CCNL

The national, collective labour agreement – CLA (in Italian: CCNL) ASILS – AISLI – UGL

The Origins of the CCNL

ASILS (The Association of Italian Language Schools in Italy) is proud to have envisaged, created and drawn up the first CCNL (the national, collective labour agreement) for Italian language schools and to have had it finalised with the union representatives of the UGL in 2007 (one of the most representative trade unions in Italy – General Union of Labor).

At that time national labour agreements for private schools existed only for the state recognised, private schools, but were not appropriate for language schools which offered mainly short or long-term courses.

The CCNL Asils arose from the demand to have appropriate, necessary contractual conditions for the management of courses.

This decision has proven to be a strategic one, for both schools and teachers. Already in the first few years of its existence there has been a turn around with regard to the classification of teachers. The initial figure of 35% of staff classified as dependent employees and 65% classified as free-lance employees, has now moved to 65% of workers being classified as employees with 35% being classified as free-lance workers. Other positive outcomes which have emerged during this period are the lack of disputes between schools and their employees and the speed at which the CCNL can be renewed.

For this reason, the CCNL is being used as a model by other language schools, not associated with Asils or Aisli (another important association of foreign language schools in Italy).

Involvement of AISLI

From 2015 onwards, Aisli has adhered to the CCNL increasing the number of workers who benefit from it, including also schools and teachers in foreign language schools in Italy.

Like all CCNLs, the priority of our national, collective labour agreement is the regulation of relationships between teaching and non-teaching staff in private language schools and their respective employers.

The CCNL as a crucial step towards certified quality

The implementation of CCNL in our schools is synonymous with a guarantee of quality for our students. It guarantees professionalism and also correct classification of everyone who is employed in a school.

A school who decides to regulate its contractual obligations according to the CCNL, is a school who has intentionally opted for quality and therefore decided not to employ unqualified teachers and staff. A guarantee that benefits not just those working in a school, but also those who avail of its services!

Furthermore, our CCNL integrates our quality manual, which actually explores some of its aspects in more detail, by defining rights and duties of workers with regard to services offered, quality of teaching and the necessity for continuous professional development.