Labour Law (ADVANCED)

The labour market is undergoing profound transformations thanks to new technologies applied to production: think of autonomous robots able to adapt their behaviour according to previous experiences; the Internet of things that allows - through the insertion of microprocessors - to make parts of the physical world interacting with each other - machinery, semi-finished products, products - and to provide information to the workers during the execution of the activity; the electronic devices to simulate the performance of the product before its actual realization. These new technologies are profoundly changing the way companies organise and produce and consequently also the way they work: on the one hand the workers' skills are changing, on the other hand the way the employer directs and controls them are changing too.
It is therefore a question of whether the traditional categories and the protections provided for the worker (case in point, remuneration, working hours, health and safety protection, etc.) are adequate to protect him/her in this new scenario. So the problem to face nowadays is which discipline is therefore applicable today to the "new workers" employed in smart factories? What rights do these "new workers" claim? In this scenario, a lunge will be dedicated to work via platform, in the two variants of crowdwork (the most striking example of which is Amazon Turk) and work via app (such as Foodora or Uber). How to frame these forms of work? What safeguards should be given to workers (minimum wages, working hours, health and safety protection, limits to employer control)?
Finally, on the Labour Law front, too, the "new jobs" pose problems: how can the trade union protect workers dispersed throughout the territory, connected only by means of separate and isolated IT tools, whose performance is characterised by strong autonomy?
Analytical programme
The topics deal with in the course are the following:
- work in the "Gig economy" in Italy and abroad: the so-called crowd-work (Amazon Mechanical Turk) and platform work (Foodora cases; Deliveroo; Uber etc.), with particular reference to the qualification of the relationship, the minimum wage, union representation and security.
- "Industry 4.0": study of new organisational models (Eurovetro case), role of the collective agreement, training and variable pay.
- evolution of traditional powers in the light of technological and regulatory developments: the new rules of the employer's ius variandi and the balance between the worker's power of remote control and privacy following the Jobs Act.
- agile work: the right to disconnection and security of smart-workers.
- technological innovation and discipline of dismissal for economic reasons.
Any programs for the integration of the exam in the transition from the three-year period to Law or specific programs for Erasmus students should be agreed with the professor during the course.