Employment Relations in the Public Sector
A.Y. 2024/2025
Learning objectives
The course aims to pursue the following objectives: 1) to provide the conceptual and analytical tools for the study of employment and industrial relations in Italy and in other European countries (France, Germany, UK, Nordic Countries, others), with particular attention to their recent evolution; 2) to analyze the specificity of the regulation of labour in the public sector compared with the private sector, and to undesrtand the reasons of such specificity; within this framework, to examine also the peculiarities of labour disputes in the public services, their analytical implications and the regulatory problems they raise in Italy and other European countries; 3) to address the processes of reform of public sector employment relations that started in Italy and many European countries in the 1990s, in connection with a wider process of public sector restructuring (with some references also to extra-European countries like the USA, Japan, Australia).
Expected learning outcomes
To acquire critical mastery of the essential conceptual tools for the analysis of employment relations in Italy and in Europe, with particular reference to employment relations in the public services, and knowledge of the actors, processes and past and recent dynamics of such relations. To acquire knowledge of recent reform processes of public service employment relations in Italy and other European countries and of their shortcomings. Students will acquire the ability to use the specific terminology of employment relations research and to critically examine employment relations issues in general and specifically in the public services.
Lesson period: First trimester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
First trimester
Course syllabus
In the first part of the course, the basic notions for the analysis of the regulation of the employment relationship are presented and discussed. The primary reference is to Italy, but the main European countries will also be considered.
The topics include:
· Industrial relations: definition of the object and the field of study.
· The regulation of the employment relationship and its ambivalent relationships with the market.
· The industrial relations system: a summary scheme (actors, context, methods, rules). Industrial relations as a process.
· Organizations representing workers and employers: organizational structures and logics of representation.
· Representation and participation of workers in the workplace: different models compared.
· Collective bargaining as the main method of regulating the employment relationship: structure and dynamics in Italy and Europe.
· Concertation and social agreements. The tripartite agreement of July 1993 in Italy.
· The reform of the Italian contractual model in 2009 and recent developments. The 2014 inter-confederal agreements on representation and bargaining in the private sector.
The second part of the course examines the employment relations and personnel management in the public sector in Italy with particular reference to the reform cycles that started in the 1990s (1992-93; 1997-99; 2008-09, 2015-2017). The Italian experience will be compared with that of the main European countries (France, Germany, Great Britain).
The topics include:
· The specificity of employment relations in the public sector: historical and theoretical reasons.
· The regulation of public employment in Italy and Europe 1950-1980: from unilateral regulation to joint regulation. The Italian anomaly of the Framework Law on Public Employment no. 93/1983.
· Contextual changes in the 1980s and 1990s and new pressures for reform.
· The 'New Public Management': theoretical assumptions and implications for the regulation of public administration and public employment.
· 'Privatisation' and 'contractualisation' of public employment: the reforms of the 90s (1992-93; 1997-99), application experience and results. Comparisons with the private sector.
· The reform of the years 2008-09 ('Brunetta reform') and the Madia reform (2015-17).
· The characteristics of trade union presence in the public sector in Italy and Europe. The regulation of trade union representativeness in the Italian experience.
· Public services and 'tertiary conflict': problems of analysis and regulation. The Italian experience and other European countries.
The third part of the course aims to examine the recent trajectories of transformation of employment relationships in the context of the pressures exerted by the practices of outsourcing public services, in a comparative way, and the diffusion of professional self-employment.
The topics include:
· Professional self-employment: the dynamics and reasons for growth in the last two decades in Italy from a comparative European perspective.
· Three orders of socio-economic critical issues affecting professional self-employment in Europe. The Italian case.
· Outsourcing as an object of study and definitory aspects. Theoretical and operational profiles of New Public Management, with a specific focus on market mechanisms. Advantages and limitations of outsourcing.
· Outsourcing of public services, industrial relations, and working conditions. The convergence/divergence debate and the empirical implications in a comparative perspective. An analysis of three national cases.
The topics include:
· Industrial relations: definition of the object and the field of study.
· The regulation of the employment relationship and its ambivalent relationships with the market.
· The industrial relations system: a summary scheme (actors, context, methods, rules). Industrial relations as a process.
· Organizations representing workers and employers: organizational structures and logics of representation.
· Representation and participation of workers in the workplace: different models compared.
· Collective bargaining as the main method of regulating the employment relationship: structure and dynamics in Italy and Europe.
· Concertation and social agreements. The tripartite agreement of July 1993 in Italy.
· The reform of the Italian contractual model in 2009 and recent developments. The 2014 inter-confederal agreements on representation and bargaining in the private sector.
The second part of the course examines the employment relations and personnel management in the public sector in Italy with particular reference to the reform cycles that started in the 1990s (1992-93; 1997-99; 2008-09, 2015-2017). The Italian experience will be compared with that of the main European countries (France, Germany, Great Britain).
The topics include:
· The specificity of employment relations in the public sector: historical and theoretical reasons.
· The regulation of public employment in Italy and Europe 1950-1980: from unilateral regulation to joint regulation. The Italian anomaly of the Framework Law on Public Employment no. 93/1983.
· Contextual changes in the 1980s and 1990s and new pressures for reform.
· The 'New Public Management': theoretical assumptions and implications for the regulation of public administration and public employment.
· 'Privatisation' and 'contractualisation' of public employment: the reforms of the 90s (1992-93; 1997-99), application experience and results. Comparisons with the private sector.
· The reform of the years 2008-09 ('Brunetta reform') and the Madia reform (2015-17).
· The characteristics of trade union presence in the public sector in Italy and Europe. The regulation of trade union representativeness in the Italian experience.
· Public services and 'tertiary conflict': problems of analysis and regulation. The Italian experience and other European countries.
The third part of the course aims to examine the recent trajectories of transformation of employment relationships in the context of the pressures exerted by the practices of outsourcing public services, in a comparative way, and the diffusion of professional self-employment.
The topics include:
· Professional self-employment: the dynamics and reasons for growth in the last two decades in Italy from a comparative European perspective.
· Three orders of socio-economic critical issues affecting professional self-employment in Europe. The Italian case.
· Outsourcing as an object of study and definitory aspects. Theoretical and operational profiles of New Public Management, with a specific focus on market mechanisms. Advantages and limitations of outsourcing.
· Outsourcing of public services, industrial relations, and working conditions. The convergence/divergence debate and the empirical implications in a comparative perspective. An analysis of three national cases.
Prerequisites for admission
Basic knowledge acquired during the bachelor, preferably in social, economic, political, or legal sciences.
Teaching methods
Mainly lectures on the concepts and analytical tools of the discipline, with discussions on relevant cases or events from the Italian experience in a comparative perspective.
Teaching Resources
FIRST PART
- Bordogna L. e Pedersini R. (2019), Relazioni industriali. L'esperienza italiana nel contesto internazionale, Bologna, Il Mulino, capitoli 1-5.
Powerpoint presentations made available on MyAriel.
Documents (made available on MyAriel):
· Testo dell'Accordo tripartito del 23 luglio 1993 "Protocollo sulla politica dei redditi e dell'occupazione, sugli assetti contrattuali, sulle politiche del lavoro e sul sostegno al sistema produttivo"
· Testi dell'accordo quadro 'separato' sulla riforma del modello contrattuale del 22 gennaio 2009 e dell'Accordo interconfederale Confindustria del 14 aprile 2009.
· Testo dell'Accordo interconfederale del 28 giugno 2011
· Testo unico sulla rappresentanza Confindustria-Cgil, Cisl, Uil del 10 gennaio 2014.
SECOND PART
- Bordogna L. e Pedersini R. (2019), Relazioni industriali. L'esperienza italiana nel contesto internazionale, Bologna, Il Mulino, capitolo 7.
- Bach S., Bordogna L. (eds) (2016) Public Service Management and Employment Relations in Europe. Emerging from the Crisis, London: Routledge, capitoli 1 (introduzione) e 4 (caso italiano)
Powerpoint presentations made available on MyAriel.
Documents (made available on MyAriel):
· Decreto legislativo 165/2001
· Legge 15/2009
· Decreto legislativo 150/2009
· Legge 146/1990
THIRD PART
· Semenza R. e Mori A. (2018), La crescita del lavoro autonomo e le nuove sfide sociali. In Zilio Grandi G. e Biasi M. (a cura di), Commentario breve allo statuto del lavoro autonomo e del lavoro agile, pp. 13-25, Milano: CEDAM - Wolters Kluwer.
· Mori A. e Semenza R. (2018), Il lavoro autonomo professionale, le sfide e le risposte istituzionali in Europa. In Perulli A. (a cura di), Lavoro autonomo e capitalismo delle piattaforme, pp. 81-114., Milano: CEDAM - Wolters Kluwer.
· Hood C. (1991), A Public Management for All Seasons?, Public Administration, 69(1): 3-19.
· Mori A. (2017), The impact of public services outsourcing for work and employment conditions: the mediating effect of national regimes, European Journal of Industrial Relations, 23(4): 347 -364.
· Bach S. and Bordogna L. (2011), Varieties of new public management or alternative models? The reform of public service employment relations in industrialized democracies, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(11): 2281-2294.
Powerpoint presentations made available on MyAriel.
- Bordogna L. e Pedersini R. (2019), Relazioni industriali. L'esperienza italiana nel contesto internazionale, Bologna, Il Mulino, capitoli 1-5.
Powerpoint presentations made available on MyAriel.
Documents (made available on MyAriel):
· Testo dell'Accordo tripartito del 23 luglio 1993 "Protocollo sulla politica dei redditi e dell'occupazione, sugli assetti contrattuali, sulle politiche del lavoro e sul sostegno al sistema produttivo"
· Testi dell'accordo quadro 'separato' sulla riforma del modello contrattuale del 22 gennaio 2009 e dell'Accordo interconfederale Confindustria del 14 aprile 2009.
· Testo dell'Accordo interconfederale del 28 giugno 2011
· Testo unico sulla rappresentanza Confindustria-Cgil, Cisl, Uil del 10 gennaio 2014.
SECOND PART
- Bordogna L. e Pedersini R. (2019), Relazioni industriali. L'esperienza italiana nel contesto internazionale, Bologna, Il Mulino, capitolo 7.
- Bach S., Bordogna L. (eds) (2016) Public Service Management and Employment Relations in Europe. Emerging from the Crisis, London: Routledge, capitoli 1 (introduzione) e 4 (caso italiano)
Powerpoint presentations made available on MyAriel.
Documents (made available on MyAriel):
· Decreto legislativo 165/2001
· Legge 15/2009
· Decreto legislativo 150/2009
· Legge 146/1990
THIRD PART
· Semenza R. e Mori A. (2018), La crescita del lavoro autonomo e le nuove sfide sociali. In Zilio Grandi G. e Biasi M. (a cura di), Commentario breve allo statuto del lavoro autonomo e del lavoro agile, pp. 13-25, Milano: CEDAM - Wolters Kluwer.
· Mori A. e Semenza R. (2018), Il lavoro autonomo professionale, le sfide e le risposte istituzionali in Europa. In Perulli A. (a cura di), Lavoro autonomo e capitalismo delle piattaforme, pp. 81-114., Milano: CEDAM - Wolters Kluwer.
· Hood C. (1991), A Public Management for All Seasons?, Public Administration, 69(1): 3-19.
· Mori A. (2017), The impact of public services outsourcing for work and employment conditions: the mediating effect of national regimes, European Journal of Industrial Relations, 23(4): 347 -364.
· Bach S. and Bordogna L. (2011), Varieties of new public management or alternative models? The reform of public service employment relations in industrialized democracies, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(11): 2281-2294.
Powerpoint presentations made available on MyAriel.
Assessment methods and Criteria
Exam: written, for attending and non-attending students on the same texts and materials. The test consists of 18 true/false questions (0.5 points per question for a maximum of 9 points) and 3 open-ended questions out of 6 (maximum of 7 points per question, for a maximum of 21 points).
The exam lasts 75 minutes and aims at ascertaining the learning of the concepts and analytical tools of the discipline, and the ability to apply them to concrete cases referring to the Italian or comparative experience. The test focuses on the topics covered during the lectures, the reference texts, and the materials presented during the lectures and made available to students on MyAriel.
The exam lasts 75 minutes and aims at ascertaining the learning of the concepts and analytical tools of the discipline, and the ability to apply them to concrete cases referring to the Italian or comparative experience. The test focuses on the topics covered during the lectures, the reference texts, and the materials presented during the lectures and made available to students on MyAriel.
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Professor(s)