Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

Part-Time Work Convention, 1994 (No. 175) - Italy (Ratification: 2000)

The Committee takes due note of the Government’s first report and the observations made by the Confederation of Industry (CONFINDUSTRIA).

Article 7(b) of the Convention. The Committee notes that, under section 4(2)(a) of Legislative Decree No. 61/2001 implementing the Council Directive 97/81/EC of 15 December 1997 on part-time work, part-time workers must be treated in the same manner as comparable full-time workers, particularly in respect of the hourly wage, duration of the probation period and annual leave, length of compulsory and non-compulsory maternity leave, occupational accidents and diseases, access to vocational training and access to the enterprise’s social services. The Committee requests the Government to clarify how it is ensured in law and practice that part-time workers are not discriminated against with respect to termination of employment, as required under this Article of the Convention.

Article 8. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the scope of application of existing social security schemes is defined by reference to specified minimum requirements, or thresholds, for instance in terms of hours of work or level of earnings and, if so, to communicate the thresholds currently in force. It also asks the Government to specify whether employers’ and workers’ organizations have been consulted on the establishment and review of these thresholds, and to provide an estimate on the number of part-time workers who may be accordingly excluded from social security protection.

Article 9. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that Parliament is at present debating a draft law which addresses several employment policy issues, including concrete measures for the promotion of voluntary part-time work, particularly with regard to young people in vocational training courses, parents with children up to six years of age, and workers over 55 years of age. The Committee requests the Government to transmit the text of the new legislation as soon as it is adopted and to keep it informed of any follow-up action for the promotion of part-time work while keeping in line with the standards of social protection set out in the Convention. The Committee would also appreciate receiving copies of any recent official report discussing the Government’s employment policy in matters of flexible working time schedules and measuring the economic and social impact of part-time working. In addition, the Committee notes the comments made by the national employers’ association CONFINDUSTRIA according to which existing legislation is not consistent with Article 9 of the Convention in restricting rather than facilitating the access to productive and freely chosen part-time work, thus betraying the promotional intent of the Convention. The employers’ organization maintains that the possibility offered to part-time workers to terminate the flexible part-time agreement after an initial six-month period heavily penalizes enterprises and is an obstacle to the spread of part-time work. The Committee requests the Government to comment on these observations in its next report.

Part V of the report form. The Committee notes the statistical information concerning the evolution of part-time employment in the period 1992-2000. The Committee would be grateful to the Government for continuing to provide up-to-date information concerning the application of the Convention in practice, including extracts from inspection reports containing the number and nature of infringements reported and the penalties imposed, the number of workers covered by relevant legislation and any other particulars bearing on the implementation of the requirements set forth in the Convention.