Disability and employee well-being in collective agreements: Practices and potential

Purpose. The article analyses the most interesting developments in Italian collective agreements for promoting the well-being of workers with disabilities. The aim is to raise awareness about and disseminate existing best practices and to identify persisting problems that need to be addressed. Design/methodology/approach. After a preliminary illustration of the key concepts concerning disability at work in the framework of international and EU law, the article seeks to investigate the solutions provided by the Italian social partners to promote the full inclusion of disabled people and to enforce national law. Findings. The interest towards disabilities and serious diseases is growing in Italian collective bargaining at both national and company level. The framework provided at the national level of course plays a crucial role, but company-level bargaining is the most effective one to address issues related to actual inclusive measures for workers with disabilities. Research limitations/implications. The results achieved thus far at the company level are still few and far between, heterogeneous, and involve a small number of large-sized companies. Originality/value. A number of collective agreements concluded at the national level are investigated, together with some pilot projects devised on the part of large-sized companies. Paper type. Research paper.