Il saggio è destinato alla pubblicazione sul volume degli Scritti in memoria del prof. Gianni Garofalo.

The essay points out the minimum wage legislation that the Renzi delegation law n. 183/2014 wants to introduce in the Italian Labour Law system. The innovation could radically change the current situation, in which collective agreements are the only source of minimum wages. In fact the law could reduce the most important function carried out by collective bargaining and limits its role in ruling Italian Industrial Relations also as a consequence of the use by the jurisprudence of art. 36 of the Constitution. A wage legislation, on the other hand, could reduce the minimum level of the salary and impose the collective agreements to follow the law, so diminishing the current remunerations which they guarantee. In addition, employers could decide not to apply the collective agreements, because the minimum wage they establish as well as the use of art. 36 of the Constitution by the jurisprudence are the fundamental mechanisms which guarantee a wide diffusion of the collective bargaining in our country. However, the essay maintains that the text of the law regarding the minimum wages does not allow it to replace the role of collective agreements, because the minimum wage legislation should intervene in the economic sector “not ruled” by collective bargaining. This means that the new law should not threaten the current function of collective agreements, and should only guarantee a minimum salary in the economic context in which collective bargaining is absent. The essay, in addition, tries to show that, even though the literal formulation of the law is ambiguous, it cannot be interpreted as being allowed to replace collective agreements in its essential role of determining the minimum wage in the economic sectors.