Minority of Italian firms involved in bargaining


Only one in five companies in Italy is involved in bargaining at company level and industry level agreements remain crucial for setting overall pay levels, research shows. 


The study, carried out by the Fondazione Giuseppe Di Vittorio, used official data to calculate the proportion of companies negotiating company-level agreements. The issue is important in Italy, as employers have for some years been attempting to shift bargaining away from national to company level deals. 


The research found that, in the latest period for which information is available (2012 to 2103), only 21.2% of companies negotiated at this level, although the proportion was considerably higher (69.1%) for the largest companies – those with 500 or more employees. 


It also found that industry-level agreements are crucial for determining how much workers earn, with on average pay set by industry-level agreements accounting for 88.4% of total pay.