Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
Factsheet for measure IT-2020-11/457 – measures in Italy
Country | Italy , applies nationwide |
Time period | Open ended, started on 14 March 2020 |
Context | COVID-19 |
Type | Non-binding recommendations or other texts |
Category |
Protection of workers, adaptation of workplace
– Occupational health and safety |
Author | Lisa Dorigatti (University of Milan) and Eurofound |
Measure added | 10 April 2020 (updated 17 July 2020) |
On 14 March 2020, a joint protocol defining measures to the contrast and the containment of the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the workplaces was signed by a wide number of trade unions and employers' associations - including the most important national ones - under the auspices of the Prime Minister, and the Ministers of Economy, Labour, Economic Development and Health.
The agreement aims to ensure the protection of workers' health and the necessary safety conditions in all workplaces, in compliance with the indications formulated by the Ministry of Health on risk management of COVID-19 in the workplace.
The protocol was renegotiated and revised on 24 April 2020 and attached to the Decree of the Prime Ministry of 26 April 2020.
Also in order to allow companies to implement the agreement, the Government allocated €50 million for the purchase of personal protective equipment and tools. The legal reference of this measure is Article 43, paragraph 1, of the Law Decree No. 18 of 2020.
The joint protocol aims to ensure the protection of workers' health and the necessary safety conditions in all workplaces. In particular, the agreement provides that the continuation of production activities can take place only on condition that adequate levels of protection are guaranteed to workers. To facilitate the containment of the virus, the agreement allows to suspend or temporary reduce the activity, or to adopt the telework (smart working) scheme as much as possible. The agreement also indicates specific containment measures that follow anti-contagion safety protocols (interpersonal distance between workers or adoption of safety devices). Among these measures are:
The protocol was renegotiated and revised on 24 April 2020 and attached to the Decree of the Prime Ministry of 26 April 2020. The main amendments concerned the following issues:
Furthermore, the €50 million allocated by the Government to undertakings to implement the agreement will be distributed, upon request, by the National Agency for inward investment promotion and enterprise development (INVITALIA). These funds might me employed also to reconvert the production of the companies to healthcare instruments.
No specific information is available on the extent of application of the protocol, but a wide utilisation can be expected, due to the large number of organisations that signed it.
The applications for the €50 million of funds for the purchase of personal protective equipment and tools were open on 11 May 2020. In the same day, INVITALIA received 59,025 demands from 42.753 companies, allocating almost all the available funds.
Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
---|---|---|
Does not apply to workers | Applies to all businesses | Does not apply to citizens |
Actors | Funding |
---|---|
National government
Trade unions Employers' organisations Company / Companies |
National funds
|
Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:
Trade unions | Employers' organisations | |
---|---|---|
Role | Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative | Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative |
Form | Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies | Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies |
Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
The agreement was signed by the trade unions and the employer associations under the auspices of the Prime Minister, and the Ministers of Economy, Labour, Economic Development and Health.
On 14 March 2020, the President of Confindustria - the main Italian employers' organisation - argued that "the agreement reached today - and we acknowledge that the Government acted timely and the other social actors with great sense of responsibility - will allow (...) that Italian factories work at the service of the country starting from the agri-food and pharmaceutical supply chains to guarantee all of us the primary goods and protect every production chain. By giving priority attention to the health of people in the workplace, this will also allow us to overcome this delicate phase and prepare for the economic recovery as soon as we get out of it".
The Secretary General of CISL - one of the principal Italian trade unions - expressed satisfaction for the protocol and its revision arguing that "the agreement summarizes the indications of Inail and the National Scientific Technical Committee and at the same time strengthens and expands the contents of the Protocol of 14 March for measures to contrast and contain the spread of the virus in the workplace. After a very long and complex negotiation with the employers' associations, we found a balanced and responsible synthesis through the insertion of very innovative actions and procedures necessary for the improvement of interventions aimed at guaranteeing stable rules and conditions for the safety and health protection of workers. in the workplace".
Citation
Eurofound (2020), Government and social partners protocol to ensure safe working conditions at the workplace, measure IT-2020-11/457 (measures in Italy), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/IT-2020-11_457.html
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