Il saggio riproduce, con note e aggiornamenti, la relazione tenuta al convegno “Le funzioni della retribuzione”, Università di Venezia Ca’ Foscari, 15 maggio 2026. È destinato ad essere pubblicato nell’omonimo volume, curato da Gaetano Zilio Grandi, in pubblicazione per una nuova collana di Giappichelli.

The article, which draws on the introduction to a recent conference held in Venice, examines the various theories concerning the legal functions of remuneration, both through an analysis of the specialist literature published over the past thirty-five years and by highlighting the interplay between these theories, developments in case law, and the unresolved issue of growing wage poverty in Italy. It also takes stock of the various unresolved legal issues relating to the three principal legal functions of remuneration— exchange function, social, and participatory—highlighting both the usefulness and the limitations of legislative intervention in recent years, culminating in the very recent Decree-Law No. 62/2026, converted into Law No. 112/2026, concerning “fair wages”. The latter is not regarded as a conclusive solution, precisely in light of the numerous problems that have accumulated over the years without giving rise to coherent and systematic solutions.