Country report, Gender equality, How are EU rules transposed into national law? Italy

CONTENTS 1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 5 1.1 Basic structure of the national legal system ............................................. 5 1.2 List of main legislation transposing and implementing the directives ........... 6 1.3 Sources of law ..................................................................................... 7 1.4 Main surveys, reports on gender equality and other issues ........................ 8 2 General legal framework ........................................................................... 11 2.1 Constitution ....................................................................................... 11 2.2 Equal treatment legislation .................................................................. 11 3 Implementation of central concepts .......................................................... 13 3.1 Sex/gender/transgender ..................................................................... 13 3.2 Direct sex discrimination ..................................................................... 14 3.3 Indirect sex discrimination ................................................................... 15 3.4 Multiple discrimination and intersectional discrimination .......................... 16 3.5 Positive action .................................................................................... 19 3.6 Harassment and sexual harassment ...................................................... 22 3.7 Instruction to discriminate ................................................................... 24 3.8 Other forms of discrimination ............................................................... 24 3.9 Evaluation of implementation ............................................................... 25 3.10 Remaining issues................................................................................ 26 4 Equal pay and equal treatment at work (Article 157 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and Recast Directive 2006/54) .................................................................................................................. 27 4.1 General (legal) context ....................................................................... 27 4.2 Equal pay .......................................................................................... 28 4.3 Access to work, working conditions and dismissal ................................... 32 4.4 Evaluation of implementation ............................................................... 36 4.5 Remaining issues................................................................................ 38 5 Work-life balance issues: pregnancy, maternity, family-related leave and flexible working arrangements (Directive 92/85, relevant provisions of Directives 2006/54, and Directive 2019/1158) ........................................ 40 5.1 General (legal) context ....................................................................... 40 5.2 Pregnancy and maternity protection ..................................................... 42 5.3 Maternity leave .................................................................................. 47 5.4 Paternity leave ................................................................................... 50 5.5 Adoption leave ................................................................................... 52 5.6 Parental leave .................................................................................... 53 5.7 Child-related leave in relation to surrogacy ............................................ 58 5.8 Carers’ leave ...................................................................................... 58 5.9 Time off for force majeure ................................................................... 60 5.10 Flexible working time arrangements (FWAs) .......................................... 61 5.11 Evaluation of implementation ............................................................... 62 5.12 Remaining issues................................................................................ 65 6 Occupational social security schemes (Chapter 2 of Directive 2006/54) ... 67 6.1 General (legal) context ....................................................................... 67 6.2 Direct and indirect discrimination ......................................................... 67 6.3 Personal scope ................................................................................... 67 6.4 Material scope .................................................................................... 67 6.5 Exclusions ......................................................................................... 68 6.6 Laws and case law falling under the examples of sex discrimination mentioned in Article 9 of Directive 2006/54 ........................................... 68 6.7 Actuarial factors ................................................................................. 68 6.8 Difficulties ......................................................................................... 69 6.9 Evaluation of implementation ............................................................... 69 6.10 Remaining issues................................................................................ 69 7 Statutory schemes of social security (Directive 79/7) .............................. 70 7.1 General (legal) context ....................................................................... 70 Country report - gender equality – Italy - 2024 4 7.2 Implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security ..................................................................... 71 7.3 Personal scope ................................................................................... 73 7.4 Material scope .................................................................................... 73 7.5 Exclusions ......................................................................................... 73 7.6 Actuarial factors ................................................................................. 73 7.7 Difficulties ......................................................................................... 73 7.8 Evaluation of implementation ............................................................... 73 7.9 Remaining issues................................................................................ 74 8 Self-employed workers (Directive 2010/41/EU and some relevant provisions of the Recast Directive) ............................................................ 75 8.1 Implementation of Directive 2010/41/EU ............................................... 75 8.2 Personal scope ................................................................................... 75 8.3 Material scope .................................................................................... 76 8.4 Positive action .................................................................................... 76 8.5 Social protection ................................................................................ 77 8.6 Maternity benefits .............................................................................. 77 8.7 Occupational social security ................................................................. 79 8.8 Prohibition of discrimination ................................................................. 79 8.9 Evaluation of implementation ............................................................... 79 8.10 Remaining issues................................................................................ 80 9 Goods and services (Directive 2004/113) ................................................. 81 9.1 General (legal) context ....................................................................... 81 9.2 Prohibition of direct and indirect discrimination ...................................... 81 9.3 Material scope .................................................................................... 81 9.4 Exceptions ......................................................................................... 81 9.5 Justification of differences in treatment ................................................. 82 9.6 Actuarial factors ................................................................................. 82 9.7 Interpretation of exception contained in Article 5(2) of Directive 2004/113 82 9.8 Positive action measures (Article 6 of Directive 2004/113)....................... 82 9.9 Specific problems related to pregnancy, maternity or parenthood ............. 82 9.10 Evaluation of implementation ............................................................... 82 9.11 Remaining issues................................................................................ 83 10 Violence against women and domestic violence in relation to the Istanbul Convention ................................................................................................ 84 10.1 General (legal) context ....................................................................... 84 10.2 Ratification of the Istanbul Convention .................................................. 91 11 Compliance and enforcement aspects (horizontal provisions of all directives) ................................................................................................. 92 11.1 General (legal) context ....................................................................... 92 11.2 Victimisation ...................................................................................... 92 11.3 Access to courts ................................................................................. 92 11.4 Horizontal effect of the applicable law ................................................... 93 11.5 Burden of proof .................................................................................. 93 11.6 Remedies and sanctions ...................................................................... 94 11.7 Equality body ..................................................................................... 95 11.8 Social partners ................................................................................... 96 11.9 Other relevant bodies ......................................................................... 96 11.10 Evaluation of implementation ............................................................... 96 11.11 Remaining issues................................................................................ 97 12 Overall assessment ................................................................................... 99 Bibliography .................................................................................................... 107