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The Committee notes the information provided by the Government, which answers the points raised in its previous direct request and has no further matters to raise in this regard.

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Article 2 of the Convention. Partial payment of wages in kind. In reply to the Committee’s previous comments noting the incompatibility of section 2099 of the Civil Code with Article 2 of the present Convention and Article 4 of the Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95), the Government indicates that article 36 of the Constitution, which lays down the principle of remuneration proportionate to the quantity and quality of the work done and in any case sufficient to guarantee decent living conditions for workers and their families, establishes the de facto obligation for branch collective agreements to require payment of a fixed part of wages in monetary form, so that the payment of workers in kind supplements, but does not replace, the payment of wages in monetary form. While noting the Government’s statement in its report on the application of the Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95), to the effect that section 2099(3) of the Civil Code is implicitly repealed, the Committee considers that, for reasons of legal certainty, this provision of the Civil Code should be formally amended and requests the Government to keep the Office informed of any further developments in this matter.
Article 5 and Part V of the report form. Application in practice. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that no statistics on the number of infringements of minimum wage rates are currently available. However, it notes that, according to the annual survey of employment in agriculture undertaken in 2009 by the National Institute of Agrarian Economics (INEA), infringements of labour legislation, especially the provisions on pay, are more frequent in cases where workers are of non-European Union origin. The Government indicates in its report that an “extraordinary inspection plan for agriculture and the construction industry” was approved by the Council of Ministers on 28 January 2010 in order to intensify and improve the effectiveness of inspection activities in these sectors in four regions of southern Italy, especially with regard to undeclared work. The Committee notes that the inspection services reported infringements in 44 per cent of the 7,816 agricultural undertakings inspected and identified 49 per cent of workers employed in them as being in an irregular situation. The Committee encourages the Government to take steps, for example, by revising the list of data recorded in the standard inspection report, to enable the inspection services to gather precise statistics on the number of infringements relating to the payment of minimum wages. It also requests the Government to continue to provide up-to-date information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, including statistics on the number of workers paid the minimum wages established by collective agreement, extracts from the reports of the inspection services, and any other particulars relating to the application of the Convention in practice.

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The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in reply to its previous comments.

Article 2 of the Convention. Partial payment of minimum wages in kind. With reference to the point raised both under Article 2, paragraph 1, of the Convention and Article 4, paragraph 1, of Convention No. 95 concerning the need to amend section 2099 of the Civil Code which allows for the payment of wages entirely in kind, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that by the Note dated 27 May 2002 this question was submitted to the legal office of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy for consideration and legal opinion. Considering that more than five years have lapsed since the request for legal opinion was made, the Committee asks the Government to specify whether such an opinion was ever delivered and whether any follow-up action has been taken or envisaged in this respect. The Committee further requests the Government to refer on this point to its last observation formulated under the Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95).

Article 5 and Part V of the report form. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning the collectively agreed minimum pay rates applicable in agriculture and horticulture. It also notes the statistical data concerning labour inspection activities with respect to illegal employment in agriculture, especially the results of operation “Girasole” conducted in September–December 2005. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide in its next report up to date information concerning specifically minimum wage-related infringements observed in the agricultural sector and the sanctions imposed, as well as any other particulars bearing on the practical application of the Convention.

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 attached documentation. It requests the Government to provide the information requested on the following points.

Articles 1 and 3 of the Convention. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning the legal framework for the fixing of wages in agriculture. In view of the identical nature of the applicable legal provisions with regard to the fixing of wages, it requests the Government to refer to its comments under the Minimum Wage-Fixing Machinery Convention, 1928 (No. 26).

Article 2. The Committee recalls that for many years it has been drawing the Government’s attention to the incompatibility between the national legislation and the Convention. With reference to its comments under the Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 (No. 95), it once again notes the persistence of this incompatibility in so far as section 2099 of the Civil Code still does not prevent the possibility of the payment of wages wholly in the form of allowances in kind. The Committee recalls that Article 2, paragraph 2, of the Convention only authorizes the partial payment of wages in kind and provides that, in cases where such payment is authorized, appropriate measures shall be taken to ensure that such allowances are appropriate for the personal use and benefit of the worker and her or his family and that the value attributed to them is fair and reasonable. The Committee firmly hopes, in view of the specific conditions obtaining in agriculture and the fact that wages in the sector are considerably lower than those in industry, that the Government will adopt without further ado all the appropriate measures to ensure that remuneration in kind is limited to a fraction of the wage, in accordance with the clear provisions of the Convention. It requests the Government to indicate in its next report the measures taken in practice for this purpose and to continue providing information on this issue, including, for example, extracts from collective agreements containing specific provisions on remuneration in kind.

Article 5 and Part V of the report form. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government concerning the number of agricultural workers and the statistics showing that during 2001 some 9,236 inspections were carried out, revealing infringements in 3,384 enterprises. It requests the Government to indicate whether the above data relate to work in agriculture and specifically concern compliance with the minimum wages in force. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to provide full information relating to compliance with the provisions of the Convention in both law and practice.

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See under Convention No. 26, as follows:

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 Government's report as well as the comments made by the Italian Union of Labour (UIL) concerning the application of the Convention. It asks the Government to refer to the comments it is making under Convention No. 26.

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