The article explores the relationship between trade practices and labour rights throughout the history of the 20th century and demonstrates that the lack of mention of labour standards in the GATT rules was neither natural nor inevitable. Beginning with the laissez-faire era, it illustrates how unregulated competition created harsh working conditions and prompted early demands for international labour rules. It then examines the role the ILO was expected to play within the planned International Trade Organization under the Havana Charter, where fair labour standards were recognized as essential to prevent social dumping. The Charter’s failure left international trade without this social dimension. The paper argues that the later emergence of labour clauses in free trade agreements and GSP schemes simply reflects the intrinsic connection between labour standards and fair trade.
The Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union “saved” Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages from total annulment in its judgment of 11 November 2025 (C-19/23). The ruling clarifies the boundaries of the competence exclusions laid down in Article 153(5) TFEU concerning “pay” and the “right of association,” by recalling and updating the test of direct interference developed in the Court’s earlier case law. This article follows the Court’s reasoning step by step, critically examining its arguments also in light of the Advocate General’s Opinion, which had instead supported the full annulment of the Directive. It concludes by reflecting on the broader implications of the judgment for the future of European wage policy.
This article examines the main legal and institutional innovations introduced by Greek Law 5163/2024, which transposes Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages. Law 5163/2024 replaces the earlier, narrowly framed domestic regime with a comprehensive framework that establishes universal coverage and introduces new statutory definitions; extends minimum-wage protection to the public sector; mandates the development of an action plan to promote collective bargaining; strengthens the institutional architecture for evidence-based wage-setting; and institutes an automatic annual adjustment mechanism, subject to specific suspension grounds and safeguarded by a non-regression clause. The article analyses, interprets, and assesses each innovation, highlighting associated interpretative and governance challenges.
The contribution aims to offer some Danish perspectives on Directive 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages in the European Union. Three aspects are considered, including the characteristics of the Danish regulation of wages, how the Directive has been received in Denmark, and finally the Danish transposition of the Directive. The contribution highlights that the Danish opposition to the Directive has been a matter of principle and has become a salient example of the underlying tension connected to EU impact on the autonomy of social partners and negotiated rights.
This paper investigates the impact of psychosocial risks on female workers and explores potential remedial measures aimed at ensuring the effective protection of women's health and safety. After delineating psychosocial risks and their principal determinants, the study underscores the imperative to incorporate a gender-responsive approach within the risk assessment framework, grounded in principles of gender-specific medicine, relevant health and safety legislation, as well as guidelines promulgated by INAIL and EU-OSHA. Additional essential measures to safeguard women's mental health include the implementation of targeted health surveillance protocols and the provision of tailored, comprehensive training programs. The implementation of such measures can, at present, be facilitated through the deployment of artificial intelligence technologies.
Just over one year ago, in this journal, I wrote of how the Adequate Minimum Wage Directive, pre-transposition, was already having an impact on Irish law and policy regarding collective bargaining. There have been considerable developments over the past 12 months or so; the challenge to the Directive before the CJEU has been heard, and the matter settled, and Ireland is one of the first Member States to publish its Collective Bargaining Action Plan, as required by the Directive. In this short update, I will give some initial reflections on the Plan, and some thoughts on the future after the CJEU ruling.
After the research project “The right to adequate remuneration for solo-entrepreneurs” has already shown that the international legal obligations ratified by European States require effective protection of an appropriate level of remuneration for solo self-employed workers, and ways to fulfil these obligations in national law have been identified, the question arises as to whether and to what extent remuneration regulations in favour of solo self-employed workers would be compatible with EU primary law. With regard to the collective negotiation of minimum wages, the extent to which the negotiation process and the agreements reached would be compatible with the prohibition of cartels under Art. 101 TFEU must be analysed. For this purpose, it is necessary to examine the relationship between EU and national antitrust prohibitions, the extent to which a cartel exception in favour of solo self-employed persons can be inferred from the case law of the CJEU and the content and consequences of the current 'Guidelines on the application of Union competition law to collective agreements regarding the working conditions of solo self-employed persons' of the European Commission.
This article analyses Germany’s (non-)implementation of the Adequate Minimum Wage Directive (AMWD) in light of the government’s claim that existing laws are already compliant. The analysis concludes that although the federal government is developing an action plan for social dialogue (Article 4(2) AMWD), the legislature has not made any structural changes to the Minimum Wage Act. Instead, the decisive changes have been made by the Minimum Wage Commission, which has updated its internal procedures. This passive approach leaves key questions unanswered regarding the legal nature and purpose of the minimum wage, particularly following the CJEU’s judgment in Case C-19/23.
More than one year after the deadline for the transposition of the European Minimum Wage Directive into national law, this contribution analyses the impact which the Directive already had on minimum wage setting and collective bargaining at national level. The article illustrates that the impact of the Directive goes far beyond the legal changes introduced in the context of its formal transposition into national law. Another important dimension is the political impact which the Directive had on the political agenda setting and the more general discourse about minimum wages and collective bargaining at national level. The article illustrates that the Directive is indeed a game changer but that it also faces some obstacles that prevent it from realizing its full potential in ensuring adequate minimum wages and strong collective bargaining. Against this background, the article highlights the need for further supportive actions at European level in order to support and push the Member States to realize the Directive’s overarching political objectives of reducing in-work poverty and wage inequality.
This article aims to discuss the process of transposing Directive (EU) 2022/2041 of the European Parliament and of the Council on adequate minimum wages in the European Union (AMWD). The authors begin by presenting the broader context of implementation, which includes changes in the approach to worker protection in Poland and the evolution of the legal regulation of the minimum wage. They then discuss the legal framework for setting up the minimum wage and collective bargaining. This serves as a starting point for a detailed presentation of the current state of implementation of the AMWD in Poland. First, the authors discuss legislative work on the new law on the statutory minimum wage. Second, they analyze the newly enacted Law on collective agreements, which can be considered a key element in promoting collective bargaining. In summary, the authors assess the planned and implemented amendments, as well as their potential impact on the development of the minimum wage and collective relations in Poland.
This paper considers the regulatory framework on sustainable investments, i.e. consistent with so-called ESG factors, with particular regard to Italian supplementary pensions. The first part of the paper offers an overview of recent developments in the stratified European and Italian legislation, showing the high degree of detail of the disclosure obligations binding institutional investors to protect the public and in particular pension fund members. The second part of the paper delves into a specificity of the Italian legal system relating to the armaments sector: the 2025 ban on financing companies operating in the anti-personnel mine and cluster bomb sector. This ban, applicable to all Italian institutional investors and the Italian branches of institutions headquartered abroad, requires a delicate investigation and advisory activity on each share and bond held by the pension fund, as well as the those planned for acquisition. Given the vagueness of the instructions formalised by the Italian supervisory authorities, the implementation of this law appears to require a strengthening of the flow of information between the governing bodies of each pension fund and the financial manager appointed to handle the portfolio.
This paper addresses Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages in the European Union. Firstly, it stresses its general significance, as a milestone in EU social policy, which aims to strengthen the guarantees on the right to a fair and sufficient pay for a decent standard of living in every member state, by promoting collective bargaining on remunerations and adequate systems for fixing and updating minimum wages, but without imposing a uniform European minimum wage. Secondly, it comments on the Judgment of the European Court of Justice about this Directive (ECJ Judgment 11 November 2025, Case C‑19/23), which largely confirms its validity, although it annuls some concrete aspects. Finally, it analyses the implications and transposition of the Directive from the national perspective of Spain, pointing to a moderate but not worthless impact.
This paper examines the Italian legal framework concerning the employment protection of cancer patients and survivors, with particular attention to the challenges posed by discrimination and persistent cancer-related stigma in the workplace. The analysis situates the employment rights of individuals with oncological conditions within the broader context of disability and health and safety law, exploring both existing protections and recent legislative proposals aimed at extending certain rights to this group. The central objective is to assess whether the current disability law framework is adequate to safeguard the employment rights of people affected by cancer, or whether more tailored legal measures are needed. Through a critical evaluation of the strengths and limitations of existing provisions, the paper proposes recommendations to enhance the legal recognition and protection of cancer patients and survivors in the world of work.
The contribution focuses on recent legislative developments at both European and Italian level concerning corporate crisis (UE Insolvency Directive and Italian Code of business crisis and insolvency). It explores the issues that most directly affect employees involved in negotiated crisis resolution procedures and in preventive restructuring frameworks. The paper highlights the provisions that ensure a more effective protection of employees’ rights compared to those of other creditors. It also offers some critical reflections on the issue of information and consultation rights of workers’ representatives, which have not achieved significant progress under the Italian Code of Business Crisis and Insolvency.
This paper explores the challenges and limitations of trade union solidarity in Poland's automotive sector, a key export-oriented industry dominated by multinational corporations. Drawing on an analysis of the sector's structure and industrial relations, as well as selected case studies of company-level trade union practices, the authors examine the feasibility of introducing collective bargaining at a sector level in Poland. The paper highlights how organisational structures inherited from the past, employer strategies and national industrial policy all contribute to the weakness of higher-level union coordination. Despite some workplaces having a high level of unionisation, union activity remains fragmented and is embedded in corporate logics. This undermines the potential for coordinated action in response to the dual transition (green and digital) and growing global competition. The authors argue that, without systemic changes and state incentives to promote sectoral bargaining, the Polish automotive workforce risks becoming further marginalised in restructuring processes driven by external pressures.
The paper aims to examine the international principle of accessibility for persons with disabilities, emphasizing its significance in the current economic and social context. Drawing from the International and European legal provisions, the discussion focuses on the Italian case, both as a virtuous benchmark and as an effective representation of a standing framework. Set in the field of Labour Law, the issue is addressed by exacerbating the need to ensure accessibility not only in the workplaces stricto sensu, but also in the work organization as a whole, arguing that this challenge has become even more pressing in the AI era.
Foreign workers represent one of the social subjectivities most exposed to structural marginalisation and institutionalised discrimination. As highlighted by prominent legal scholarship, these individuals face a unique entanglement between housing, employment and residence permits that severely limits their fundamental rights. Indeed, adequate housing is a necessary precondition to obtain or convert a residence permit, yet the Italian legal system often sets more burdensome requirements for foreigners’ access to public housing, while the private market is marked by systemic discrimination. This paradox - where the right to housing depends on already having housing - generates a "double track" of protection that places migrant workers in a structurally subordinate position. The implications become even more critical when analysed in relation to the employer - employee dynamic: the law allows (and in some cases requires) employers to provide a housing “guarantee” for this type of workers, making them dependent on the employers not only for income but also for legal residence. Job loss, even if illegitimate, can thus undermine the right to stay in Italy, producing a dynamic of de facto domination. This study investigates the legal-sociological roots of such mechanisms - whether accidental or systemic - and will draw on both legal analysis and field research.
The contribution focuses on the pursuit of inclusive AI application that not only outweigh the risks AI poses but actively commit to workers’ well-being and to fundamental rights, such as the right not to be discriminated against, also thanks to the involvement of all stakeholders from the outset. To this end and from a labour law perspective, the essay offers a conceptualization for the notion of inclusive AI at work and provides some examples, in order to assess their legal status in the risk pyramid within the recent Regulation (EU) 2024/1689. Secondly, it analyses regulatory techniques that can be mobilized within the European legal landscape to enforce this inclusive prerogative, since they impose an active duty on the employer to prevent and remove discrimination, thereby ensuring inclusion.
The paper investigates both opportunities and challenges in the field occupational health and safety (OSH) connected to the implementation of extended reality (XR) technologies and the Metaverse in the workplace. In particular, after addressing the current definitional ambiguities related to these technologies, the analysis considers their dual role as instruments of innovation and inclusion on one hand, and as sources of new risks for OHS on the other. Special attention is paid to the phenomenon defined as “unwanted virtual interactions” in virtual reality between the employee’s and the colleagues or people outside the organization (like costumers). Considering the nature and the functioning of such technologies, the paper argues that to make really effective the employer’s preventive system the participation of all its actors is crucial and must be emphasized, especially looking at the employee.
The paper aims to analyse the new spaces that the introduction of AI opens up for worker participation within the enterprise. In particular, the paper focuses on the information and consultation rights of trade union recently introduced by national and European legal systems, with special reference to the principle of algorithmic transparency introduced by Italian law (Art. 1-bis, Legislative Decree No. 152 of May 26, 1997) and the collective information rights provided for by Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, which establishes harmonized rules on artificial intelligence, and by the Directive of the European Parliament and Council on the improvement of working conditions at work through digital platforms. Finally, the paper contains critical reflections on the aforementioned regulatory interventions and outlines possible future developments of worker participation in the company.
