There are more trade unionists in Italy than in any other country in the EU. But with almost half the membership made up of pensioners, overall union density among employees is around a third. There are three main union confederations – CGIL, CISL and UIL – whose divisions were initially based on political differences, although these have become less clear over time. 1

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Union density and structure

Italian trade unions have more than 12 million members, perhaps as many as 15 million. However, a high proportion of them are retired – 41% across the three largest confederations. Taking this into account, the OECD database of union membership put union density at 32.5% in 2019. 2

There are three main trade union confederations in Italy. The largest is the CGIL, which in 2024 had 5,172,844 members, although only 2,753,824 of them were employed. 3 The second biggest is CISL with 4,111,556 members in 2023, of whom 2,480,752 were employed. 4 The third largest is UIL, which had 2,067,880 members in 2024, of whom 1,494,615 were employed. 5 These three confederations initially had clear political differences and party political alliances but these have significantly changed over time (see Political position).

There are other groupings of trade unions outside these dominant confederations and eight, CIDA, CISAL, CIU, CONFEDIR, CONFINTESA, CONFSAL, UGL and USB have seats representing employees, alongside the main confederations, in the consultative National Council for Economics and Labour (CNEL). 6

Three, CIDA, CIU and CONFEDIR, bring together unions representing senior staff, including managers and professionals, with CIDA stating it has 150,000 members. 7

The other groupings cover a wider range of occupations and claim a larger membership.

UGL, formerly called CISNAL, is on the right politically (see Political position) and states that it has 1.8 million members, although this number has been disputed. 8

CISAL and CONFSAL are both groupings of autonomous unions.

CISAL, which was formed in 1957, has particular strength in the public sector and finance, and it states that it has 1.4 million members. 9

CONFSAL was created in 1979 through the merger of two groups of autonomous unions SNALS and UNSA. Eurofound’s 2023 study of the Representativeness of the social partners in European cross-industry social dialogue listed CONFSAL as also having around 1.4 million members. 10

CONFINTESA, which emerged in 2003, arguing it offered a “different approach to trade unionism in Italy”, states that it had 350,452 members in 2024, including 56,749 pensioners. 11 It formed an alliance with UGL in 2010, but this ended in 2015.

The final union grouping represented on the CNEL, is the USB, a grouping of base or grassroots-level unions, whose membership Eurofound’s 2023 study estimated at around 250,000. 12

Figures on union membership are not officially monitored, although figures based on the number of union contribution declarations made by employees are reported to the Italian social security agency (INPS). In the public sector, these figures are combined with the results in the elections for employee representatives (see Workplace representation) to determine who has a right to negotiate. Similar figures are also calculated for the private sector, in line with an agreement on union representativeness signed by the main employers’ association and the three main union confederations in 2014, which the other union bodies subsequently adhered to. However, as this agreement has never been legally implemented, these figures have not been officially published.

The Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera, obtained these figures at the end of 2024, and they confirm the dominance of the three main confederations. They show that CGIL was the leading confederation in 23 of the 26 sectors for which information is available, followed in most cases by CISL and then UIL. The highest score for UGL unions was in chemicals where, combining membership and election results, they had 3.3% support, and the highest for CONFSAL was in ceramics, where its union had 3.6% support. 13

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Individual unions

The three main confederations are all organised in the same way on an industry basis, with separate industry federations for metalworking, the public sector, telecommunications, construction and so on. CGIL is the strongest of the three in manufacturing industry, while the strongholds of both CISL and UIL are the public services, although here too CGIL has a level of support comparable to that for CISL. The importance and independence of the industrial federations varies, but some, in particular FIOM, the metalworking federation in CGIL, play an influential role.

The other union groupings are organised in a similar way, although some cover fewer industrial sectors and vary in their importance between industries. For example, one of CISAL’s largest affiliates is the banking union FABI, which announced at its congress in 2018 that it had 110,000 members. 14

There are also the "cobas", groups of rank-and-file workers working in specific areas such as the railways or the airlines, who have frequently been involved in industrial action.

These groupings certainly add to the total of union members, although the numbers claimed by some of the confederations seem exaggerated, and there are no official figures on union density.

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Political position

In the past the three main union confederations had fairly clear political affiliations. CGIL was close to the Communist Party; CISL was created by Catholic trade unionists who were also active in the Christian Democratic Party, while UIL was closest to the Socialist Party. However, changes in the political structure (none of these parties still exist in their previous form) and changes within the confederations mean that this political categorisation is no longer appropriate.

Despite this, there are differences of approach between the three confederations, and, in general, CGIL has taken a more combative approach to governments and to the employers than the other two. For example, CGIL has been alone in its campaign for a referendum to repeal aspects of the so-called Jobs Act in 2025, with CISL clearly opposed to the initiative and UIL more ambivalent. 15 On the other hand, CGIL and UIL have acted together on a number of issues, such as a joint general strike over the government’s budget plans in November 2024.

UGL operates on the right of the political spectrum. In January 2018 it signed a cooperation agreement with the right-wing League (LEGA) party, which the League’s general secretary, Matteo Salvini, described as “historic”. 16

In contrast, CISAL and CONFSAL both emphasise their party-political neutrality. CISAL states on its website that it is “free from party politics”, while CONFSAL states that it offers an “alternative to ideological trade unionism”.

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Legal framework

Article 39 of the Italian constitution states that trade union organisation is free, and that the only obligation that can be impose on a union is the requirement to register with national or local authorities in line with the law. It also states that the condition of registration should be that they have internal rules that are democratically based.

In fact, this legislation has never been introduced, which means that unions are not subject to specific regulation. 17However, there is separate legislation governing strikes and the right to negotiate in the public sector (see Collective bargaining).

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Membership trends

After a period of steady growth in the first ten years of the millennium, the picture for trade union membership in Italy since 2010 has been more mixed, with pensioner membership falling in both CGIL – down by 670,000 – and CISL – down by 570,000, although remaining broadly stable in UIL. As a result, from 2010 until the latest year for which figures are available (2024 for CGIL and UIL and 2023 for CISL), overall membership has fallen by around 10% in the two largest confederations, while it has grown by a similar percentage in UIL (see Table).

Membership of those still active in the labour market, on the other hand, has grown in all three confederations over the same period, although it has grown most rapidly in UIL by 15.3%, compared with 8.6% growth in CISL’s membership and 3.5% in the number of members in CGIL.

Confederation	2010	2024 or 2023	Change
Total membership
CGIL	5,748,269	5,172,844	-10.0%
CISL	4,542,354	4,111,556	-9.5%
UIL	1,872,183	2,067,880	10.5%
Active membership
CGIL	2,661,183	2,753,824	3.5%
CISL	2,284,045	2,480,752	8.6%
UIL	1,296,318	1,494,615	15.3%

Figures from confederations’ websites

Overall, trade union representation in Italy has become increasingly fragmented in the last 20 to 30 years, particularly in the public sector and transport. ARAN, the agency which represents the state in its capacity as an employer, publishes data on the number of employees making union contributions across the public sector. Figures published at the end of 2022 show that, for example, there were 693,000 union members in the area of teaching and research (excluding more senior staff). Unions in the three main confederations accounted for six out of 10 (59.6%), but the rest were in other unions, with 13.5% in a CONFSAL affiliate, 10.1% in a union belonging to another confederation, CGS, operating in the public sector, and 7.4% in a CISAL. The remaining 9.4% were in other smaller unions. 18

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Women

In CGIL and CISL, women make up around half the membership: 49.4% in CGIL and 48.5% in CISL (figures for 2024 for CGIL and 2023 for CISL). The proportion of women in UIL, at least in the past, has been slightly lower at 41.0%. 19

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Collective bargaining in the private sector in Italy primarily takes place at two levels – industry level and company level – and the level of coverage at industry level is very high. However, there are concerns that the number of agreements signed by non-representative bodies has grown. 20

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Collective bargaining coverage and structure

Collective bargaining in Italy on wages and most conditions takes place at two levels: at industry level – the most important – and at company or, sometimes, district level.

In addition, national level agreements between employers and unions have played a crucial role in providing a framework for collective bargaining, including the key agreement signed by the unions, employers and the government in July 1993. They have also been used to implement EU-level initiatives – such as the agreement on teleworking.

Collective bargaining coverage is high, with the OECD database estimating it at 100%, in terms of those entitled to bargain in 2019. 21 The National Council for Economics and Labour (CNEL) reached the same conclusion when, at the request of the government, it evaluated the need for a minimum wage in 2023. It stated that “the available data indicate [a] … collective bargaining coverage rate that is close to 100 percent”. 22The precise figure it provided for 2022 was 95.3%.

The main elements of the negotiating structure are as follows.

Industry-level negotiations are intended to ensure that pay keeps pace with prices and should set increases that take account of expected inflation. In addition, industry level negotiations deal with a wide range of non-pay issues such as hours and holidays, leave, information rights and work organisation.

The mechanism for ensuring that industry-level agreements account for inflation has been set out in a series of agreements signed between employers and the unions, not always with all of them, in 2009 (two), 2014 and 2018. 23Among other things, these set out:

• that industry-level agreements should run for three years;
• that pay increases should be linked to the forecast of the harmonised index of consumer prices, net of imported energy costs, produced by the Italian statistical office ISTAT;
• that there should be greater scope for company-level agreements to set worse terms and conditions than industry-level agreements (see Allowing local variations); and
• that there should be new rules on representativeness and the right to conclude agreements (see Who negotiates?).

Negotiations at company level, often referred to as second level bargaining, should provide a mechanism for the employees to take account of particular company-level developments, such as improved productivity on the one hand, or the risk of job losses on the other. In addition, company level negotiations also deal with changes introduced by the company such as the introduction of new working methods. Union-employer framework agreements and legislative changes have, since 2011, increased the importance of company level bargaining in the regulation of a range of issues.

As well as company-level bargaining, it is also possible for this lower level of bargaining to be conducted for several employers on a district or regional basis. This has occurred to a limited extent, particularly in construction, tourism, crafts and agriculture.

Negotiations in the public sector are broadly similar with unions conducting detailed negotiations with a special government agency Aran. However, the government sets the economic parameters for the negotiations, and, following the 2008 financial crisis, it introduced legislation to freeze public sector pay, resulting in eight years without an increase. There are also no local negotiations in the public sector.

As already stated, coverage of collective bargaining at industry level is estimated to be very high, with the National Council for Economics and Labour (CNEL) estimating it to be close to 100% in 2023 (see above).

However, bargaining at company level, to improve or complement the industry-level agreements – as foreseen by a series of joint national agreements between unions and employers – is less common. Information on this is limited, and in its 2025 report CNEL states that, despite individual studies undertaken by the unions, the employers and the industrial relations research body ADAPT, the “lack of an official and integrated database greatly limits the possibility of analysing the effective role of second level bargaining”.

However, a study by the CNEL and the Italian statistical agency ISTAT found that, in the period 2012-13, 21.2% of companies with more than 10 employees had company-level collective agreements, but that this was much more widespread among larger companies, with 69.1% of companies employing 500 or more negotiating company level deals. 24

A more recent but less extensive study undertaken by the employers’ association Confindustria at the start of 2024, found that a quarter of companies (25.2%) had a local agreement, with more in industry (33.4%) than in services (18.1%). 25Larger companies, those with 100 or more employees, were more likely to have company-level agreements, with 76.9% reporting this. The result is that while only a quarter of companies are covered by company agreements, they apply to almost two-thirds (65.1%) of employees.

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Variations in the extent of collective bargaining coverage

With industry level collective bargaining almost universal across the private sector, and covering all of the public sector, there is no significant difference in the extent of this level of bargaining.

However, this is not true of company or second level bargaining. This does not exist in the public sector, and recent surveys have found some differences between industries in the private sector. The CNEL and the Italian statistical agency ISTAT survey in 2012-13 found second level bargaining was more common in construction (27.1%) and industry (25.1%) than in market services (17.1%) and personal services (18.3%), while the later Confindustria survey found company level bargaining applied to 69.0% of employees in industry and 59.1% in services. 26

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Extending agreements

There is no mechanism for extending collective agreements to employees not directly covered by them. However, the courts will often refer to the minimum wage levels set in the relevant industry-level collective agreement in individual cases where they are asked to judge whether pay conforms to the constitutional requirement for pay to be “commensurate with the quality and quantity of their work”.

Allowing local variations

Since at least 2011, a combination of national agreements and legislation have made it easier for local agreements to diverge from the terms of the industry agreement.

In June 2011, a national agreement signed by the main employer’s association, Confindustria and all three main confederations, set out clear rules for company-level agreements, whose “development and extension” were seen as “a common objective” of all the signatory parties. 27 It permitted company-level agreements to improve or worsen the terms of the industry-level agreement, provided that this possibility has been allowed for in the industry-level agreement itself.

In September 2011, the government took a further step to allow local variations. It introduced legislation that permitted company agreements to agree worse terms than those set by industry agreements, irrespective of what the industry agreements themselves said, provided that these local agreements aimed at:

• increasing employment;
• improving the quality of employment, including the adoption of forms of worker participation;
• dealing with the emergence of irregular work;
• increasing competitiveness and wages;
• dealing with company and job crises;
• investment; and
• launching new activities. 28

The legislation also allowed local agreements to undercut the minimum terms set in national legislation on a range of issues. These included working time, flexible employment contracts, recruitment procedures, work organisation and job classification and the introduction of new technology.

This was taken further in 2015 by the Jobs Act. This increased the influence of local bargaining by giving company-level or local area agreements the same rights as industry-level agreements to make changes to legal rules in a range of areas. 29

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Who negotiates?

Negotiations at industry level typically involve the employers’ federations and the industrial federations within the major confederations. In most cases, the industrial federations from all three main confederations agree a common platform of demands and sign the final agreement jointly. For a period, this was not the case in the metalworking industry, where in 2009 and 2012 agreements were not signed by the CGIL federation FIOM, the biggest federation involved. But, with the agreement signed in 2016, this ceased to be the case, with unions from all three confederations backing the deal.

Until fairly recently there were no rules on representativeness, governing who was entitled to sign industry-level agreements. However, a series of agreements signed since January 2014 aim to provide a framework for assessing representativeness and determining which unions have a right to be involved in negotiations at industry level and to sign agreements.

An agreement covering union representativeness was signed by all three main confederations on 10 January 2014. It contained a specific section on the respective roles of industry and company bargaining, as well as setting out who was entitled to negotiate and sign agreements. 30 .

In 2017 and 2018, further agreements were signed between the unions and the employers on the arrangements for measuring union support, and therefore their right to negotiate and sign collective agreements. Finally, in September 2019, the three main union confederations and Confindustria reached agreement with the state social insurance body INPS and the labour inspectorate on a mechanism to determine unions’ representativeness and their right to negotiate. 31

This new “representativeness” threshold is based on a combination of membership (the percentage of union members in the industry who belong to that particular union) and broader support (the percentage of votes given to that union in elections for workplace union committees which are known as RSU – see Workplace representation). Union membership data is to be provided by companies as part of their existing declarations to the social security body INPS, and the election results are to be collected by INPS and the labour inspectorate. The level of representativeness – the representativeness score – is worked out by INPS taking an average of these two percentages.

Under these rules, a union can participate in negotiations if, in the industry concerned, it has a representativeness score of at least 5%, and an agreement is valid if it is signed by unions with a representativeness score of at least 50% plus one in the industry concerned. In addition, the agreement must be ratified by a simple majority of the workers involved, using rules set out in the agreement concerned. Once ratified in this way, the agreement becomes binding on both unions and employers.

However, although these agreements indicate that unions and the major employers’ associations have now developed and agreed a common and detailed set of rules governing bargaining, this does not mean that they are universally applied. This is because they only bind employers and unions who are members of the organisations, and increasingly agreements are signed by organisations outside the normal structures. As well as smaller employers signing so-called “pirate” agreements with unions with few members, the major motor manufacturer FCA (formerly FIAT) is also not covered by these rules, as FIAT left Confindustria, the main employers’ organisation, in 2011.

Between 2010 and 2024, the number of industry-level agreements registered with the official CNEL, increased from 400 to 1,084, with only a minority signed by unions in the three main confederations. 32 Although the 2025 CNEL report on collective bargaining concluded that it was “in good health”, it also accepted that there were some areas, particularly in private services, where agreements signed by representative unions and employers faced “unfair competition” from agreements signed by unrepresentative groups which undercut them (see Trends in collective bargaining).

This has led to calls for legislation to implement the 2019 agreement on representativeness, as promised by the government in September 2019, when the agreement with INPS was signed. 33 However, while both CGIL and UIL are in favour of a law, CISL does not see legislation as the way forward. 34

The situation in relation to representativeness is different in the public sector, where there has been legislation fixing who has the right to bargaining since 1997. 35This is very similar to the rules agreed with INPS in 2019 and requires a 5% representativeness score to take part in negotiations, and the support of unions with a combined 51% representativeness score for an agreement to be valid. The score is calculated as an average of membership and union support in workplace elections.

At company level it is the elected union committee, the RSU, which normally negotiates, although very often full-time officials from the unions are also involved.

As in the case of industry-level bargaining, the agreements on representativeness, particularly that signed in January 2014, have set out new rules on who can sign the agreements – as well as the composition of the RSU (see Workplace representation).

These agreements state that, where there is an RSU, a company agreement is valid if approved by a majority of RSU members.

In companies, where the union representatives have been appointed directly by the unions – the union body in this structure is known as an RSA – slightly different rules apply. Here, the agreement must be approved by representatives, who together or separately have the support of a majority of union members in the company. In addition, all employees can be required to vote on the agreement if this is called for by either one of the unions involved or 30% of the workforce. For this vote to be valid more than 50% of those eligible to vote must take part and the agreement can be rejected by a simple majority of those voting.

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Industrial action

In Italy, the right to strike is guaranteed by article 40 of the constitution. This states that “the right to strike is exercised within the ambit of the laws which regulate it”.

In fact, the only legislation passed relating to strikes covers strikes in essential services (see below). However, there have been several court cases which have set out broad rules covering industrial action.

The right to strike in Italy is an individual right; there is no obligation for a strike to be called by a union. As well as strikes to improve pay and other contractual conditions, the Constitutional Court has ruled that strikes for broader political purposes, such as better welfare provision, sympathy strikes, and protest strikes are also lawful. 36

Other than in essential services, there is no obligation to provide advance notice of industrial action, and in no area are ballots essential.

In 1990 parliament passed legislation introducing limits on the normal right to strike in essential public services (Legge 12 giugno 1990, n. 146). This has been amended subsequently, most recently by a decree in 2015 (D.L. 20 settembre 2015, n. 146).

The aim of this legislation is to reconcile the constitutional right to strike with other rights recognised by the constitution, such as the right to life, health, liberty and security, freedom of movement, welfare and social security and freedom of communication.

It sets out a series of services where specific strike procedures must be followed, although it makes clear that these are examples. The services listed in the legislation are:

• health;
• public hygiene;
• civil protection;
• collection and disposal of municipal waste and special, toxic and harmful wastes;
• customs, limited to control over animals and perishable goods;
• the supply of energy, energy products, natural resources and primary goods needs, as well as the management and maintenance of the related systems, limited to what concerns their safety;
• the administration of justice;
• environmental protection services and the supervision of Italy’s cultural heritage;
• opening to the public of museums and places of culture;
• urban and suburban public transport by road, rail, air and sea limited to connection with the islands;
• banking services;
• public education, with particular reference to examinations; and
• postal services, telecommunications and public broadcasting information.

The legislation requires that the organisation providing these essential services should reach a collective agreement with the unions on which precise services should be considered essential in order to protect the rights to life, health, liberty and so on, set out in the constitution. The two sides should then agree the methods for providing these services, including, where necessary, identifying the staff required. These agreements should also regulate the length of time between strikes, whether called by the same unions or different unions.

As well as collective agreements the legislation also provides for self-regulating codes guaranteeing minimum essential services drawn up by the unions or workers themselves, or by self-employed contractors, where they are providing essential services.

Where there is no collective agreement or self-regulating code establishing the minimum level of essential services and a mechanism to ensure that they are provided, an independent body, the Guarantee Commission for Strikes (Commissione Garanzia Sciopero) can intervene to draw one up. It can also intervene in the same way if it considers that the agreement or self-regulating code is inadequate. The Guaranty Commission maintains an online register of minimum service agreements and codes. 37

Unions who organise strikes which conflict with the provisions of the agreements setting minimum service levels face penalties ranging from €2,500 to €50,000. Workers involved may also face disciplinary sanctions, although they cannot be dismissed.

Strikes in areas providing essential public services are also subject to two other conditions. The law requires that there should be:

• at least 10 days’ advance notification of any action; this is to give time to the service provider to organise the minimum level of services, allow for conciliation and give notice to service users, which must be provided at least five days before the planned action; and
• an attempt at conciliation between the two sides, which should take place at local or national level, depending on the level of the dispute.

As well as imposing an obligation to provide a minimum service in the areas of essential services, the legislation also contains a further power to allow the appropriate authority to end a strike or limit it in some other way. This process, known as “precettazione” or precept, can only be used if “there is a well-founded danger of serious and imminent damage to the constitutionally protected rights of the individual”.

This process will normally begin with a request from the Guarantee Commission, which asks the appropriate authority, such as a minister or representative of the government at local level, to call on the parties in dispute to halt their action and begin conciliation. Only if conciliation fails will the authority issue an instruction to delay the strike, reduce the length of the strike or impose minimum levels of service. This instruction should be issued within 48 hours of the planned action beginning.

Since 2009 there have been no official figures on the overall number of strikes or their impact in Italy. However, the Guarantee Commission does publish figures on strikes in essential public services, and these show a broadly stable picture in recent years, but a decline on the position around a decade earlier. 38

Year	Strikes announced	Strikes carried through
2012	2,330	1,375
2022	1,618	1,128
2023	1,649	1,129
2024	1,633	1,081

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Length and timing of agreements

The timetable for negotiations, as set out in the 1993 agreement, was that industry level negotiations on pay should take place every two years, and that on non-pay issues they should take place every four years. However, this changed following an agreement signed by CISL and UIL, but not CGIL, in 2009, and, despite CGIL’s initial opposition, most industry agreements since then have kept to the three-year term.

There are often lengthy delays – sometimes of months or years – between the date an agreement runs out and the date the next agreement is signed and there is usually compensation for this when the agreement is finally signed in the form of lump-sum payments.

The figures from the national statistics office ISTAT for December 2024 show that at that point 28 agreements covering 6.6 million employees, 50.8% of the total, had lapsed and the average length of time these employees were waiting was almost two years, 21.7 months. 39These figures are not unusual. A year earlier, at the end of 2023, 51.5% of employees had no current agreement, and the average length of time they were waiting was almost three years, 35.4 months.

Company level negotiations should also take place once every three years.

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Trends in collective bargaining

In contrast to some other European states, there is no evidence in Italy of a decline in bargaining coverage, with a detailed examination by the CNEL, published in October 2023, finding that 95.3% of private sector employees in 2022, excluding agriculture and domestic service, were covered by a collective agreement. 40

However, if coverage has remained high, there has certainly been concern about the growing number of agreements registered with the CNEL, which has increased sharply (see table)

Year	Number of agreements (private and public)
2004	332
2014	570
2019	845
2020	880
2021	965
2022	1,005
2023	1,037
2024	1,084

Source: XXVI Rapporto mercato del lavoro e contrattazione collettiva 2025, CNEL, 2025

Many of these new agreements have been signed by smaller unions which are not representative. The CNEL found that, by the end of 2024, 803 agreements were signed by unions which are not present in the CNEL council, which includes eight smaller union confederations. as well as CGIL, CISL and UIL (see Trade unions).

However, these agreements, sometimes described as “pirate agreements”, cover a limited number of employees, and the CNEL calculates in its 2025 annual report that 96.1% of private sector employees are covered by an agreement signed by a union belong to one of the three main union confederations (CGIL, CISL and UIL). 41

This, the CNEL says “is evidence of the good state of health of our system of industrial relations”. However, it also accepts that there are problems with “open unfair competition” from some agreements, which set pay rates well below those in the main agreements for the industry concerned, and these are particularly prevalent in some geographic areas and in the service sector.

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Subjects covered in agreements

National level agreements between the unions, employers and sometimes, if not always, the government, have also provided key parts of the Italian industrial relations framework.

Probably the most far reaching was the 1993 agreement which restructured the links between industry and company level bargaining, laid the basis for a new system of workplace representation (see Workplace representation) and ended the system of pay indexation - linking pay to prices - the “scala mobile”. Other national agreements since then have also made major changes.

Industry-level collective agreements in Italy cover a wide range of issues. They set minimum pay rates, which should protect real living standards by matching forecast inflation (excluding imported energy costs), but they also regulate issues such as overtime and night rates, hours, holidays, maternity leave, sickness absence, training, health and safety, the use of temporary workers, disciplinary rules, union rights, social benefits (welfare), recruitment and job classification. In addition, some industry-level agreements include provision for the setting up of joint bodies to develop policy on issues, such as equal opportunities or developments the industry concerned.

At company level, the negotiations, among other things, are intended to deal with mechanisms to increase productivity and foster innovation, as well as how the benefits of increased productivity should be distributed. The survey of agreements by ISTAT, covering the period 2012-2013, found that the issues most frequently covered at company level were: fixed pay elements (61.1%); results-based bonuses (58.9%); hours and work organisation (50.7%); occupational training (44.6%); social benefits (welfare) 38.5%; dealing with the crisis (31.9%); types of employment contract (25.3%); relations with the unions and union rights (24.7%); grading (22.8%); and equal opportunities (15.7%). 42

The Confindustria survey around 10 years later found that the main topics covered were results-based bonuses, reported in 60.4% of the deals, mechanism to convert results-based bonuses into social provisions (47.7%), working time (46.7%), additional social provisions (39.0%) and work-life balance (36.7%). 43

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Minimum wage

Italy does not have a system for setting a legal national minimum wage, although, as already noted, the courts will often refer to the minimum wage levels set in the appropriate industry agreement in individual cases on pay levels.

However, with real pay falling in 2022 and 2023, CGIL and UIL have for some time been calling for the introduction of a minimum wage. 44

Facing growing political pressure to introduce a minimum wage, the issue was referred by the government of Giorgia Meloni to the tripartite CNEL. In its report, the CNEL rejected the introduction of a minimum wage, calling instead for greater support to be given to collective bargaining. Representatives of CGIL and UIL voted against the CNEL report, but representatives of CISL voted in favour.

The government rapidly endorsed the CNEL report and there are currently no plans to introduce a minimum wage, although both CGIL and UIL remain in favour.

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Joint employer/union body at national level

The 64-strong National Council for Economics and Labour (CNEL) with representatives of employers (17), unions (22), the self-employed (9), experts nominated by president and prime minister (10) and representatives of the third sector (6) is the main official body for tripartite discussions. 45 It operates though several sub-committees and produces a range of reports, as well as holding the official archive of industry-level collective agreements.

As well as this formal structure, the union confederations at national level have at times been closely involved in broader political issues, such as major changes to welfare provision, taxes, and industrial development, particularly in the South of Italy. However, the extent of union involvement in these issues, often described as concertazione, depends on the overall political context and the wishes of the government, and it has become much less important in recent years.

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Employee representative bodies in Italy are essentially union bodies, even if in their mostly frequently found form – the RSU (Unitary union representation) – they are now elected by all employees. The unions nominate the candidates, but the members are directly elected by the whole workforce.

The basic structure

The legislative basis for workplace representation is the 1970 Workers’ Statute which provides for trade union representation at company level. 46 Agreements between the main union confederations and the employers, particularly in 1993 and 2014 (see Collective bargaining), have built on this to create a new workplace representative structure, the Rappresentanza Sindacale Unitaria – RSU, bringing all unions in the workplace together. However, the structure foreseen by the Workers Statute, where each union would have its own representative body at company level, the Rappresentanza Sindacale Aziendale –RSA, continues to exist in some companies.

Under the terms of the Workers Statute (Article 19), RSAs can be set up by unions who are signatories to the collective agreement covering the company concerned (normally the industry-level agreement), although in 2013 the right to set up an RSA was extended by the court to unions who have been involved in the negotiations even if they had not signed the agreement. 47

RSAs are single union bodies, so, where they exist, there may be more than one in a single workplace. In 1991, as part of a general move to greater cooperation, the three main Italian union confederations agreed to set up a new structure, known as the unified trade union representation (RSU). This established a single committee for all the unions in the workplace, and initially two-thirds of the members were elected by the whole workforce and one third elected or appointed by the unions. (The rules were different in the public sector, with all RSU members being elected). This structure was accepted in principle in an agreement with the employers’ organisation Confindustria in July 1993 and the details were set out in an agreement for the private sector in December 1993 and for the public sector in April 1994. (For the public sector there was also legislation in 1997.)

These rules were modified in the agreements on union representativeness which the three confederations signed with Confindustria in May 2013 and January 2014. In particular, the requirement for one third of the seats to be elected or appointed directly by the unions was removed. Instead, all RSU members are elected by the employees. 48

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The extent of workplace representation

There are no recent official national figures on the extent of employee representation at the workplace, but it seems relatively widespread, covering around a fifth to a quarter of workplaces with 10 or more employees and perhaps as many as two-thirds of employees.

Figures from Eurofound’s 2019 European Company Survey show that, at that point, 21% of establishments in Italy with at least 10 employees had some form of official employee representation, either through an RSA or an RSU. 49 This is lower the EU27 average, which was 28%. As elsewhere in Europe, larger workplaces, those with more than 250 employees, are much more likely to have representation than smaller ones. The percentage of these workplaces with employee representation is 77% in Italy, slightly above the EU27 average of 75%.

Figures from the CNEL/ISTAT survey for the period 2012-13 show that 24% of companies with at least 10 employees had either an RSU (12.1%) or an RSA (11.8%). 50 Both bodies were less common in smaller companies and found more frequently in larger ones.

The 2024 survey by the Confindustria employers’ association found that 25.2% of companies covering 65.1% of employees had signed a local agreement with either an RSU or an RSA. 51 However, this an indication of the number who had signed an agreement not of those where employee representation exists.

Confindustria’s reference to both RSUs and RSAs, is a reminder that, despite national agreements which foresaw the replacements of RSAs with RSUs, RSAs continue to exist, sometimes alongside the RSU.

This was certainly the case at the time of the 2012-13 CNEL/ISTAT survey, when the proportion of workplaces with each structure was almost the same, at around 12%. There were also clear sectoral differences, with a 21.2% RSU to a 12.9% RSA ratio in manufacturing and 3.9% RSU to 45.3% RSA ratio in in finance and insurance.

Since this information was collected the situation may have changed, with the January 2014 agreement on union representativeness making a further commitment to RSUs. However, except in the public sector, the RSU structure is not yet universal.

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The role of unions

Unions in Italy play the essential role in employee workplace representation in Italy. RSAs are entirely trade union bodies, chosen by union members and acting on their behalf. RSUs, in contrast, are elected by the whole workforce, but remain union committees.

Numbers and composition

Under the terms of the 1993 and 2014 agreements between the unions and employers, an RSU can be set up when there are more than 15 employees in the workplace. This is calculated on a full-time equivalent basis, with part-time staff counted in proportion to the number of hours they work and the figure for temporary staff depending on the average number of months worked in the previous two years. Agency staff are not included.

The national level agreements for the private and public sectors set a minimum number of RSU members (see table).

Number employed	Number of RSU members
16 to 200	Three
201 to 3,000	Three for each 300 employees or part thereof
More than 3,000	An additional three for each 500 employees or part thereof

However, these ratios can be improved on in industry and company agreements. It is also possible to have an RSU which covers a group of small companies in a particular local area.

The RSU consists entirely of employees, and its composition in terms of manual and non-manual employees, should reflect the workforce. This can be achieved through the choice of candidates or though separate voting groups (colleges). There should also be an “adequate representation” of the sexes.

The RSA also consists entirely of employees, and can, in principle, be set up in companies employing more than 15 workers (five in agriculture). There are national no rules on the number of RSA members, although these may be set out in the industry agreement for the industry concerned.

The operation of the RSU

The trade unions themselves agree the rules governing the operation of the RSU. But it is normally chaired by the leading figure in the largest union in the workplace and in bigger workplaces there will be an executive committee. This body, made up of the leading figures in the unions on site, will often take the key decisions, which are then reported back to the RSU as a whole.

The RSU can set up sub-committees on particular issues, such as health and safety, work organisation or the canteen and on some topics, such as new technology or job classification.

There are no national rules which set out how often the RSU should meet as a body or how often it should meet the employer, although these issues are regulated in some industry level agreements. Often meetings only take place “where necessary”.

Elections and term of office

Following the January 2014 agreement on union representativeness, all members of the RSU are elected by the whole workforce in a secret ballot but can only be nominated by the unions. Before this agreement, two-thirds of the members were elected and one third was nominated by the unions, in line with the support they had received in the election.

To be able to nominate, a union must:

• either have signed the January 2014 agreement – the three main confederations;
• or have reached an agreement at industry level for the company concerned;
• or have a formal constitution, support the January agreement and the two agreements in 2011and 2013 which preceded it, and have the support of at least 5% of the potential voters (at least three individuals in companies with fewer than 60 employees).

Voting is on the basis of a list system, and each union cannot propose candidates for more than two-thirds of the seats.

The arrangements agreed in January 2014 bring the private sector in line with the public sector, where legislation already provides that all RSU members are elected.

RSU members are elected for three years. At least three months before the end of this period of office, they or the unions involved should take the initiative to begin the process of new elections.

As set out in the Workers’ Statute, the term of office for RSA members is also three years.

Tasks and rights

The key function of the RSUs is to negotiate with the employers at workplace level. RSUs are intended to act as the workplace representatives of the trade unions and the agreements, which set them up, give them the power to negotiate binding agreements for their workplace as part of the bargaining structure.

Employers must by law inform and consult with employee representatives on health and safety, the use of public funds for industrial restructuring, large scale redundancies, and business transfers. But most of the RSU’s rights to be informed and consulted on specific issues depend on agreements reached at industry and sometimes company level. These agreements will include the information and consultation requirements included in the EU’s 2002 information and consultation directive (2002/14 /EC), which was implemented in Italian legislation in March 2007. For companies with at least 50 employees, this covers information about the company’s “activities and economic situation” and the right to be informed and consulted about the “situation, structure and probable development of employment” as well as being informed and consulted about “decisions likely to lead to substantial changes in work organisation or in contractual relations”

Normally industry and company-level agreements are slightly more detailed and demanding and require the employer to provide information and consult on topics such as:

• investment;
• the numbers employed;
• changes in working methods;
• the introduction of new technology;
• equal opportunities; and
• training.

For example, the retail, wholesale and wider service industry agreement specifically provides for the unions to be given information on 17 separate topics, including company plans for significant reorganisation, outsourcing, changes in procurement, restructuring, use of atypical employment, technological innovation and changes that affect corporate structure. They should also be given details of corporate social responsibility initiatives, such as the adoption of a specific code of conduct. 52

The consultation increasingly takes the form of joint employer/union committees, which are intended to prepare the groundwork for collective bargaining by providing technical support. Typically, these committees are made up half of management and half of union representatives. Members may be permanent or elected on an ad hoc basis depending on the issues to be discussed. The principal aim of these joint committees is to encourage a non-confrontational exchange between the two sides, in the process stimulating cooperation aimed at solving organisational problems.

Several big companies have set up joint observatories to monitor key developments. For example, the industry-level agreement for the energy and oil industry calls for larger companies to have observatories meeting twice a year which look at investment plans, economic and energy forecasts, structural changes and employment developments, while the metalworking agreement also provides for company-level observatories in companies employing at least 3,000 workers, while, in those with at least 2,000, there should be joint committees on training and equal opportunities.

The RSU does not have a major role in general trade union activity in the sense of promoting the union and union policy. This is more the role of the trade union outside the workplace.

The role of the RSA is not defined in detail in the legislation, but in in broad terms it is to protect the rights of union members.

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Protection against dismissal

Members of the both the RSU and the RSAs are protected against dismissal by the terms of the 1970 Workers’ Statute. 53

As well as making any anti-union discriminatory behaviour such as dismissal or other forms of detriment null and void (Article 15), the Workers Statute states in Article 18 that a judge can order the reinstatement of trade union representatives dismissed unfairly, with substantial compensation paid to the individual concerned if this does not occur.

In addition, Article 22 prevents the transfer of trade union representatives to another production unit, without the agreement of the union to which they belong. Article 22 also states that the protection against transfer and the protection against dismissal provide by Article 18 continues for a year after they have ceased to hold office.

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Time off and other resources

RSU members are legally entitled to paid time-off based on a formula set out in the Workers’ Statute (Article 23), which originally applying to the RSA structure where each union has separate workplace representation – a separate RSA. The time off is calculated separately for the key figure for each RSA, and it provides an hour per employee per year where there are fewer than 200 employees; 8 hours a month for each 300 employees where there are fewer than 3,000; and 8 hours a month for each 500 employees or part thereof where there are more than 3,000. In addition, these individuals are entitled by law to 8 days unpaid leave a year for union business.

These rules are less suited to the RSU structure where there is a single union body at the workplace rather than several, and collective agreements often include arrangements which take better account of the RSU structure, which typically include representatives of three unions. The agreement for retail, wholesale and wider service industry agreement for example provides time-off rights for three RSU members in workplaces with up to 200 employees, and it goes up in further blocks of three as the size of the workplace increases.

As well as establishing how many RSU members have time-off rights, the same agreement also improves on the amount of paid time off allowed, providing 50% more paid time off than the legal minimum – one-and-a-half hours per employee per year in companies with fewer than 200 employees, and 12 hours per month rather than eight in larger companies.

Frequently the time-off will be re-divided so that leading members of the RSU have more time-off than others. In some large plants there may be someone completely freed from normal duties although this is less common than in the past.

Employee representatives have a general right to make use of noticeboards and the RSU, or other type of representation, should have an office, where there are more than 200 employees. Some industry agreements also allow for the limited use of external experts.

Training rights

RSU members have no specific statutory right to training to carry out their duties, and the same also applies where representation is through an RSA, a single union body – found more commonly in finance and insurance.

Representation at group level

Collective agreements allow the creation of a group level co-ordinating committee when there are several companies in a group, or several workplaces in a single company. The RSUs in the group send members to this co-ordinating committee and full-time officials of the unions will also normally attend.

There is no automatic right to board level employee representation in Italy. However, following legislation passed in May 2025, unions can negotiate employee representation at board level, as one of a range of employee participation options.

The extent of board-level employee representation

The Italian Constitution in Article 46 “recognises the rights of workers to collaborate in the management of enterprises, in the ways and within the limits established by law” but, despite this constitutional possibility, no legislation providing board-level employee representation had been adopted before 2025. 54

There had, however, been some steps in this direction. In 2012, the technocratic government led by Mario Monti, proposed that employee board-level representation should be introduced in larger companies, as part of broader labour market changes. However, this did not happen, and the government fell. 55 In 2018, the three main union confederations, CGIL, CISL and UIL, signed an agreement with the main employers’ federation, Confindustria, on a new model of industrial relations, which referred to “participation” as one of five areas for priority action. 56 This was to be achieved, the agreement said, through the extension of second-level (company) bargaining which would strengthen the “processes of cultural change capable of increasing the forms and tools of organisational participation in companies”.

The progress towards the 2025 legislation was driven by CISL, Italy’s second largest union confederation. It presented a “popular initiative” for legislation on employee participation to the Italian parliament in November 2023, with the support of 375,266 signatures, well above the 50,000 required to get the bill debated. 57

CISL’s proposal covered four separate areas of participation:

• in management, with employee representatives on company boards;
• financially, through profit-sharing and share ownership plans;
• organisationally, through workers’ involvement in improved efficiency and innovative projects; and
• through greater consultation, with greater involvement, of joint union (RSU) and union (RSA) workplace structures before decisions are taken. 58

CISL drew up a 22-clause draft bill based on these proposals, 59 which it presented to the parliament in November 2023. 60 The proposals were diluted in parliament 61 but the amended bill was finally passed in May.

The final legislation retains the four elements of participation included in CISL’s original bill, managerial (board level employee representation), financial, organisational and consultative. 62

On board level employee representation, the legislation provides for slightly different arrangements for companies with either a single-tier board or a two-tier system with a supervisory and a management board. (Both systems are possible in Italy.) However, in both cases having board-level employee representatives depends on the issue being regulated in a collective agreement.

In companies with a two-tier board structure, company statutes may, where this been negotiated in collective agreements, provide for one or more employee representatives on the supervisory board. The employee representatives on the supervisory board may also include at least one representative involved in the company’s financial participation scheme, a mechanism that has also been strengthened by this new legislation.

In companies with a single-tier structure, as with two-tier companies, company statutes may include one or more employee representatives on the board, again where this is provided for in a collective agreement. There is no reference to representatives of the financial participation scheme in single tier companies but there are greater limits on board-level employee representatives. They cannot take on managerial responsibilities within these companies in the three years after leaving office, unless they already have them.

The legislation has been strongly welcomed by CISL, whose general secretary described it as “the start of a new phase in our country’s industrial relations” and a “profound change”. 63 However, CGIL, the largest union confederation, is opposed. It argues that the law leaves key decisions in the hands of the employers and that it undermines existing rights. 64

As yet there are no examples of board-level employee representation introduced under this legislation, but the legislation itself sets up a new national boy which will report on employee participation every two years.

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Nomination and election of employee representatives

The legislation states that board-level employee representatives in companies with both two-tier and single tier board structures will be chosen “on the basis of the procedures defined by collective agreements”. It does not lay down specific procedures to be followed.

The rights of employee representatives

Employee representatives at board level employee will have the same rights as other board members. Representation. They also have the right, under Article 12 of the legislation to at least 10 hours of training a year.

Italian representatives on European level bodies are generally chosen by the unions and the local union body at the workplace, the RSU, although the rules vary slightly depending on the body on which the representatives sit.

European Works Councils

Italian members of the special negotiating body (SNB) for the EWC are appointed by the unions which signed the industry agreement covering the company (one third of the members) and the union representative body in the company - the RSU – where this exists (two thirds). If there is no RSU, the union and management must agree an appropriate procedure to choose SNB members. 65

The situation is the same for Italian members of an EWC set up under the annex to the directive.

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European Company

Italian members of the special negotiating body (SNB) for the European Company are elected or appointed from among the members of the union representative body in the company, the RSU, by the RSU together with the unions which signed the industry agreement covering the company. 66 The legislation specifically says that both employees and non-employees of the company (by implication full-time officials) may be chosen.

Italian members of the SE representative body set up under the fallback procedure in the annex to the directive are to be elected in the same way as RSU members themselves.

In the fallback procedure for choosing board level representatives, it is the SE representative body which decides how they should be selected, although the Italian legislation also states that each member state may determine the way in which board seats assigned to that state should be divided up.

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Safety representatives, chosen directly by the employees in smaller organisations, and by the existing trade union structures in those with more than 15 employees, provide representation for employees in the area of health and safety in Italy. There is no structure of joint employer/employee safety committees, other than a meeting with the employer and health and safety staff once a year or when there are major changes. However, Italy does have a structure of area safety representatives who cover smaller companies without their own safety representatives.

Employee health and safety bodies

Employee representation for health and safety at work is primarily provided by safety representatives at local level, known as company safety representatives (rappresentante dei lavoratori per la sicurezza aziendale – RLS). However, there are also area safety representatives (rappresentante dei lavoratori per la sicurezza territoriale o di comparto - RSLT), covering companies without a safety representative across a specific geographical area, and site safety representatives (rappresentante dei lavoratori per la sicurezza di sito produttivo), who have a coordinating role where several companies share a single site – such as construction sites, ports and transport hubs.

Numbers and structure

There is no minimum employee threshold for the appointment of these company safety representatives, although the election procedures are different in smaller organisations (up to and including 15 employees) from those in larger organisations (see section on elections). The number of company safety representatives is fixed by collective agreement, but the law also lays down minimum numbers, as follows.

Number of employees	Minimum number of company safety representatives in law
Up to 200	1
201 to 1,000	2
More than 1,000	3

The collective agreement for the energy and oil industry, most recently renewed in 2025, provides for significantly higher numbers:

• one company safety representatives for companies with up to 50 employees,
• two for those with between 51 and 100,
• three for those with 101 to 300,
• four for those with 301 to 600,
• five for those with 601 to 1,000 and
• six for those with more than 1,000 employees. 67

Area safety representatives cover companies without their own company safety representative, generally smaller companies, and the arrangements for their appointment are set out in the relevant collective agreements. The work of the area safety representatives is financed by a contribution of two hours’ pay per year per employee from companies without a company safety representative. The health and safety authorities collect these contributions and organise payment for the work of the area safety representative.

Site safety representatives have the task of coordinating the activities of the various company safety representatives at the site.

Safety representatives in companies with more than 15 employees also participate in a health and safety meeting with the employer, which should take place at least once a year.

Research by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work in 2019 found that 81% of workplaces in Italy had health and safety representatives. This is the third highest percentage in the EU-27, only Romania and Lithuania have a higher figure – both on 87%, and it is well above the EU-28 average of 56%. (The figures are for workplaces with five or more employees.) 68

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Tasks and rights

Safety representatives should have access to the workplace in which work is undertaken. Area safety representatives, who cover several workplaces, should normally give prior notice of their intention to visit the workplace, under terms set out in the appropriate collective agreement. However, this does not apply in the case of a serious accident, when it is only necessary to advise the health and safety authorities of the intention to visit.

Safety representatives should be being consulted:

• beforehand and in good time on risk assessments and measures of prevention;
• on the appointment of staff with health and safety responsibilities and the company doctor, as well as on fire prevention, first aid and evacuation arrangements; and
• on the organisation of the health and safety training provided to employees and safety representatives.

The company should also provide safety representatives with information and company documentation on:

• risk assessment and measures of prevention;
• dangerous substances;
• machines and equipment in use;
• work organisation and the working environment; and
• accidents and occupational diseases.

Safety representatives should also receive information from the health and safety authorities.

The tasks of safety representatives include:

• promoting the development and implementation of measures of prevention intended to protect the health and safety of employees;
• making proposals on preventative actions; and
• advising the employer of risks encountered in the course of their activities.

Safety representatives can comment to the health and safety authorities when the authorities make inspections, and safety representatives can also call on the authorities if they consider that the measures of prevention and protection taken by the employer are insufficient to guarantee the safety and health of employees.

Safety representatives are also entitled to take part in the annual meeting on health and safety, which should be organised in all companies with more than 15 employees. The other participants are the employer, or his or her representative, the head of the company’s health and safety services and the works doctor, where there is one. This meeting should also take place if there are significant changes in the risks present in the workplace, including those resulting from the introduction of new technology.

At the meeting, the employer should present:

• the company risk assessment document;
• information on accidents, occupational diseases and health monitoring;
• the selection criteria, technical characteristics the effectiveness of personal protective equipment; and
• health and safety information and training programmes.

The meeting can draw up health and safety guidelines and codes of good practice.

Frequency of meetings

There is no provision for regular meetings, other than the meeting with the employer and those involved in health and safety in the company, which should take place annually.

Election and term of office

Company safety representatives in smaller companies (up to and including 15 employees) are elected directly by the employees. In larger companies (more than 15 employees) they are elected or chosen by the trade union representative structure in the company (normally the unitary trade union structure – RSU), or where this does not exist, directly by the employees themselves. The election procedures are determined by the appropriate collective agreement.

Collective agreements for the industry concerned also determine the procedure for the appointment of area safety representatives. Individuals elected to this position cannot combine it with other trade union duties.

Site safety representatives are chosen from among the company safety representatives on the site and the procedure for appointing them is also determined by the appropriate collective agreement.

Unless otherwise determined in a collective agreement, all safety representative elections should take place annually on the national health and safety at work day, normally in October.

Resources, time off and training

The legislation states that safety representatives should be given sufficient paid time off to enable them to undertake their role as well as the necessary means and space to do so but does not specify precisely what this should be.

However, it does provide greater detail on the training safety representatives should receive. This should cover the basic health and safety legislation, the identification of risks, legislation on the rights of safety representatives and some information on communication techniques. Safety representatives should receive an initial 32 hours’ paid training, of which 12 should be on the risks present in the company, with a right to four hours of training per year thereafter in companies with 15 to 50 employees and eight hours in those with more than 50. Area safety representatives, who cover many different companies, are entitled to an initial 64 hours of training with eight per year thereafter. In both cases, collective agreements may extend these rights.

Protection against dismissal

Safety representatives should not be disadvantaged because of the exercise of their functions.

Other elements of workplace health and safety

Employers are required to provide a protective and preventive health and safety service for their organisation, and this service can normally be provided either within the company or by external experts. In small organisations (those with up to five employees) and in larger organisations which do not involve a high level of risk, the employer can take on the responsibility for this health and safety service, and in others the service may be provided by an external organisation . However, in certain larger and more dangerous workplaces, such as industrial plants with more than 200 employees or operations in the extractive industry with more than 50, the protective and preventive health and safety service must be provided internally.

The obligatory qualifications of those providing this health and safety service, whether internally or externally, are set out in detail in the legislation.

In some cases, either because the law requires it or the risk assessment indicates that it is necessary, the employer is obliged to provide health surveillance for the workforce. Where this is the case, it must be undertaken by a “competent doctor”, in other words an occupational physician.

National context

The ministry responsible for health and safety at work is the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies (Ministero del Lavoro e delle Politiche Sociali). Following legislative changes in 2015, the overall responsibility for monitoring compliance with health and safety laws and regulations lies with the National Labour Inspectorate (Ispettorato Nazionale del Lavoro), which also covers other labour law social contributions issues. However, it coordinates its activities with the inspection services of Local Health Agencies (Azienda Sanitarie Locali – ASL), which previously had prime responsibility for monitoring health and safety, and which continue to be involved.

Trade unions and employers are able to influence health and safety policy through their membership of the Standing Advisory Committee on Health and Safety at Work (Commissione consultiva permanente per la salute e sicurezza sul lavoro) in which, following a restructuring in 2014, central government, regional government, unions and employers are equally represented. 69

The new consolidated legislation on health and safety passed in 2008 placed an obligation on employers to take account of work-related stress, as defined in the 2004 European Agreement on the same topic (Article 28 of the Testo unico sulla salute e sicurezza sul lavoro –D.LGS 81/2008). This led, in further legislation (D. LGS 106/2009), to the inclusion of the evaluation of work-related stress as one of the elements to be included in the Safety Policy, which all employers must draw up. This requirement came into force on 1 January 2011.

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Key legislation

Consolidated text on health and safety at work

Legislative Decree 9 April 2008, n. 81 (1)

Implementation of Article 1 of the Law of 3 August 2007, n. 123, concerning the protection of health and safety in the workplace

Testo unico sulla salute e sicurezza sul lavoro

D.Lgs. 9 aprile 2008, n. 81 (1)

Attuazione dell'articolo 1 della legge 3 agosto 2007, n. 123, in materia di tutela della salute e della sicurezza nei luoghi di lavoro