Italy: EU Directive 2019/1152 on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions being transposed into national legislation

The text adopted by Italy’s Council of Ministers on 31 March provides for new protective measures for all workers, including those who do not have standard employment contracts, namely platform workers, people with ‘occasional collaboration’ contracts and ‘coordinated continuous collaboration’ contracts (a hybrid status between employee and self-employed). The text, which will amend a 1997 law, provides for much more comprehensive information, in particular on working hours, the right to training, and the applicable collective agreement. If work schedules are not predictable, the employer will have to inform the worker about the variability of the work schedule and the minimum amount of guaranteed paid hours. New rights for non-conventional jobs also include a ‘reasonable’ trial period, and the possibility of taking up another job outside the agreed working hours. The text also provides for protection actions if there are breaches of the measures, as well as fines for employers who fail to comply with their obligations. According to the Italian daily publication Il Sole 24 Ore, the decree (which will have to be approved by Parliament) goes beyond the European directive as far as platforms are concerned, since they will have to give workers information on the rationale and functioning of the systems, the data categories and the main parameters used to program the systems, including performance evaluation mechanisms, and control measures being adopted for automated decisions.