non-renewal, so the reform does not become ineffective for marginal or fragmented contractual categories.
The full article is available on Huffington Post Italy.
