The Certification of Employment Contracts: A Legal Instrument for Labour Market Regulation in Italy

Abstract

In a perspective of indirect regulation of the labour market, this paper analyses the Italian legal procedure known as ‘certification of employment contracts’ (hereinafter ‘certification’). This procedure consists of an examination of the lawfulness of employment and supply chain contracts. Contracts are submitted to a panel of experts in labour law (civil servants, professionals, academics) who undertake a review of the documentation, perform advisory functions and decide whether to award certification or not. The panel takes into account the key principles underlying certification: fairness, the true nature of the agreement between the parties, and compliance of the contract with objective organizational and productive requirements. Certification seeks to enforce labour standards through the proper use of contractual models, in order to manifest the true intention of the parties and to represent their interests. In this paper the issue is addressed from a regulatory perspective. First, it is noted that all employment and supply chain contracts are eligible for certification. Although apparently different, these contracts share a common matrix: the global process of ‘vertical disintegration’ of the firm. Second, certification is seen as a form of labour market regulation, which is neither a compulsory process, nor a matter of pure self-regulation. Rather, it may be seen as a form of enforced self-regulation, or ‘co-regulation’ undertaken on a voluntary basis by the parties, relying on the competence and expertise of the members of the certification panel, who act impartially. Employers are under no obligation to refer their contracts to a certification panel, but if they do so and receive a positive ruling, the certification gives the contract a legal presumption of fairness, certifying its conformity with legal principles for the purpose of preventing disputes at a later stage.