Here are some changes to note.
Contribution exemptions now include:
- Employees under 36: For the creation of new permanent employment and the transformation of temporary into permanent contracts, an exemption from contributions is recognized of up to 100%, for a maximum period of 36 months, up to a maximum amount of €6,000 per year (until 31st December 2020 it was equal to 50% and stood at €3,000 per year) for individuals who have not reached 36 years of age. Prior to this the age limit was 35.
- Employers with no recent dismissals: Exemption from contributions is made available to those employers who have not carried out, in the 6 months preceding the engagement, nor will carry out, in the 9 months subsequent, individual dismissals for justified objective reasons or the collective dismissals of employees with the same qualification in the same productive unit
- Specific regions: The exemption from contributions is also recognized to private employers for a maximum period of 48 months who engage an employee in a workplace or productive unit located in the following regions: Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Basilicata, Sicily, Puglia, Calabria, and Sardinia
- Increases for women: In terms of the employment of women for 2021 to 2022. Plus, the exemption is on an experimental basis and recognized up to 100% and up to a maximum of €6,000 per year. In 2020 it was equal to 50%.
The extension of the Extraordinary Salary Supplements for Companies in Crisis
This salary supplement support has been extended for 2021-2022, for a maximum total period of 12 months and within a spending limit of €200 million for 2021 and €50 million for 2022.
Access to the social safety net is subject to a prior agreement as stipulated by the government at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies. It is recognized in the case that a company has ceased or ceases productive activities and there are concrete prospects for the cessation of the company with consequent occupational reabsorption, or where it is possible to carry out reindustrialization interventions of the production site as well as through specific active employment policy pathways implemented by the region concerned.
Updates to the Opzione Donna, Ape, and Isopensione schemes
Paragraph 336 contains provisions concerning the experimental establishment for the early retirement of women known as the “opzione donna” or the “woman’s option,” extending its application to employees who fulfill certain requirements by 31st December 2020, instead of 31st December 2019.
By amending Article 16, Paragraph 1, of Legislative Decree 4/2019, the rule now specifies that the right to early retirement for women according to the rules for calculating contributions is recognized for those employees who have matured, by 31st December 2020, rather than 31st December 2019, regardless of the pension start date (which must, in any case, be after that date), a history of contributions equal to or greater than 35 years, and an age equal to or greater than 58 years (for employees) and 59 years (for the self-employed).
Paragraphs 339 and 340 extend the experimentation of the so-called “ape sociale” scheme, consisting of an indemnity, paid until retirement requirements are met, favoring individuals in particular social conditions.
Paragraph 345 extends until 2023 the rule that those employees affected by a situation of surplus staff can be granted early retirement known as “Isopensione” upon fulfilling the minimum retirement requirements in the 7 years after the termination of their employment relationship, which may be used within the scope of specific second level collective agreements.
Revised paternity leave for 2021
Mandatory paternity leave is extended to 10 days (from 7 in 2020), which can be used on a non-continuous basis.
In addition, from 2021 a father may be absent for an additional day in agreement with the mother and replacing her in terms of the period of compulsory leave due to the latter.
Paternity leave can also be extended for use in the case of perinatal death.
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