“I believe it is important to resume the discussion to define a legislative provision on the subject of minimum salary linked to the budget law". The Minister of Labour Nunzia Catalfo, in a hearing in the Chamber, confirms its intention to arrive at a regulated definition of the minimum wage.
The minister was heard in the Labor Committee which is examining the directive of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to adequate minimum wages in the European Union. A similar examination is underway in the Senate, where the commission has given rise to a large series of hearings. At the end of the discussion, a document will be drafted and sent to the European Parliament. The EU proposal does not establish a European minimum wage, nor does it oblige the Member States to establish one by law. It limits itself to establish uniform minimum safeguards in all Member States, which however impact on important aspects of bargaining.
According to our minister, the introduction of a legal discipline at European level “would favor the realization of a fairer labor market, inclusive and equal, breaking down inequalities” and therefore “the initiative of the EU commission is of great importance. The prediction of a European boost – he added – appears more than appropriate, also in the light of the analysis of the data on wage levels”.
The minister has also cleared the field of some doubts and objections: "the transposition of the directive would be respectful of the traditional structure of industrial relations, also guaranteeing a minimum wage limit of dignity for all workers". As for the hypothesis, at least in an initial phase, of a increase in labor costs for companies, in particular, for those companies in sectors where the hourly basic wage is set below the levels generally considered to be minimum, "this increase could in part be mitigated by an increase in worker consumption low-wage, which would support domestic demand”.
The proposed directive creates a common framework to improve the adequacy of minimum wages and workers' access to minimum wage protection in the EU. The Commission's proposal therefore seeks to promote collective bargaining on wages in all Member States and, to this end, requires Member States to define clear and stable criteria and to ensure regular and timely updates of legal minimum wages, as well as an effective involvement of social partners, thus making trends more transparent of the statutory minimum wage and protecting businesses from unfair competition. The directive applies to any worker with an employment contract or relationship based on national law, existing collective agreements or the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the EU. In this way, the Commission intends to avoid that "atypical" workers, such as workers on digital platforms, can be excluded.
The measure also intends to expand the involvement of the social partners and strengthen their role in collective bargaining on setting minimum wages. Against this backdrop, states with collective bargaining coverage of less than 70 per cent of workers are required to set up a regulatory framework and an action plan that broadens its scope.
In view of the diversity of existing systems, it is established that in regimes where the minimum wage is set by law, it is necessary provide for national criteria for the definition of the amount and the relative periodic adjustment, taking into account some parameters, such as for example the cost of living, gross salary, productivity, and the opinion of the social partners who must be consulted.
Member States are also required to ensure that economic operators, when executing public procurement or concession contracts, comply with wages established by collective agreements for the relevant sector and geographical area and with statutory minimum wages, where they exist.
One is also planned “non-regression clause”, therefore the directive should not constitute a reason to reduce the general level of protection in force for workers both at national and at sectoral level.
