The agreement

Employers’ organisations reach agreement on representation and fair pay: here’s what’s new

Criteria have been established to identify the collective agreement to be used as a benchmark when determining appropriate remuneration, taking into account the type of business and the sector in which it operates.

by Rome Editorial Staff

10 July 2026

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2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

The document
Supporting the country’s transformation
The work of the CNEL
Calderone: positive news for employers, first effects of the decree

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

To define agreed criteria for measuring employer representation. To enhance the transparency of collective bargaining and to identify the collective agreement to be used as a benchmark for determining the ‘fair wage’. These are the objectives of the agreement signed by fourteen employers’ organisations: AGCI, ANIA, Casartigiani, CLAAI, CNA, Confapi, Confartigianato, Confcommercio, Confcooperative, Confesercenti, Confetra, Confindustria, Confservizi – the confederation formed by Utilitalia and Asstra – and Legacoop.

The document

The document sets out the rules for determining representation for both institutional purposes and in the context of collective bargaining. In particular, it establishes the criteria for identifying the collective agreement to be used as a reference when determining appropriate remuneration, taking into account the type of undertaking and the sector in which it operates.

The agreement remains open for signature by all other employers’ organisations which, by committing to uphold the shared principles, wish to help make collective bargaining fairer, more transparent and more effective.

Supporting the country’s transformation

This is the first step on a journey that will be neither short nor easy, but which demonstrates the signatory organisations’ commitment to supporting the transformation of the country’s economic fabric through a system of industrial relations based on clear and agreed rules.

The work of the CNEL

This result was facilitated by the significant work carried out by the CNEL to reform the National Archive of Collective Labour Agreements and by the decision taken by the Government and Parliament through the ‘Primo Maggio’ decree. The measure has assigned ‘high-quality’ collective bargaining a central role in regulating key aspects of the employment relationship and, above all, in defining the appropriate pay and statutory entitlements to be granted to workers.

This initiative completes the process launched in recent years with the agreements on measuring trade union representation and, at the same time, marks the start of a new phase in industrial relations, aimed at consolidating – within a framework of clear and agreed rules – the role of the social partners and high-quality collective bargaining.

Calderone: positive news for employers, first effects of the decree

The government’s initial response came from the Minister for Labour, Marina Calderone: ‘I welcome the document signed by 14 employers’ organisations to measure their representativeness; this is a first step following the approval of the fair wage, which moves in the direction desired by the signatories from all social partners. By establishing the reference TEC, signed by the most representative social partners, we will also be able to provide a significant boost to wage growth, which has already risen faster than inflation over the last two years. This structural growth – thanks in part to the measures implemented by the Meloni government – was only temporarily halted by the energy crisis, as the OECD has also recently acknowledged. Through the ‘fair wage’ scheme, we are strengthening collective bargaining and safeguarding workers’ purchasing power.”

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