Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi easily won a confidence vote yesterday over his plans to ease rules for firms that hire temporary workers, part of a broader plan to overhaul labour regulations.

The Senate voted 158 to 122 to back Renzi, the 39-year-old ex-Florence mayor who took power from party rival Enrico Letta in February.

The confidence vote allows the government to accelerate the passage of the decree that must be approved by the lower house by May 19 to become law.

It will allow businesses to renew temporary contracts for up to 36 months without citing their motives. Currently, companies have to justify each extension beyond 12 months, a law designed to protect permanent contracts.

Because of pressure from a centre-right coalition ally, the measure was amended to permit businesses that exceed a limit on temporary contracts to 20 per cent of the total workforce to pay a fine rather than hire more permanent employees.

The measure is part of a broader revision to labour rules – called the Jobs Act – that Renzi is putting together as unemployment soars to nearly 13 per cent, its highest since the 1970s.