In a context of growing diffusion of the ‘working poor’ phenomenon and in the face of the approaching deadline for the transposition of the EU directive on minimum wage, it may be useful to investigate the issue of (economically) decent work in the Italian legal system. It is first of all a question of whether it is necessary to transpose the directive by law in our country, or whether such transposition appears at least useful. In the light of this, it is necessary to ask ourselves about the state of the art on the subject: from the effectiveness of the legislation referring to the wages envisaged by the leading collective bargaining agreements to the role of jurisprudence on just pay up to the proposals for a law on the minimum wage. The topic intertwines that of the uncontrolled proliferation of collective bargaining agreements in the various production categories