Italy is deviating from Spain’s example and promoting a short-term job market

ROME, 31 january (Reuters) – Marta Pizza, a 26-year-old swimming instructor, has had none for the past two years pensionsick pay or holiday worked in a sports center in Rome without days, earning 8.50 euros per hour.

Italy’s right-wing government is taking steps to ease temporary and informal work arrangements like hers, rolling back previous restrictions and angering unions who say the move will exacerbate in-work poverty and stagnant productivity.

New Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government argues that more flexibility means more jobs and will prompt employers to legalize previously undeclared workers.

The euro zone’s third-biggest economy has a growing army of workers without fixed contracts – around 5 million out of 23 million employed people, according to research by CGIL, Italy’s largest trade union.

Like his fellow swim instructors, Pizza is not on the gym’s permanent staff list, and his contract does not allow for regular shifts. However, the reality is very different.

Child “We all have weekly shifts and there’s no limit to the number of hours we can work,” says Pizza, who supplements her income as a caretaker, cleaner and waiter.

In recent years, some eurozone countries have tried to curb temporary contracts to promote stable jobs. in Spain Europe The Commission even set the conditions to receive billions of euros from the EU’s pandemic recovery funds.

Meloni moves at least partially in the opposite direction.

His first budget is some of the permanent recruitment introduced by previous governments tax extended the concessions, and at the same time increased the scope of use of work “kupchas”.

These are mainly after a protest in 2017 that encouraged a referendum to abolish unions. cancellation done labour is an extreme form of flexibility.

Under this system – even less structured than Britain’s zero-hour contracts – workers pay the employer €12.50 each (13.62 dollars) is paid through a state welfare agency using checks purchased online.

For every 12.5 euros of nominal value, the employee receives nine euros, and 3.5 euros for insurance and pension covers payments.

There is no contract, so employees are not entitled to sick, holiday, vacation or unemployment benefits when their employment ends. Vouchers are popular with businesses, but critics say they leave plenty of room for abuse.

PROPERTY

Government members close to Meloni say he is also set to ease restrictions on other forms of short-term work.

2018According to the rules introduced in 2011, employees can be hired temporarily for an unlimited period of 12 months. This is an unexpected increase in business or other employees substitute can be extended up to 24 months under strict conditions.

These rules have already been slightly relaxed in 2021 during the COVID-19 crisis, and now Meloni intends to go even further, according to the University of Modena labour worries some experts like law professor Michele Tiraboschi.

“Vouchers and short-term contracts provide firms with temporary relief by reducing their costs offer is, but the last 25 years have shown us that we are higher labour to get the right we need to focus on quality of work, training and increasing productivity,” said Tiraboschi.

Officials say the government will either allow firms to hire workers on temporary contracts for two years without giving any reason, or expand the reasons that can be given. These contracts will be extended for up to three years subject to certain conditions and union agreement.

He also 2018plans to reduce labor tax costs for employers on temporary contracts raised in . The decree is expected to be presented next month.

“Flexibility should not be seen as a problem, but as an asset and an opportunity,” said Paola Mancini, a senator from Meloni’s Italian Brothers party. “Restrictions for businesses must be removed.”

SPANISH ALTERNATIVE

Spain, another major economy in southern Europe, took the opposite route with promising results.

mercato lavoro

According to Eurostat data for the third quarter of 2022, among the 27 EU countries 20has the second highest proportion of short-term workers at 3%, while Italy is third at 17%.

While the Spanish rate fell from 26.1% a year ago, Italy’s remained stable.

Changes to Spain’s labor regulations in March last year led to a 141% increase in the number of young workers with permanent contracts, official data for December showed.

Reform most forms of temporary contracts cancellation from the easy hiring and employment introduced after the sovereign debt crisis a decade ago free mode of doing cancellation did

It is also tourism and village provided permanent contracts to seasonal workers in sectors such as agriculture. They are entitled to benefits even when they are not working and can be hired by employers at any time.

Madrid says the reform was the driving force behind last year’s 5.5% economic growth, boosting people’s financial stability and boosting confidence and consumption.

in Italy 20Since 2008, the number of employed people has been stable at around 23 million. Overall, the number of temporary workers increased by 25% from 2.4 million to 3.0 million.

Number of workers and employees without permanent contracts in Italy

Tania Scacchetti, leader of the CGIL trade union, said both the use of vouchers and the promotion of temporary contracts had trapped workers in an “instability trap”. free driven by a market model, he said.

“We have increased the number of workers, but the work is poorly paid and dangerous. “Fixed contracts should be the norm, not the exception,” he said.

($1 = 0.9181 euros)

Added by Belen Carreno in Madrid and Gavin Jones in Rome reportwriting by Gavin Jones, editing by Catherine Evans

Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

2023-01-31 16:33:51
Source – reuters

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