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EU PolicyWatch

Database of national-level policy measures

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

Government and social partners protocol to ensure safe working conditions at the workplace

Protocollo condiviso di regolamentazione delle misure per il contrasto e il contenimento della diffusione del virus Covid-19 negli ambienti di lavoro

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)

Background information

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.

Content of measure

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:

  1. The use of smart and remote working schemes for the activities that can be carried out at home or remotely.
  2. Encouraging the use of paid leave also through collective agreements.
  3. The suspension of the activities of company departments not indispensable for production.
  4. The adoption of anti-contagion safety protocols, the respect of the interpersonal distance of one meter as main measure of containment, the adoption of individual protection tools (e.g. masks and hand sanitizers).
  5. The sanitisation of workplaces and common areas.
  6. Limiting to the minimum essential the movement of people inside production sites.
  7. Encouraging the negotiation of specific collective agreements for the companies that are still in production.
  8. The establishment of a company committee with the participation of employees' workplace representatives for monitoring the application of the protocol.

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:

  • The non-application of the Protocol - which results in the inability to guarantee adequate levels of protection - determines the suspension of the activity until conditions of safety are restored.
  • The supervision of the client company about the compliance with the provisions also with regard to the staff of third-party companies operating in the client's premises/construction sites.
  • Attention to the means of transport to reach the workplace.

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.

Use of measure

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.

Target groups

Workers Businesses Citizens
Does not apply to workers Applies to all businesses Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors Funding
National government
Trade unions
Employers' organisations
Company / Companies
National funds

Social partners

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:

  • Social partners jointly
  • Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

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.

Views and reactions

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".

Sources

  • 14 March 2020: Protocollo condiviso di regolamentazione delle misure per il contrasto e il contenimento della diffusione del virus Covid-19 negli ambienti di lavoro (www.governo.it)
  • 17 March 2020: Contributi alle imprese per la sicurezza e potenziamento dei presidi sanitari (www.gazzettaufficiale.it)
  • 11 May 2020: Impresa SIcura, boom degli incentivi (www.invitalia.it)

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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Disclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.