Employment relations in micro and small enterprises - Literature review : Country profile: Italy

In the past attention has been paid to industrial relationships in micro and small firms both in analytical and trade union-political terms. Since the first achievement of the phenomenon of the micro and small firms, during the ‘70s, there was the idea that the firm was a “place without rules” in which workers’ exploitation and non-compliance with fiscal and work regularisation laws were predominant. Such negative idea of smallfirms emerged mainly from the belief of the “superiority of the large firm of mass production”, so that small firms had to adapt to the conditions and industrial relationships of large companies. This literature review traces the evolution of industrial relationships in the 1990s, and examines small business in Italy, including issues of collective representation and bargaining, working and employment conditions, arbitration procedures, size and sector considerations. It concludes with policy implications.