Salario minimo legale: problemi e prospettive

Purpose: The article analyses the reasons behind the recent proposals for the introduction of a legal minimum wage in Italy. Methodology: The paper relies on the analysis of the evolution of legislation and jurisprudential guidelines. Findings: The A. highlights the problems that may arise from the introduction of an inter-professional legal minimum wage and proposes the adoption of more specific interventions aimed at supporting the spread of collective bargaining. Limitations and implications: The main limit is constituted by the phenomenon of irregular work, which implies the need to strengthen the supervisory activity on the respect of union minimums. Originality: The paper intends to highlight the multiplicity of causes of “working poor” and the need to avoid the claim to resolve those causes with an indistinct solution which does not take into account the specificities of each of them.