Brief Description of Employees’ and Employers’ Associations
In Italy, unions are primarily organised by business sector. All workers involved in a particular industry belong to the same union regardless of the nature of their particular job or occupational qualifications. Employers are also organised into unions or associations. These confederations are composed of the various employer associations, each representing a specific industry. These are established as private associations that are grouped into confederations according to the type of enterprise represented
Rights and Importance of Trade Unions
Unions are not recognised by the Italian State as entities with a legal personality and are free to regulate their internal activities as they deem appropriate. Legally, NCBA only bind individuals who are actually members of the union that is a signatory to the agreement. Like all private law contracts, only the signatories are bound and, therefore, only those employers and workers who have specifically given a mandate to an employers’ association or a union to represent them, may benefit from the collective agreement concluded on their behalf. Although this is the legal rule, in practice, once a collective agreement is concluded, even non-union members typically accept its terms.
Employees’ Representation in Management
Italian law does not contain any specific provisions allowing employees and/or their representatives to participate in the management of the company.
Other Types of Employee Representative Bodies
These representative bodies include:
- Company European Committee, provided within the European companies;
- The employees’ representatives for health and safety;
- The employees’ representatives for health and safety on the production site;
- The employees’ representatives for protection and prevention.