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Temporary
work has finally gotten off the ground in Italy, as was already the
case elsewhere. The spread of this innovative contractual approach introduces
a major element of flexibility on the domestic labour market.
Though late in coming, compared to the very significant activities already
undertaken in the United Kingdom and Holland - leaders among the countries
which have made the most intensive use of temporary labour - it nevertheless
provides a significant incentive for investment in Italy by businesses,
both domestic and foreign, supplying them with an instrument for reconciling
growth in production with flexibility in employment.
The fact is that temporary labour represents an innovation compared
to the other so-called "atypical" forms of labour contracts which have
already been utilised in our country for some time now: the beginning
of the trend which led to these new options dates back to 1997, with
the introduction of set-term labour and part-time work, followed by
labour training and temporary labour.
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THE
CHARACTERISTICS OF TEMPORARY WORK
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Temporary
work leads to the establishment of a triangular relationship between
the enterprise which supplies the temporary labour, the enterprise
which utilises it, and the temporary worker. Under this relationship,
an enterprise which needs to have a specific task performed for
a limited period of time contacts a temporary employment agency,
which selects and "sends" a worker suitable for the position to
the enterprise.
The employer of the temporary worker is the enterprise which supplies
the labour, but the subject benefiting from the work services is
the user enterprise.
The supplying enterprise hires the worker for a set period corresponding
to the duration of the work services at the user enterprise: during
this period, however, the worker carries out his or her activities
under the management and control of the user enterprise, being entitled
to the same salary treatment as the employees hired on a regular
basis.
The benefit payments for pensions and social security, as stipulated
under the legislation currently in force, are the responsibility
of the supplying enterprises. Based on the costs sustained, the
temporary employment agencies bill the user enterprises for a sum
which includes both the costs regarding the worker (salary and benefit
payments) and the compensation for the service provided. |
Despite
initial resistance on the part of certain political and institutional
sectors to the introduction of forms of labour representing alternatives
to traditional hiring for an indeterminate period of time, the reaction
of the business world to these options was extremely favourable, as
demonstrated by the fact that a significant portion of new hiring was
carried out through these innovative contractual forms. Within this
broader scenario, especially brilliant results were obtained by the
practice of temporary labour, introduced into Italian legislation under
Law no. 196/1997, recently modified during approval of the latest Budget
Law.
As a result of these modifications - which eliminated the prohibition
against employing temporary labour for low-ranking tasks in the construction
industry and in agriculture - Italy shows itself to be well on the road
to greater flexibility in the labour market: to give an example, in
1999 "rented" workers numbered approximately 300 thousand (registering
a dizzying increase - approximately six-fold - compared to the previous
year), while it is estimated that, by the end of this year, approximately
seven hundred thousand units will have entered the labour market through
this innovative contractual format.
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SCOPE
OF APPLICATION OF LAW NO. 196/1997
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There
are only two fundamental situations in which it is possible to
make use of temporary labour, and these are explicitly disciplined
by the relevant legislation.
For all other cases not expressly contemplated under the law,
reference must be made to the collective bargaining contracts.
A temporary labour contract may be established:
1.
to cover, on a "temporary" basis, positions not contemplated within
a company's normal production framework;
2. in cases where absent workers must be replaced.
Temporary
labour is prohibited in the following cases:
1.
to replace striking workers;
2.
in production units where, in the course of the previous twelve
months, collective firings have been carried out involving workers
assigned to the tasks for which the labour is to be supplied,
unless the workers being replaced are momentarily absent and entitled
to maintain their positions;
3. in production units in which a suspension of employment
relationships (due to a crisis affecting the enterprise) or a
reduction in working hours are under way;
4. in enterprises which do not comply with work safety
regulations;
5. for tasks which are especially dangerous, as identified
in the relevant decree issued by the Minister of Labour and Social
Security
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The
reason for this enormous success can be traced to the capacity to meet
the specific needs of businesses and, in particular, to the changing
models of production. In fact, businesses are provided with an instrument
of flexibility which can resolve emergency situations (seasonal peaks,
unforeseen increases in demand, temporary replacement of workers, the
need for specific job profiles for only limited periods of time) during
which the new contractual instrument proves more attractive than the
existing approaches (such as set-term employment). In all such situations,
temporary labour provides a valid solution and a "flexible" response
to the needs of the businesses, given that all of the administrative
procedures which must normally be sustained (such as recruitment) are
the responsibility of the enterprise providing the "rented" labour;
in addition, the temporary worker is a worker who has already been trained,
meaning that he or she is immediately operative upon arrival. Not only
that: temporary work also provides the workers with an additional occasion,
a way of coming into contact with different companies and obtaining
a variety of professional experiences while enriching their background
of knowledge and training through a perfectly legal, transparent form
of employment which provides the same rights (regarding compensation
and benefit payments) as those possessed by workers hired for indeterminate
periods of time.
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