Article
Legislative Decree n. 22/2015, article 8; Legislative Decree n. 148/2015; Legislative Decree n. 150/2015; Decree law n. 109/2018, article 44; Decree law n. 4/2019 articles 1-13; Law Decree No. 73 of 25 May 2021; Law No. 178 of 30 December 2020, Law no. 234 of 30 December 2021, Law no. 234 of 30 December 2021
Description
In Italy, there are different forms of intervention to support workers involved in corporate reorganisation processes.
Some of these interventions relate to the protection of income and can be referred to with the broad label of 'social shock absorbers'. Some of them protect workers' income within a still existing employment relationship and aim at guaranteeing income in the event of a temporary suspension of work. These are:
- the Ordinary Wage Guarantee Fund (CIGO) which can be activated in case of suspension of, or reduction in, work activities due to temporary events that cannot be ascribed to the company. The maximum duration of benefits is 13 weeks, which can be extended up to 52 weeks. The 2022 Budget Law introduced no major changes to CIGO but clarified aspects regarding territorial organisation and INPS competence.
- the Extraordinary Wage Guarantee Fund (CIGS) which can be activated for one of the following reasons:
- business restructuring for a maximum period of 24 months (not necessarily consecutive) over a five-year period (to be counted from the date when such payment begins),
- business crisis for a maximum of 12 months, and
- solidarity contracts for a maximum time span of 24 months (not necessarily consecutive), which can be extended up to 36 months (see below). The 2022 Budget Law brought broad changes to CIGS, including the expansion of the pool of employers, the inclusion of new reasons such as "company reorganisation", and changes to the provisions related to the reorganisation programme.
- solidarity contracts which are agreements concluded with the unions, mainly aimed at avoiding, in whole or in part, staff reductions through a shared reduction of working time (cut in average by up to 60%, and no more than 70% for each involved worker). The solidarity contracts can also be entered in a view to increase the staff, by accompanying the reduction of working time with the hiring of new employees on an open-ended basis (the so-called 'expansive solidarity contracts');
- solidarity funds which are set up through collective bargaining agreements concluded between union associations and employer organisations, with the view to protect workers who are not covered by either CIGO or CIGS and to support employers averagely employing more than five employees. From 1 January 2022, the establishment of new funds for employers outside of CIGO is foreseen. These funds must guarantee protections for all employers in the sector employing at least 1 worker. For Funds existing as of 31 December 2021, a transitional period of adjustment to the new provisions has been set.
Wage Guarantee Funds were largely reformed by legislative decree 148/2015, one of the decrees implementing the so-called Jobs Act which has, among other things, eliminated the possibility of using the CIGS in cases of cessation of the company's production activity or of a branch of it, then reintroduced in 2018 by Decree law 109/2018.
The 2022 Budget Law (Law no. 234 of 30 December 2021) has introduced various changes in terms of wage integration treatments:
- Application Timing: The innovations take effect for requests beginning the reduction/suspension of activity from 1 January 2022. They do not apply to reductions initiated in 2021, even if continued into 2022.
- Beneficiaries of Integrations: The pool of beneficiaries has been expanded to include home workers and apprentices. The minimum work seniority to access integration has been reduced from 90 to 30 days.
- Amount of Treatments: A maximum figure has been introduced (€1,199.72 for 2021) which will be updated annually according to ISTAT indices.
- Disbursement and Reimbursement: Specific terms have been set for the transmission of data for payment. If not complied with, the expenses are borne by the employer.
- Employee Calculation: All workers, including managers, apprentices, and home workers, must be included in the company size calculation.
- Compatibility with Other Work Activities: Changes to the conditions regulating the compatibility of wage integration treatment with other work activities have been made.
A second programme of interventions, which can be defined as protection within the labour market, is aimed at guaranteeing income in the event of unemployment. These instruments are:
- the New Social Insurance for Employment (NASPI)
- the Dis-Coll, intended for pare-subordinate workers
- the citizenship income
As part of the reforms implemented by the Jobs Act and the reorganisation of the social shock absorber instruments, the legislator has strongly emphasised the so-called active labour market policies, i.e. all those measures aimed at fostering the reintegration of the unemployed into the labour market, also by introducing a series of conditionality mechanisms aimed at subordinating the recognition and maintenance of subsidies to a specific active behaviour of the worker. For example, the new system establishes that the unemployed worker agrees with the public employment centres a series of commitments aimed at strengthening his/her professional skills and facilitating the search for a new job. In the event that the beneficiary does not comply with these commitments, the benefit is reduced or even suspended.
Legislative Decree n. 150/2015 reformed the overall organisation of public labour services and active labour market policies, setting up the National Agency for Active Labour Market Policies (ANPAL) and a national network of employment services in order to facilitate faster reintegration of inactive subjects in the labour market. The national network of employment services includes:
- regional structures for active labour market policies;
- National institute of Social security ( Istituto Nazionale della Previdenza Sociale - INPS);
- National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (Istituto Nazionale Assicurazione contro gli Infortuni sul Lavoro - INAIL);
- employment agencies and other authorised intermediaries;
- inter-professional funds for continuous training and bilateral funds;
- National Agency for Active Labor Policies (Agenzia Nazionale per le Politiche Attive del Lavoro - ANPAL);
- National Institute for the Analysis of Public Policies (Istituto Nazionale per l’Analisi delle Politiche Pubbliche - INAPP);
- chambers of commerce;
- universities and secondary schools of the second grade.
Legislative Decree n. 150/2015 rationalised the organisation of active labour market policies both at regional and central level, identifying exactly the tasks assigned to the state and those of regional competence.
It is up to the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies to determine the three-year guidelines and the annual objectives of action in the field of active labour market policies and to set the essential levels of the services which must then be implemented in practice at the regional level. Regions provide the services related to active labour market policies through the public employment centres or through specific private accredited subjects.
Among the main active policy tools is the outplacement cheque. This tool is governed by article 23 of Legislative Decree no. 150/2015, which sets forth that the beneficiary can turn to an accredited employment service and complete the procedure aimed at defining his/her employability profile. Based on such profile, the unemployed person who has already benefited from the New Social Insurance Provision for Employment (Nuova prestazione di Assicurazione Sociale per l’Impiego, NASPI) and who is still unemployed after four months is given an ‘outplacement voucher’. The worker can choose whether to turn to a public employment agency or to an accredited private one, which will receive the voucher amount only upon the successful completion of the outplacement procedure. In case the unemployed person is hired under a fixed-term contract with a duration longer than six months, the voucher amount is halved.
In addition, employees who are at risk of unemployment, those who are covered by the Extraordinary Wage Guarantee Fund (Cassa integrazione guadagni straordinaria, CIGS), and those who are working under solidarity contracts are entitled to the above-mentioned active policy tools (such as orientation interviews and the organisation of a training action).
Since active labour market policies fall under the competence of the regions, similar outplacement voucher schemes have been already introduced in some areas of the country.
Finally, workers receiving unemployment benefits might opt for the payment of a lump sum instead of the monthly allowance if they want to start up a new business or cooperative.