One of the main planks of the centre-right coalition’s manifesto during last year’s Italian election campaign was a deep reform of the labour legislation. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s starting point has been the lack of flexibility of the labour system, alleging that more flexibility would mean a higher employment rate. All proposed measures would aim to improve flexibility, especially in the fields of outsourcing and dismissals.
The Italian Government is facing intense union opposition to its plans to reform Italian labour legislation. Main proposals concern the abolition of Law 1369/60, which effectively prohibits employee secondments to other employers, and the reform of Law n. 42/90, giving employers the possibility to outsource any function, without employee consent.
