(The Right to) Work as Foundational Value: Italy and the Very Notion of a Constitutional Promise

Starting from the consideration that work is the foundational value of the Italian Republic, the chapter investigate the Italian Constitution, as interpreted by the Constitutional court, from the point of view of the right to work in its meaning of freedom right, social right, workers right. As freedom right of the human being in the choice of the work activity; as social right, in the sense that public authorities and the legislator must focus on the creation of the economic, social and legal conditions that will allow the employment of all those provided with the relevant work capacity; as workers’ right to protection against dismissal. From this last perspective, one can conclude that the minimum standard required by the Italian Constitution as interpreted by the Constitutional Court is one of the motivation for the dismissal as leading principle, thus allowing the legislator to opt for the co-existence of different regimes.