Minimum wage could spur irregular employment - Cgia

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 8 - The introduction of a minimum wage in Italy could increase irregular employment particularly in those production sectors where wages are significantly lower than the nine euros gross per hour set out in a new bill presented by opposition parties, the association of artisans and small businesses Cgia said on Saturday.
    The sectors most at risk are agriculture, domestic work, and some service sectors, added Cgia.
    Faced with the obligation to adjust salaries upwards, the association said it cannot be ruled out that some employers might be tempted to dismiss staff or reduce their hours and then "force" them to work off the books.
    Such practices would allow many businesses to contain costs and not disappear from the market.
    Cgia said Italy's southern regions, which already have a large black economy and account for 38% of all irregular workers in the country, would be most at risk.
    Earlier this month opposition parties registered a joint bill in the Lower House providing for a guaranteed minimum wage of nine euros per hour and for temporary benefits in the 2024 budget law to accompany the adjustment in the event of lower wages under collective sectoral agreements.
    "The need for an intervention to guarantee adequate earnings for workers, especially those in conditions of poverty in part because of inflation, is a representative element of our election manifestos," said a statement by ex-premier and M5S leader Giuseppe Conte, Pd secretary Elly Schlein, Nicola Fratoianni of SI, Matteo Richetti of Action, Angelo Bonelli of the Greens and Riccardo Magi of +Europa.
    Photo: Centre-left opposition Democratic Party (Pd) secretary Elly Schlein, one of the proponents of the introduction of a minimum wage in Italy. (ANSA).