Italian Labour Law e-Journal

Sanctionatory consequences deriving from the violation of the obligation of reasonable accommodations in Italian labour law

Ilaria Bresciani — 2023-12-14

After having revisited the limits that preside over the exercise of an employer’s power of dismissal, in light of the definition of ‘disability’ and ‘reasonable accommodations’, this paper focuses on the need to reassess this specialized discipline in an anti-discriminatory key, also in order to determine the sanctionatory consequences deriving from the violation of the obligations that rest on the employer.

The Slow Approval Process of the Due Diligence Directive and the Different Paths for the Involvement of Trade Unions

Costantino Cordella — 2023-12-14

In this article, we highlight the different positions expressed by the European Parliament and the European Commission on the need to provide for the involvement of trade unions in the new directive on Company Due Diligence. The Parliament's position tends to emphasize the importance of prior consultation with trade unions. In the opposite direction, the European Commission's draft directive, from a management perspective, understands due diligence compliance as a governance constraint decided unilaterally by companies. Considering these processes, we try to ask whether trade unions can autonomously contribute to the ecological transition of companies and the protection of human rights, considering the advantages and disadvantages of their involvement.

Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Fundamental Rights

Massimiliano Delfino — 2023-12-14

This paper aims to describe and motivate the author’s perspective on the issues posed by robotics and Artificial Intelligence, exploring the significance of the Fundamental Rights approach to AI. The author believes both aspects are essential for understanding robotics, work empowerment, and the environment. The Fundamental Rights approach helps concentrate the attention on the issue of the environment, intended as the social environment, which is strictly linked to legal sustainability.

The Digital Resistance: Contesting the Power of Gig Economy Platforms through Collective Worker Action

Anthony Forsyth — 2023-12-14

This article examines how trade unions and self-organised worker groups have deployed digital organising tools to collectivise gig work, focusing on rideshare and food delivery platforms. It demonstrates the successful actions of worker representatives to improve the working conditions and legal position of platform-based rideshare and food delivery workers in several countries, through: coordinated mobilisation to disrupt the operations of platforms and build campaigns for increased regulation of platform work; strategic litigation to establish useful legal precedents, attract public attention and build solidarity among like-minded workers; and negotiating collective agreements on behalf of gig workers. While deficiencies are identified in the collective bargaining activities of some unions, the article concludes that unions and grass-roots worker groups have played a critical role in contesting the contracting model which lies at the core of gig worker exploitation – and helping them to martial the power obtained through resistance and collective action.

Digitalization, Labour Market and Collective Bargaining

Chiara Garbuio — 2023-12-14

This paper questions the impact of digitalization on the labour market, both regarding supply and demand, aiming to investigate what the role of collective bargaining should be at different levels, in order to exploit the potential and minimize the risks of digitalization.

New (work) environments in the wake of the reform of Articles 9 and 41 of the Italian Constitution: what prospects for the employers’ preventive obligations?

Maria Giovannone — 2023-12-14

Among the most critical issues in the ongoing doctrine and jurisprudence debate are those that concern (i) employer responsibility for occupational health and safety in connection with new jobs and (ii) emerging risks associated with new ways of performing work. This debate has recently been amplified by the new concept of ‘work environment’, which, according to some authors, now also includes the company’s external environment due to the reform of Articles 9 and 41 of the Constitution. In fact, with the explicit introduction of the obligation to protect the environment and the principle of sustainability in Article 41 of the Constitution, it is appropriate to reflect on the possibility of remodelling the prevention obligations and reinterpreting the employers’ safety obligation in view of sustainability. The paper addresses the issue of the role of the firm in environmental policies: promotion and accountability with the dual perspective of a theoretical analysis and discussion paper. In the wake of the experience already gained by collective bargaining and participation techniques in occupational health and safety, the paper will first look at the extension of the preventive obligation and the related criminal liability to the external environment, and then focus on the new perspectives of negotiated regulation of this obligation.

Remote working and team motivation: consideration for the LMX model

Nina Greimel — 2023-12-14

This study investigates the Leader Member Exchange (LMX) model and job satisfaction for employees working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research is based on 22 semi-structured interviews conducted with consultants on different career levels within a multinational corporation (MNC) in 2022. The results indicate that the shift to remote work, during the COVID-19 pandemic, has brought new considerations to the LMX model and job satisfaction. In addition, it also positively impacted economic, environmental, and social sustainability goals. The qualitative study identifies three aggregated key factors, conducted from the interview data, that contribute to job satisfaction in a remote work setting: (1) methods of collaboration, (2) performing through collaboration, and (3) identification with work and employer. These findings offer valuable insight on remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic. They also provide a foundation for further research on remote and hybrid work and collaboration models, whilst providing understanding on their alignment to economic, environmental, and social sustainability goals.

Collective Rights for Platform Workers. The Role Played by the Italian Workers’ Statute in a Comparative Perspective

Emanuele Menegatti — 2023-12-14

The interposition of a digital platform between consumers and workers providing services, even of a very traditional nature, has led to the creation of a (relatively) new business model, where there is an attempt to deny providers access to rights and protections typical of labour law; among these, collective rights. My intervention aims to offer a comparison between the Italian legal system, on one hand, and the American and British ones on the other, demonstrating how the former, unlike the latter, thanks to the support provided by the workers’ statute to freedom and union activity in workplaces, has managed to provide the necessary tools to effectively address the aforementioned challenges.

The role of social partners in the light of the challenges posed by the digitalisation of work and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan

Alberto Pizzoferrato — 2023-12-14

The contribution focuses on the several challenges posed to social partners by, on the one hand, the digitalisation of work and, on the other hand, the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, challenges that require national and European institutions to adopt instruments and policies to strengthen industrial relations and collective bargaining.

Automated Processing of Data on Work Performance and Employee Evaluation: A Case Study of Practices at Amazon Warehouses in Poland

Marta Rozmysłowicz — 2023-12-14

The subject of this article is the algorithmic employee evaluation system at Amazon’s warehouses in Poland. A weekly performance review, the evaluation is a measure of productivity and quality, gathered in real time as warehouse associates scan barcodes throughout the working day. Evaluation results instruct on the employment status of individual workers, without any input from supervisors. The article probes the significance of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for bolstering job security at workplaces like Amazon, where HR decisions are automated and based on the processing of work performance data. Article 22 of the GDPR lays down a prohibition for decision-making based solely on the automated processing of personal data. In turn, it establishes the right to human intervention, which might allow employees to avoid the adverse effects of an employee evaluation, if it did not ensure significant human input. Departing from a shop-floor level view of Amazon’s employee evaluation system that is reinforced by insight gained through litigation in Polish labour courts, this article argues that the process of evaluating workers is not a purely technical operation that can be consigned to algorithmic management. Employee evaluation must abide by certain legal criteria, which ultimately requires human discretion.