Brussels, 25/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - The right of workers under fixed term contracts (FTC) to be represented at company level in Italy is not sufficiently guaranteed by Italian legislation, the European Commission said on Thursday 24 January, in a reasoned opinion.
The Italian legislation on labour law must, therefore, be amended and the Italian government has two months in which to inform the Commission of its intentions. The “guardian of the treaties” reproaches Italy with failing to apply the Council directive on fixed term employment completely. That directive dates back to 1999. Under current Italian law, the threshold beyond which worker representative bodies must be formed in a company is calculated without taking into account the workers whose contract is shorter than nine months. The Commission believes this kind of contract, whatever its duration, must be considered. It is quite simply an “absolute requirement” of the European directive. (JK/transl.jl)