Good the open dialogue but bad the government ignoring riders and unprotected workers (Affari&Finanza, 9 July 2018 – Vittorio De Luca)

VITTORIO DE LUCA: “THE DECISION TO OPEN A DIALOGUE WITH THE EMPLOYERS (FOOD DELIVERY COMPANIES) IS MEANINGFUL AND THE DOCUMENT SIGNED BY SOME OF THEM REPRESENTS A FIRST STEP, BUT WHY NOTHING HAS BEEN INCLUDED IN THE DECREE?”

The new government has the merit of having opened a dialogue aimed at regulating the work of riders, the delivery-people working for the gig economy and that today are not protected in any manner. However, it is unusual that the “dignity” decree, contrary to the expectations, does not mention riders or other workers currently unprotected while introducing instead a series of major restrictions regarding fixed-term contracts, taking us back to the ’60s when the obligation to specify the reasons for hiring under a fixed-term contract had been introduced, with the penalty of automatically turning it into an open-ended contract.”

says Attorney Vittorio De Luca, Managing Partner of the De Luca & Partners Law Firm, who adds: “Gig economy workers, differently from those with a fixed-term contract, have no protection at all, since they represent a new type of business relationship, which to date does not fall under the criteria established by the literature and case-law of the ‘70s and ‘80s.”

According to De Luca, the path chosen by the government to regulate the sector is the right one: “The decision to open a dialogue with the employers, the food delivery companies, is meaningful and the charter of values signed by some of them represents the first step in the right direction.” Riders wish to be considered as “traditional” employees with a guaranteed amount of hours, a minimum salary, full insurance coverage against injuries and illness, social security contributions, prohibition of piecework remuneration (in all its forms), removal of ranking mechanisms and the establishment of union rights.

“The problem,” De Luca explains, “is that up until now, the riders’ position in Italy was dealt with  old criteria that are not adequate to meet the needs emerging from the new forms of economy. Essentially, this crisis stems from the inability to break the dichotomy between self-employment and employment and by the inadequacy of the laws of the individual countries. In fact, this is not a situation that affects Italy only, but also many of the western countries.” On the other hand, still according to De Luca, the new government measures on fixed-term contracts, “although emerging from the good intention of increasing employment, fail to hit the target. Historical experience showed that restrictions such as “reasons to be provided” represent a significant obstacle for companies, in addition to lead to inevitable legal disputes that with the Poletti’s decree dated 2014 were essentially reduced to zero. The new obligations will likely lead to conversions into open-ended contracts, but just as easily they will relegate workers to types of employments that are less regulated and protected compared to a fixed-term employment contract.”

“However, it is the economy,” De Luca states, “that generates work and not the protections and the rigid obligations introduced by the authority. Cost increases and uncertainties for companies will damage competitiveness and the international attractiveness of our economy.”

Source: Affari & Finanza