Safety at work: here is the points-based driving licence

“There is a credit-based license, but the life of a worker is worth 20 credits: you can work with 15 and 5 can be recovered with a training course.” Pierpaolo Bombardieri, secretary of Uil, confirms the opinion on the regulations regarding safety at work after the launch of the government decree which also includes the points-based driving license for businesses and private individuals. «Although some of our proposals have been accepted, there is still a long way to go. If this continues to be the method, if they continue to convene us shortly before the Council of Ministers, if they keep the tables with the unions and with the companies separate, we are not there. It is said that this theme should unite: we do not understand, then, why the two meetings took place separately.”

Points licence

From October, companies will have to have a sort of credit report card. It starts with 30 and it works like a points-based driving licence. This applies to companies and self-employed workers working on construction sites. The license is issued by the National Labor Inspectorate after registration with the Chamber of Commerce. Companies must fulfill training obligations. They must have the Durc, Single Document of Fiscal Regularity.

To operate you need to have at least fifteen points. There is no work below 15 credits and there are administrative sanctions from 6 thousand to 12 thousand euros. Points are deducted when workplace safety rules are violated. Minus 20 points in case of death of the worker, minus 15 for a permanent incapacity for work, minus 10 credits for a temporary incapacity.

A ban has been introduced for companies that have committed serious violations from participating in public tenders for up to five years. Companies that are not in compliance are deprived of the tax benefits which return upon regularisation. More checks will be carried out to understand whether the cost of labor is adequate for that of the contract. The sanctions, including criminal ones, also increase for gangmastering, also reported through the imam of Florence in the case of the Esselunga construction site, and illegal work, and more severe sanctions, including criminal ones, to limit gangmastering and illegal employment which would concern around 3 million people.

Points are deducted when workplace safety rules are violated. Minus 20 points in the event of the worker's death, with possible suspension of activity for one year, minus 15 for permanent incapacity for work, minus 10 credits for temporary incapacity. “After 16 years we are introducing the points-based license which we will develop with the support of the social partners and construction trade organisations, with the aim of growing this path and introducing other activities” said the Minister of Labor and Social Policies , Marina Calderone. The points can be recovered with training courses and will increase up to 10 more for those who respect the rules, a point contested by the unions.

Economic treatment no less than that provided for by the national collective agreements most widely applied in the sector covered by the contract must be applied to procurement and subcontracting personnel. Labor Minister Marina Calderone indicated the hypothesis of reintroducing “the criminal offense for the illicit interposition of labour”. The decriminalization dates back to 2016. The government note after the Council of Ministers indicates «provisions of a repressive nature (criminal sanctions – in place of administrative sanctions, the result of a previous decriminalization, for cases of fraudulent hiring of workers, illicit use of workers , abusive administration with exploitation of minors”.

Hiring

Measures to strengthen labor inspection personnel (National Labor Inspectorate, Carabinieri Unit, INPS and INAIL) for checks relating to health and safety in the workplace have been included. For the unions it is a limited number. Another 766 labor inspectors are arriving: 466 hires that will be released, based on an old competition, and 300 new hires.