Italian Collective Bargaining Agreements: Wages and Remote Working

Abstract

Collective bargaining at sectoral level plays a key role in the Italian two-tier industrial relations system and is in fact its dominant feature. While sectoral collective bargaining covers about 90% of workers, company-level bargaining affects only a minority of Italian firms (between 20 and 30%). The unionisation rate is one of the highest in Europe, even though retired workers account for a large proportion of union members. National collective bargaining agreements (hereafter NCBAs) define the minimum wages through pay scales that distinguish the workforce according to the sectoral classification system. The agreements set working hours, workers' rights (paid leave, right to study, etc.). In general, they constitute a unique source of information on working conditions within a sector.

The process of selection, collection and annotation of the Italian collective agreements carried out by the Cnel as a partner in the Colbar project makes it possible to deepen knowledge and understanding of the contents of the agreements, offering the possibility of developing accurate comparative analyses or in-depth studies on specific topics of interest. The 89 agreements that make up the Cnel Italian database provide a sufficient degree of sectoral heterogeneity. Moreover, most of the agreements are still in force (the texts were signed between 2010 and 2020), and most of the expired agreements have not yet been renewed. Moreover, the subset constituted by private sector agreements covers about 40% of the entire private workforce. After having described the database, the report focuses on two main topics: the wage bargaining system and the regulation of remote work (in particular teleworking).