After a gestation that lasted about three years, today the Senate gives the definitive green light to the "Jobs Act of VAT numbers". It is a statute that for the first time will recognize the two and a half million Italian self-employed workers with rights such as maternity, illness, pregnancy and more. Here are the main news.
PAYMENTS
The clauses with which the client unilaterally changes the conditions of the contract are considered abusive, as are those which provide for payments beyond 60 days. Furthermore, it will no longer be possible to refuse to conclude the contract in writing.
MATERNITY
For those enrolled in the INPS separate management, parental leave increases from 3 to 6 months and must be used within the first three years of the child's life (no longer just one). Furthermore, during maternity leave it will be possible to receive the allowance while continuing to work, because compulsory abstention is not triggered.
ILLNESS OR INJURY
In the event of illness or accident, upon request by the interested party, the service can be suspended for 150 days (unless the client's interest ceases to exist). Furthermore, the payment of contributions can be interrupted for up to 2 years and the repayment can be made in monthly installments.
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT BECOMES PERMANENT
The Dis-Coll unemployment allowance becomes a permanent institution for workers with a co.co.co contract registered in the separate INPS management, not retired and without a VAT number. From 1 July 2017, the same allowance is also extended to research fellows and PhD students with scholarships.
AGILE WORK: THIS IS WHAT IT IS
The law defines for the first time in Italy the concept of "smart-working", or agile work. This is the flexible method of carrying out the subordinate employment relationship, which must take place partly inside the company premises and partly outside, without a fixed workstation and within the limits of maximum working hours.
In terms of salary, the "smart workers" will have to earn like colleagues who perform the same tasks exclusively within the company.
Furthermore, second thoughts are allowed: the transition to agile working can be resolved unilaterally by both parties, provided that notice is given. In this case, the work performance returns to the ordinary time and place modalities.
TRAINING EXPENSES DEDUCTIBLE
Expenses may be fully deducted for:
– masters, training courses and conferences within an annual ceiling of 10 thousand euros;
– personalized services for the certification of skills, guidance, research and support for self-entrepreneurship within an annual ceiling of 5 euros.
ASSOCIATIONS TO PARTICIPATE IN TENDER
The self-employed will be able to join networks, consortia or associated forms to access calls for tenders to participate with fewer constraints in the award of private contracts.
