Il lavoro a tempo parziale tra influssi europei e ordinamento interno

The study focuses on part-time work evolution in the European and Italian systems. After a pioneering phase, the first legislative regulation in Italy, law n. 864/1983, raises a number of interpretation problems. The European System attempts to overcome the lack of a specific regulation to protect part-time work by relying on the principle of equal pay for men and women as stated by the European Court of Justice. In the end, part-time is regulated by Directive 97 /81 which, on the one hand, represents the success of the European social dialogue and, on the other hand, is one of the most important means to increase the number of women in the work market according to the European Employment Strategy. At a later stage, the law n . 61/2000 transposes the Directive into the Italian system. Since then, in a perspective of increasing part-time, some clauses in Italy undergo numerous changes which specifically range from delegation to collective bargaining and to the individual autonomy. The increased number of part-timers in recent years, partly as a result of the economic crisis, is represented by the involuntary part-timer workers, which accept contracts only in the absence of full time employment. In the end, the study anticipates future developments in part-time work regulation. More specifically, the constant tension between individual autonomy and collective bargaining, which are both crucial, should tend to a new regulative equilibrium. In addition, future advocated legislative changes related to a full right to part-time should not ignore, in a functional perspective, the harmonization with the rules regarding leaves of absences and other permitted absences.