The National Labor Inspectorate, with note 713 of 16 September 2020, provides the interregional and territorial labor inspectorates with an initial illustration of the rules and operational indications concerning the provisions of the Decree-Law of 14 August 2020, n. 104, so-called “August Decree”, concerning:
- the contribution exemption for companies that do not use the new Covid-19 wage integration provided for by the same Decree
- the contribution exemption for permanent employment
- term contracts
- the blocking of collective and individual dismissals for justified objective reasons
- the suspension of compulsory collections
Exemption dal payment of social security contributions for companies that don't require redundancy payments
Private companies, with the exception of the agricultural sector, which do not require the additional weeks of wage integration and which have already used the treatments provided for in the previous emergency decrees in the months of May and June, are granted an exemption from the payment of contributions, without prejudice to the obligation to pay premiums and contributions to INAIL, for a maximum period of 4 months, which can be used by 31 December next for a number of hours double that used pursuant to the previous emergency legislation.
This possibility is also recognized to companies admitted to the CIG pursuant to the "Cura Italia" Law Decree and which have benefited from periods of wage integration, albeit partial, after 12 July. The facilitation is also conditional on compliance with the prohibition of dismissals envisaged by the same "August" Decree.
In the note, the National Inspectorate underlines that, where the violation of the prohibition of collective and individual dismissals is found, the revocation of the contribution exemption is ordered with retroactive effect and the presentation of the application for cig treatments is precluded. The benefit can also be combined with other exemptions or reductions in loan rates envisaged by current legislation, within the limits of the social security contribution due.
This benefit is also included in the sphere of state aid and requires, for the purposes of the effectiveness of the provision which provides for it, the authorization of the European Commission pursuant to the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union.
Exemption from payment of social security contributions for permanent employment
The provision provides that until 31 December 2020, employers, excluding the agricultural sector, who, after the entry into force of the Decree Law in question, hire permanent employees, except for apprenticeship contracts and domestic work contracts, total exemption from the payment of social security contributions due to them is recognized, with the exclusion of premiums and contributions due to INAIL, for a maximum period of 6 months starting from hiring.
The exemption is recognized up to a maximum limit of 8060,00 euros on an annual basis, recalculated and applied on a monthly basis. Employers cannot enjoy this benefit in relation to workers who have had a permanent contract with the same company in the 6 months preceding the hiring, while it is possible to use it in the case of transformation of the fixed-term contract into a permanent contract .
The benefit is not expressly identified as "state aid", therefore it is not subject to the prior authorization of the European Commission.
Term contracts
Until 31 December 2020 it is possible to extend or renew fixed-term contracts for a maximum period of 12 months and only once, in any case in compliance with the maximum term of 24 months, without the need to enter the reason and by way of derogation from the provisions regarding extensions and renewals.
The provision therefore allows the derogation from the discipline on the maximum number of extensions and on compliance with the so-called "detachment periods" contained in the Jobs Act. It follows that, where the relationship has already been subject, for example, to 4 extensions, it is still possible further extend its duration for a maximum of 12 months, just as it is possible to renew it, even before the expiry of the "detachment" between one CT and another, in any case respecting the maximum duration of 24 months.
The provision of a maximum duration of 12 months for the extension or "facilitated" renewal leads the National Inspectorate to argue that the deadline of 31 December 2020 refers exclusively to the formalization of the same extension or renewal. The employment relationship may therefore also continue during 2021, without prejudice to the overall limit of 24 months.
The Inspectorate also clarifies that the provision in question, as it "replaces" the previous regulation, allows for the adoption of the new extension or "facilitated" renewal even when the same employment relationship has been extended or renewed in application of the Decree Law " Relaunch”, obviously always in compliance with the maximum limit of 24 months.
Finally, the "August" Decree Law repealed the automatic extension of the existing CTs for a period equivalent to the suspension of work activity caused by the Covid-19 emergency.
In this regard, the National Inspectorate specified, in its note, that the automatic extension used in the period of the same (from 18 July to 14 August) should be considered "neutral" in relation to the task of the maximum duration of 24 months of the fixed-term contract.
Blocking of collective and individual dismissals for justified objective reason
The initiation of collective dismissal procedures for personnel reductions, pursuant to law 223/91, is forbidden for five months following the entry into force of the "Cura Italia" Decree-Law and those started from 23 February and pending as of 17 March 2020. A similar form of prohibition and suspension of procedures applies to individual dismissals for justified objective reasons.
The "August" Decree-Law in fact extends the prohibition and suspension of dismissals in relation to the following cases:
- employers who have not fully benefited from the cig referred to in the same August Decree
- employers who have not fully benefited from the exemption from paying social security contributions.
The regulation also confirms the exclusion of the prohibition for dismissals due to contract changes and also excludes from foreclosures and suspensions:
- dismissals motivated by the definitive cessation of the company's activity, consequent to the liquidation of the company without continuation, even partial, of the activity, in the event that during the course of the liquidation the transfer of a complex of assets or activities does not take place that may configure a transfer of a company or a branch of it pursuant to art. 2112 of the Civil Code
- or in the case of a company agreement, stipulated with the comparatively most representative trade unions at national level, on an incentive plan limited to workers who adhere to the agreed termination of the employment relationship
- dismissals ordered in the event of bankruptcy, when the provisional exercise of the company is not envisaged, i.e. when the cessation of the activity is ordered. In the event that provisional operation is ordered for a specific company branch, redundancies relating to sectors not included in the same are excluded from the prohibition.
Finally, the provision, already present in the previous emergency legislation, regarding the possibility for the employer, regardless of the number of employees, to revoke the withdrawal from the employment contract for justified objective reasons, by way of derogation from the law, provided that at the same time ask us for a cig for Covid-19, starting from the date on which the dismissal takes effect. In such cases, the employment relationship is restored without interruption and the employer is exempt from charges and penalties.
This provision, previously limited to redundancies made in the period from 23 February to 17 March, is extended to terminations made throughout the year 2020.
Except for any changes that may occur during the conversion of the decree law, the prohibition of dismissal, as a measure of employment levels during the emergency period, therefore appears to operate due to the sole fact that the company has not exhausted the plafond of available CIG hours and this both when he has only partially benefited from them, and when he has not used the cig at all.
In the latter case, where the employer has not decided to benefit from the cig, the dismissal would still be prevented by the possibility of accessing the exemption from the payment of contributions for not having requested the cig.
Extension enforced collection
The deadline for payments deriving from payment notices issued by collection agents, as well as executive assessment notices issued by the Revenue Agency and debit notices issued by social security institutions has been further deferred to 15 October 2020. Suspended payments must be carried out in a single solution within the month following the end of the suspension period, i.e. by 30 November.
In relation to this latter provision, the National Inspectorate underlines the need for the Offices to proceed, in any case, with the formation of roles and entrusting them to the Revenue-Collection Agency, favoring, as usual, credits that are closer to the prescription.
Also included in the suspension are notifications of new folders and the dispatch of other collection deeds. The suspension also concerns the possibility for the Revenue-Collection Agency to initiate precautionary and executive actions, such as administrative stops, mortgages and foreclosures.
Finally, there are also postponements for the payment of the installments of the deferment plans due between 8 March and 15 October 2020. Interested parties must make the payments by 30 November 2020.
