Protection of Workers

PROTECTION OF WORKERS. - The protection or safeguarding of labor is a principle common to contemporary States, often proclaimed in constitutional charters or in special charters, and specified in numerous laws, with regard to bodies or entities of elaboration, application, assistance, and supervision, as well as to the establishment, conduct, and termination of employment relationships.

Italy, with a formula different from that of the texts of other countries, proclaims itself a democratic Republic "founded on labor" (art. 1), labor which it "protects in all its forms and applications" (art. 35 ff.). Similarly to numerous other constitutions, it further proclaims on the one hand that every citizen has the duty to perform, according to his own possibilities and his own choice, an activity or function that contributes to the material or spiritual progress of society, and on the other hand recognizes for all citizens the right to work (art. 4). A full juridical recognition, as a subjective right, would imply the recognition also of the passive subject of the relationship (that is, of the employer), something that can occur in a collectivist regime, in which economic activity is centralized in the State; but not equally so in legal systems in which private initiative is free (art. 41), because in these the entrepreneur is precisely free in the establishment, organization, and direction of the enterprise. Nevertheless there can be a subjective right (with compensation for damages in the case of non-fulfillment), if and when limits are imposed in the sense, for example, of imposing a minimum number of employed persons and at the same time a ranking in employment; or of imposing a percentage of employed persons among the members of certain categories (here too with a ranking), or finally of blocking (that is, prohibiting) dismissals.

But the right to work constitutes above all a directive principle of economic-social policy, because full employment constitutes the first and greatest protection of workers and an essential factor of well-being and order. The Italian charter therefore adds that the Republic promotes the conditions that render the aforementioned right effective (art. 4). When full employment is not possible, adequate provision must be made through insurance against involuntary unemployment (cf. art. 38).

Among the special bodies there is to be mentioned first of all, for Italy (in partial analogy, here too, with other countries), the National Council of Economy and Labor, provided for by the Constitution itself, but not yet established (after the Superior Council of Labor, which arose with an attached office in 1902, ceased to function in 1925). It is to be composed, in the ways to be specified by a law in the course of approval, of experts and of representatives of the productive categories, in a measure that takes account of their numerical and qualitative importance. It is a body of consultation for the Chambers and the Government; it has legislative initiative (as was also provided for the Economic Council of Germany according to the Weimar charter of 1919) and can contribute to the elaboration of economic and social legislation according to the principles and within the limits established by law (art. 99), which could extend the functions of the Council also into other fields, such as that of the settlement of collective disputes.

The French Constitution of 1946 provides that the "Economic Council" be consulted obligatorily on the establishment of a national economic plan, having as its object the full employment of men and the rational utilization of material resources (cf. art. 25).

In many States, a special Ministry is established to direct public labor policy and administration. In Italy it presides over the services relating to studies, research, statistics, etc. in matters of labor, social security, and social assistance, over the mediation of trade-union conflicts for the stipulation or revision of collective contracts, over the preparation of bills and the application of existing norms; it supervises internal migrations, the activity of cooperative societies, vocational instruction, employment services, etc. Besides central commissions (such as for placement in work and assistance to the unemployed and for the lists of workers and unified contributions in agriculture), it has as local bodies the provincial and regional offices of labor and maximum employment, which, among other things, carry out activity for the conciliation of local individual and collective disputes (the director of the office presides over the appropriate provincial commission for placement); and the labor inspectorates, constituted, through various vicissitudes, since 1906 (regional circles, interprovincial or provincial offices, besides a central office and a medical inspectorate), bodies above all of supervision, of the observance by enterprises of the norms protecting labor, with broad powers especially of security policing. "Emigration centers" may be constituted by the Ministry, in a number not exceeding five, for the assistance of emigrated or repatriating workers and their families. Also some other Ministry performs functions of protection of workers, within the delimited field of its specific competence, as, for example, the Ministries of Industry and Commerce, of Transport, of the Merchant Marine, which act also through, respectively, the corps of mines (for safety in the mining industries), the inspection circles of civil motorization and of transport under concession (for accident prevention), the port labor offices (at which councils are established). The protection of emigrated workers is a specific task of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Among the territorial bodies, the regions (and especially those with special statute) have normative power, albeit very limited, in the aforementioned matter. Of preeminent importance are the social-security institutes and the trade-union associations, as well as the International Labor Organization (v.). There are also to be mentioned among the most notable institutions: the E.N.A.L. (National Agency for Assistance to Workers; a transformation of the National After-Work Agency, dating back to 1925), directed at promoting recreational, artistic, cultural, etc. activities, in the hours free from employment, and at coordinating initiatives of similar bodies; the National Agency for Assistance to the Orphans of Italian Workers; the National Agency for the Protection of Maternity and Infancy (also independently of the working categories); the National Agency for Pensioners of Italy (for all the categories of social security); the National Agency for Propaganda for the Prevention of Accidents; the National Institute for the Training and Further Training of Workers in Industry; the National Agency for Training in Commercial Work; the various institutes of patronage and social assistance (the patronages of the Italian Workers' Confederation, of the A.C.L.I., of the O.N.A.R.M.O., the National Confederate Institute of Assistance, promoted by the C.G.I.L., and the National Institute of Social Assistance have been approved).

A first limit, first in order of time and also, still, in importance, with regard to the formation of the employment relationship, is the one concerning minors and women, "half-forces," ruthlessly exploited under a regime of uncontrolled liberalism. The Italian legislation in force (1934), which follows and reorganizes provisions that were first fragmentary and then more organic (from 1886), is inspired by considerations not only of protection of the weaker categories, but also of social order (ethical, sanitary, etc.).

As a general principle, it is forbidden to employ children under the age of 14 (coinciding with the cessation of compulsory education); exemptions may be granted for twelve-year-olds for certain types of work, and in given circumstances, by the Minister of Labour. The limit of 14 years is raised instead to 18 years for particular manufacturing processes, especially for women up to 21 years; for the latter, underground work in quarries, mines and tunnels is furthermore prohibited. For all minors, the requirements of fulfilment of educational obligations and of proven physical fitness are required; the latter requirement is also required for adults assigned to certain industrial processes. It is further a general requirement that the worker be provided with a special work booklet, issued free of charge by the mayor and to be kept, for the duration of the employment relationship, by the employer, inserting therein all the particulars relating to that relationship, in addition to those inserted, according to their competence, by the mayor and the physician, so as to specify all the elements of the worker's occupational status.

Of the greatest importance is the regulation of employment placement, recently reworked in Italy (1949). Its fundamental principles may be summarized as follows: 1) placement is a public and free function (in accordance with a long-standing orientation generally accepted also in international conventions); 2) the exercise of this function, with the aim of effectively protecting the freedom of work of all those concerned, falls within the competence of the State, through its provincial labour offices (mentioned above), their branch sections, their placement officers and their respective assistants (rather than through the professional trade unions, except however for the representation of both workers and employers on the central consultative commission and the local ones, which also have deliberative functions within the framework of the directives issued by the Minister of Labour, and decision-making functions on appeals against certain measures indicated by law, with the possibility of a further appeal to the aforesaid Minister, who decides after hearing the central commission); 3) as a rule (except in the cases provided for by law) employers are required to hire the workers they need from among those registered on the prescribed lists, by numerical request for category and professional qualification; 4) preference is to be given to workers residing in the locality where the work is carried out (or in nearby localities), except where a named request (that is, identifying the person chosen) is permitted. In directing persons to work, account must be taken overall of family dependants; of seniority of registration on the lists; of economic and patrimonial situation, inferred also from the employment status of the members of the family unit and from the other concurrent elements of the worker's state of need, with regard at the same time to the health status of the family unit. Preferential title is recognized for those who have obtained a professional qualification in the appropriate courses (v. no. 8); 5) for certain categories and special manufacturing processes, suitable adaptations are permitted; 6) the new system applies, within certain limits, to employees of State administrations and public bodies; 7) economic assistance to the unemployed is reorganized, with extension of the compulsory insurance to agricultural workers and to salaried employees without limits of remuneration; 8) the services directed to vocational training are also reorganized (courses for the unemployed, in-company retraining courses, work sites, school, with facilitation for small firms and artisan workshops).

Special rules are in force to guarantee the employment of ex-servicemen and of categories of persons disabled directly or indirectly by wartime events (the maimed, the invalid, veterans of imprisonment or deportation, orphans, relatives of the fallen, etc.), requiring employers to choose their personnel from among such categories in certain percentages, subject to possession of the necessary fitness. Similarly, certain provisions exist for the maimed and invalid of work and for those discharged from anti-tuberculosis sanatoria, in relation to service in the sanatoria themselves.

One of the essential and mandatory obligations of the employer is that of protecting working conditions. The general rule is laid down by the civil code ("the employer is required to adopt in the conduct of the enterprise the measures which, according to the particular features of the work, experience and technique, are necessary to protect the physical integrity and the moral personality of the workers": art. 2087); special legislation applies it with regard to determined categories of enterprises and workers, with attention above all to hygiene and safety and thus with the aim of preventing accidents and diseases, and with provisions also for medical advice and assistance. Among the numerous legislative provisions of salient interest are those contained in the general regulation on occupational hygiene (1927), concerning both industrial and commercial enterprises and agricultural ones (with regard to the height, cubic capacity and surface area of the workshops, semi-basement rooms, lighting, temperature, air exchange, seats, baths and lavatories, dormitories, nursing rooms, etc.).

Many further provisions, contained in various texts, concern the time of the performance of work. Principles already in force before the new republican charter were raised by it to the constitutional level under the threefold aspect of the working day and (with the provision of the non-waivability of the weekly rest and of paid annual holidays (art. 36), for considerations here too, besides the protection of the weaker categories (women and children, provided for in art. 37 of the same charter), also of a social character (physical and ethical), affecting, albeit indirectly, the entire national community, thus guaranteed as far as possible in the orderly conduct and the best overall strengthening of productive activity. The 8-hour working day, which was one of the most vigorous trade-union demands, found acceptance after the First World War both in the international field (Washington Convention, 1919) and in national ones (for Italy cf. the legislation of 1923 and subsequent measures). In the event of prolongation of the normal working hours, always within the maximum limits, the worker must be compensated for overtime hours with an increase in pay, fixed for the most part by collective agreements with a supplement higher than the minimum provided for by law, which also contains detailed provisions for the application of the 8-hour principle in relation to the various types of activity and categories of personnel (with the exclusion of some and adaptations for others), to interruptions or breaks, more or less long, and their assessment, to the making up of any interruptions, etc.

Night work as well, not included in regular periodic shifts, given its greater burden, must be remunerated with a supplement compared with daytime work (cf. art. 2108 Civ. Code). In this matter (besides a discipline adapted to women and children) there are specific provisions for the baking and confectionery trades and for public transport services.

The working week as a whole must be contained within 48 hours (40 for industrial processes under given circumstances); the day of rest must as a rule coincide with Sunday (cf. art. 2109 of the Civil Code and a specific law of 1934). In this regard too, the possible grounds for exemption, derogation and adaptation, and the related financial consequences, are specified. Other holidays, paid, are specifically provided for, and so too are extraordinary leaves (as in the case of marriage) by collective agreements.

Finally, the worker, after a year of uninterrupted service, is entitled to a period of paid annual leave; its duration and the arrangements for it are fixed by law (cf. art. 2109 cited above; for private employees the relevant law of 1924), by collective agreements, by custom, or, according to equity, by the judge.

Still other limitations concern the power to terminate the employment relationship, a termination that cannot legally occur in the cases and within the limits of a mere suspension of the relationship itself (pregnancy, accident, illness, recall or call to arms). Particular protection is provided in given circumstances of time, place and industry, prohibiting, limiting and grading the dismissal of workers, with special provisions for those who hold trade-union functions or represent workers, in order to avoid reprisals against them. Nevertheless, the general principle of freedom of withdrawal remains, subject to the required notice and the seniority indemnity (in proportion to years of service); job security is recognized only in certain company sectors; its generalization, always subject of course to dismissal for "just cause", that is, a disciplinary infraction such as not to permit even the temporary continuation of the relationship, nonetheless constitutes one of the greatest aspirations of workers.

The violation of the rules protecting workers may be prosecuted before the competent jurisdictions in criminal proceedings (when offences are involved, as is frequently provided by social legislation) and in civil proceedings for financial liability, as well as in administrative proceedings in numerous cases (as for certain insurance schemes and family allowances).

Ferruccio Pergolesi