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The Committee notes with interest the detailed information contained in the Government’s report and attached documents in reply to its previous comments. It notes in particular the explanations concerning the system of establishing minimum wages principally through sectoral collective agreements and subsidiarily by judicial decision pursuant to sections 2099 and 1481 of the Civil Code and article 36 of the Constitution. Further, the Committee notes the criteria set out in the Protocol on the cost of labour signed by the Government and its social partners in July 1993, according to which minimum wages in sectoral agreements must be reviewed in the light of anticipated inflation rate, existing employment and income policies, general economic and labour market trends, the competitive climate and trends specific to the sector.

The Committee notes that according to the “Structure of earnings” statistical survey prepared by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) and annexed to the Government’s report, some 540,000 employees, or 7.1 per cent of the total workforce, are not covered by any collective agreement either at the national, local or enterprise level. The lowest wages are paid in the textile and food industries, construction, transport and communication, and hotels and restaurants. Although the average hourly wage rate for these categories of workers represents 75 per cent of the average wage in the private non-agricultural sector and therefore is not particularly low, the ISTAT’s survey does not cover the informal economy, which is estimated to account for approximately 15 per cent of total employment and which probably pays very low wages. Recalling that the Convention seeks to ensure decent wage levels for those low-paid workers not enjoying the protection of collectively negotiated pay conditions, the Committee requests the Government to provide additional information concerning the minimum wage rates practised in the so-called non-observed economy (NOE), the manner in which those rates are fixed or adjusted and the possible participation of employers’ and workers’ organizations in the minimum wage‑fixing process.

Finally, the Committee wishes to draw the Government’s attention to the conclusion of the ILO Governing Body on the continued relevance of the Convention based on the recommendations of the Working Party on Policy regarding the Revision of Standards (GB.283/LILS/WP/PRS/1/2, paragraphs 19 and 40). In fact, the Governing Body has decided that Conventions Nos 26 and 99 are among those instruments which may no longer be fully up to date but remain relevant in certain respects. The Committee therefore suggests that the Government should consider the possibility of ratifying the Minimum Wage Fixing Convention, 1970 (No. 131), which marks certain advances compared to older instruments on minimum wage fixing, for instance, as regards its broader scope of application, the requirement for a comprehensive minimum wage system, and enumeration of the criteria for the determination of minimum wage levels. The Committee requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any decision taken or envisaged in this regard.

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The Committee notes the report provided by the Government and the comments made by the employers’ organization CONFINDUSTRIA. The Government recalls that, in accordance with section 2099 of the Civil Code, the fixing of wages, and therefore minimum wages, is a matter for collective bargaining between the social partners. It adds that in the absence of collective agreements it is for the judges to establish, by virtue of the same provision, the remuneration of workers taking into account, where necessary, the opinion of the social partners. CONFINDUSTRIA adds that a collective agreement is only binding on the signatory organizations, but may be adopted and applied by non-member enterprises within the limits set by article 36 of the Italian Constitution. In this regard, recalling that the objective of the Convention is the creation and maintenance of machinery whereby minimum rates of wages can be fixed for workers employed in trades in which no arrangements exist for the effective regulation of wages by collective agreement or otherwise and in which wages are exceptionally low, that is lower than the average wage earned in the country by workers in organized industries, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether there exist at the national level trades or parts of trade answering to these specifications. If so, the Committee wonders whether recourse to judges where there is no applicable collective agreement, as provided by the national legislation, fulfils the requirement set forth in the Convention for the creation of a system for the fixing of minimum wages. In the system that is currently applicable, such wages are fixed on a case-by-case basis and require the initiation of legal action by the worker against the employer. Furthermore, it is not a preliminary arrangement as required by the Convention. Moreover, with regard to the obligation for the social partners to be associated in equal numbers and on equal terms, the Committee notes that, while agreeing with the Government that they may be consulted by the judge for the purposes of determining wages, such consultation does not appear to be compulsory. With a view to enabling it to assess more fully the operation of the minimum wage fixing machinery in practice, the Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information, including statistics, on the number of workers whose wages have been determined by judicial decision, the number of workers who are not covered by collective agreements establishing minimum wages and the branches in which there are no collective agreements fixing minimum wages. The Committee would also be grateful if the Government would provide fuller information on the arrangements for the participation of employers’ and workers’ organizations in the determination of minimum wages in sectors in which no arrangements exist for the effective regulation of wages by collective agreement or where wages are exceptionally low.

Finally, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to provide information in future reports on changes in minimum wage rates, and in particular on the criteria taken into account for their adjustment, such as the anticipated inflation rate, in the absence of a system of indexation as it existed previously, as well as the measures of supervision intended to ensure the effective enforcement of minimum wage provisions.

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The Committee notes the information supplied in the Government's report. It requests the Government to continue to provide, in accordance with Article 5 of the Convention, in conjunction with point V of the report form, general information on the application of the Convention in practice, for instance: (i) the minimum wage rates in force; (ii) the available data on the number and different categories of workers covered by minimum wage provisions; and (iii) the results of inspections carried out (e.g. the number of violations of minimum wage provisions revealed, the penalties imposed, etc.).

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The Committee notes the information supplied in the Government's report, including the information concerning homeworkers, as well as the comments made by the Italian Confederation of Commerce and Tourism and the Italian Union of Labour on the application of the Convention, which were communicated with the report.

The Committee notes, in particular, that the wage indexing system called "scala mobile (the sliding scale)" has been suspended since May 1992 and that the protocol on incomes policy, the fight against inflation and labour costs signed on 31 July 1992 by the Government and the social partners, noting this suspension, lays down an across-the-board wage supplement.

The Committee requests the Government to continue supplying information on the development in this respect as well as on the results, in general, of the application of the minimum wage fixing machinery, including, for example, the approximate numbers of workers covered, the minimum rates of wages fixed, and the more important of the other conditions, if any, established relevant to the minimum rates, in accordance with Article 5 of the Convention.