On 11 July the conversion law of the Growth Decree which, among other things, introduced on an experimental basis, for the years 2019 and 2020, a new tool for managing the processes of reindustrialization and corporate reorganization of companies with over a thousand workers, called "expansion contract“, surpassing the “solidarity agreement“ provided for by the provision of the 2015 job act, which redefined the matter of social safety nets.
To activate this type of new contract, a structural modification of the company processes is necessary, in whole or in part, aimed at the progress and technological development of the activity, as well as the consequent need to modify the professional skills in the workforce through their more rational use , even with adequate training, and in any case to provide for the hiring of new professionals.
In this case, a consultation procedure must be initiated in the government aimed at stipulating an expansion contract with the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies and with the comparatively most representative trade unions at national level or with their company representatives or with the union representation unitary.
The expansion contract is of a managerial nature and must include the following actions:
- L ' permanent employment of new workers
- the reduction of working hours of the personnel in service, with intervention of the extraordinary redundancy fund, notwithstanding the limits of the law (a return to the cig notwithstanding ancient memory), for a period not exceeding 18 months, even non-continuous
- L 'incentive exodus of personnel who are no more than 60 months from obtaining the right to an old-age pension, provided they have accrued the minimum contribution requirement, or to an early pension, excluding the Quota 100 pension.
The expansion contract must also contain:
a) the number of workers to be hired and an indication of the related professional profiles compatible with the reindustrialization or reorganization plans
b) the time schedule of recruitments
c) indication of the indefinite duration of employment contracts, including any professional apprenticeship contracts
d) with regard to the professionalism in the workforce, the overall average reduction in working hours and the number of workers involved, as well as the number of workers who can access the above-mentioned incentive scheme
In particular, the reduction in working hours for workers who remain in service cannot exceed a total of 30 percent of the daily, weekly or monthly hours of the workers involved in the expansion contract.
However, there is still the possibility for each worker to agree on the percentage reduction in working hours, where necessary, up to 100 per cent over the entire period of the stipulated expansion contract.
The new type of contract, currently in an experimental phase, is financed within a spending limit of 15,7 million euros for 2019 and 31,8 million euros for 2020.
Moreover, the expansive solidarity contracts in place before the change made by the new legislation continue to produce effects until their natural expiry, as well as the related concessions.
Lastly, recourse to the aforementioned incentivized redundancy entails, in the event of dismissal not opposed by the worker and subject to his explicit consent, the recognition, paid by the employer, for the entire period up to the achievement of the first right to a pension, of an indemnity monthly, including the NASpI, commensurate with the gross pension accrued by the worker at the time of termination of the relationship, as calculated by INPS.
If the first right to a pension is that of an early pension, the employer will however have to pay the social security contributions useful for obtaining the right, with the exclusion of the period already covered by the notional contribution following the termination of the employment relationship.
