The great maneuvers on vouchers continue. After the words of the Minister of Labor Giuliano Poletti, who on Wednesday announced strong restrictions on the way for companies, the discussions continued between the technicians of Palazzo Chigi and the ministry to find a common position on the subject. Times shouldn't be long, given that the presentation of the unified law proposal is expected in the Labor commission in the Chamber on 8 March (although recourse to the quicker decree law is not excluded).
The Government's final proposal could avoid the referendum promoted by the CGIL (which calls for the total cancellation of the ancillary work legislation), for which a date has not yet been set. Secretary Susanna Camusso, however, underlines that the government's decision "must be consistent with the referendum question".
According to the latest rumors, here are the main points of the voucher reform:
1) Job vouchers will once again be usable almost exclusively by families for the payment of occasional services (the concept of "occasional" was canceled in 2013 by the former minister Enrico Giovannini).
2) As a result, businesses will no longer be able to use vouchers. This is a complete step back from the liberalization carried out in 2012 by the Fornero reform.
3) However, certain categories of companies could be excluded from the ban, such as those with no employees in the trade, tourism and craft sectors.
4) Other derogations should concern agriculture, especially as regards grape harvesting and seasonal harvesting.
5) The maximum income ceiling that can be received with vouchers should remain at 7 euros, but a part of the majority will fall back to 5, as it was before the Jobs Act.
