DIRITTO E POLITICA DEI TRASPORTI (ISSN 2612-5056), II/2022, p. 161 – 173
Abstract
The limits to the autonomy of the social partners in the determination of the composition of holiday pay.
This article aims to analyze a recent Corte di Cassazione case concerning the autonomy of the social
partners in the determination of the composition of the remuneration due during the annual paid leave. A
clause of the national collective agreement of the air transport sector that excluded from the composition of
the remuneration the variable supplementary payments which are linked to the time spent flying was
declared null by the Tribunale di Civitavecchia. The Court upholds the declaration of nullity in relation to
the minimum period required by art.7 of the Directive 2000/79/CE and overturns the decision of the lower
Court regarding the days of annual paid leave that go beyond the minimum requirements laid down in that
Directive, and therefore are governed by Italian law. The decision clarifies that the limits to collective
bargaining vary depending on the law applicable: respectively, on one side, Art. 3 directive 2000/79/CE;
and, on the other side, Art. 36, par. 3 of the Italian Constitution and Art. 2109 of the Italian codice civile.