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22 August 2024

Italy: New data sharing system to tackle labour exploitation

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The recent death of a migrant worker from India in Italy has brought to light issues of severe exploitation among migrants in the country's agricultural sector. The Ministry of Labour consequently promised new actions against labour exploitation and the illegal gang-master employment system ("caporalato")

These new actions include the development of an information system to combat caporalato in agriculture. The system will facilitate the exchange of information between state administrations and regions on caporalato in agriculture, as well as being used to reduce undeclared work in general. The system would include the following data:

  • The Ministry of Labour and Social Policies would make available the data concerning the labour relations of agricultural enterprises and the data of the Unified Labour Policy Information System concerning the agricultural labour market.
  • The Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry would make available the register of agricultural entirprises and data on their economic situation.
  • The Ministry of the Interior would make available data on residence permits issued for work purposes.
  • The INPS would share data on wages, contributions, insurance and the results of inspections on agricultural holdings.
  • The Labour Inspectorate would make available data on the results of inspections on agricultural holdings.

The union representing foreign agricultural workers declared that instead of the introduction of new laws, it should be ensured that existing laws are upheld.

According to data from the National Institute for Social Security (INPS), in 2022 third-country nationals (TCNs) comprised 12.4% of Italy's agricultural labour force. Overall, the majority of these migrants have some form of legal status in the country, including the slightly more precarious asylum seeker status. Many migrants, both those with legal status and those without, work in very difficult conditions under the caporalato system. The Osservatorio PIacido Rizzotto 2024 report on caporalato in agriculture noted that the illegal employment of migrants without legal status in Italy has decreased over the years: most of those currently now employed in this way have either a short or long term residence permit. 

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Italy
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Posted by
Ferruccio Pastore
Country Coordinator

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