Business and labour, a shared evolution
The comparative analysis of collective agreements provides an accurate picture of the rules to be applied
The rules of work that are changing based on the results of the discussions between the stakeholders of companies. An (often) intense, but always constructive dialogue which, when observed, can say a lot about the actual level of that corporate culture that seeks to reconcile work and life demands, as well as productivity and liveability, in factory and office environments. This is a cognitive goal that can be approached by observing and comparing the national collective labour agreements of the different branches of industry. And it was one of the findings of the research carried out by Renato Brunetta (President of the National Council for Economics and Labour (CNEL)) and Chiara Altilio (Visiting Fellow at the CNEL) entitled ‘Non di solo lavoro vive l’uomo. Il contributo della contrattazione al corretto equilibrio tra persona, carichi di cura e lavoro. Una verifica sull’archivio CNEL dei contratti collettivi’ (‘Man does not live by work alone. The contribution of bargaining to the correct balance between the individual, care and workloads. An audit of the CNEL collective agreement archive’ recently published in the series ‘Casi e materiali di discussione: mercato del lavoro e contrattazione collettiva” dello stesso Consiglio.’ Case studies and discussion materials: labour market and collective bargaining’, also by the Council.
The two authors start, on the one hand, by observing the increasingly pressing need to reconcile life and work and, on the other, from the need for a ‘monitoring and evaluation path’ on how these needs (also enshrined in the law) are actually considered in the real-life production scenario. In order to begin studying the subject accurately, Brunetta and Altilio decided to verify whether the collective labour agreements had taken on board the contents of the regulations and the findings of the dialogue between companies and trade unions. The basis for the work was the national archive of collective labour contracts and agreements.
The analysis conducted thus covered several large groups of tools: the contributions, reimbursements and benefits, but also the services and benefits provided, as well as the aspects of work organisation indicated by the individual contracts examined on a sector-specific basis.
The snapshot that Brunetta and Altilio take of the state of the art of collective bargaining with regard to work-life balance tools is as attentive to the details as it is to the big picture. And it offers an important indication: while national contracts testify to the attention paid to the topic and the willingness to implement that dictated by the law, there is still room for considerable improvement, starting from transferring it into company labour agreements.
The incipit to the whole survey is important: “Demographic changes, new and increasing vulnerabilities, changing family structures and the employment dynamics of our modern labour markets themselves are profoundly influencing the relationship between people and economic processes. It is no longer just a problem, already complex in itself, of combining organisational well-being with work productivity. In the background an urgent need is emerging: to contribute overall to a fairer and more inclusive society by prioritising people in the dynamics of production and work contexts, not just through words, but also through actions. Contexts that are increasingly called upon to become places for the development of good interpersonal relations where, in other words, the idea that the needs of the working person are not secondary to organisational and production requirements is no longer an exception, entrusted only to corporate social responsibility’.
Non di solo lavoro vive l’uomo. Il contributo della contrattazione al corretto equilibrio tra persona, carichi di cura e lavoro. Una verifica sull’archivio CNEL dei contratti collettivi (Man does not live by work alone. The contribution of bargaining to the correct balance between the individual, care and workloads. An audit of the CNEL collective agreement archive)
Renato Brunetta, Presidente CNEL, Chiara Altilio, Visiting Fellow presso il CNEL
Casi e materiali di discussione: mercato del lavoro e contrattazione collettiva, N. 10 | 2024
The comparative analysis of collective agreements provides an accurate picture of the rules to be applied
The rules of work that are changing based on the results of the discussions between the stakeholders of companies. An (often) intense, but always constructive dialogue which, when observed, can say a lot about the actual level of that corporate culture that seeks to reconcile work and life demands, as well as productivity and liveability, in factory and office environments. This is a cognitive goal that can be approached by observing and comparing the national collective labour agreements of the different branches of industry. And it was one of the findings of the research carried out by Renato Brunetta (President of the National Council for Economics and Labour (CNEL)) and Chiara Altilio (Visiting Fellow at the CNEL) entitled ‘Non di solo lavoro vive l’uomo. Il contributo della contrattazione al corretto equilibrio tra persona, carichi di cura e lavoro. Una verifica sull’archivio CNEL dei contratti collettivi’ (‘Man does not live by work alone. The contribution of bargaining to the correct balance between the individual, care and workloads. An audit of the CNEL collective agreement archive’ recently published in the series ‘Casi e materiali di discussione: mercato del lavoro e contrattazione collettiva” dello stesso Consiglio.’ Case studies and discussion materials: labour market and collective bargaining’, also by the Council.
The two authors start, on the one hand, by observing the increasingly pressing need to reconcile life and work and, on the other, from the need for a ‘monitoring and evaluation path’ on how these needs (also enshrined in the law) are actually considered in the real-life production scenario. In order to begin studying the subject accurately, Brunetta and Altilio decided to verify whether the collective labour agreements had taken on board the contents of the regulations and the findings of the dialogue between companies and trade unions. The basis for the work was the national archive of collective labour contracts and agreements.
The analysis conducted thus covered several large groups of tools: the contributions, reimbursements and benefits, but also the services and benefits provided, as well as the aspects of work organisation indicated by the individual contracts examined on a sector-specific basis.
The snapshot that Brunetta and Altilio take of the state of the art of collective bargaining with regard to work-life balance tools is as attentive to the details as it is to the big picture. And it offers an important indication: while national contracts testify to the attention paid to the topic and the willingness to implement that dictated by the law, there is still room for considerable improvement, starting from transferring it into company labour agreements.
The incipit to the whole survey is important: “Demographic changes, new and increasing vulnerabilities, changing family structures and the employment dynamics of our modern labour markets themselves are profoundly influencing the relationship between people and economic processes. It is no longer just a problem, already complex in itself, of combining organisational well-being with work productivity. In the background an urgent need is emerging: to contribute overall to a fairer and more inclusive society by prioritising people in the dynamics of production and work contexts, not just through words, but also through actions. Contexts that are increasingly called upon to become places for the development of good interpersonal relations where, in other words, the idea that the needs of the working person are not secondary to organisational and production requirements is no longer an exception, entrusted only to corporate social responsibility’.
Non di solo lavoro vive l’uomo. Il contributo della contrattazione al corretto equilibrio tra persona, carichi di cura e lavoro. Una verifica sull’archivio CNEL dei contratti collettivi (Man does not live by work alone. The contribution of bargaining to the correct balance between the individual, care and workloads. An audit of the CNEL collective agreement archive)
Renato Brunetta, Presidente CNEL, Chiara Altilio, Visiting Fellow presso il CNEL
Casi e materiali di discussione: mercato del lavoro e contrattazione collettiva, N. 10 | 2024