The following is a summary of the main changes in labour law introduced by Law No. 197 of 29 December 2022 'State Budget for the Financial Year 2023 and Multiannual Budget for the Three-Year Period 2023-2025'.
Remote working
Until 31 March 2023, for public and private employees suffering from chronic pathologies with low clinical compensation and with a particular connotation of seriousness in a condition of fragility, the employer ensures the performance of the work service in remote mode, also through the assignment to a different task included in the same category or area of classification as defined by the collective labour agreements in force without any reduction in the remuneration in enjoyment. This is without prejudice to the application of the provisions of the relevant national collective labour agreements, where more favourable (Article 1, paragraph 306).
Parental leave
The three-month allowance payable to employees on maternity or paternity leave is increased from 30% to 80% of pay, for a maximum duration of one month alternating between the parents up to the child's sixth birthday (Art. 1, paragraph 359).
Contribution exemptions
Private employers who, from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023, hire the beneficiaries of the minimum income guaranteed by the state with an open-ended employment contract are granted for a maximum period of 12 months exemption from the payment of 100% of the total social security contributions payable by employers (excluding premiums and contributions due to the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work) up to a maximum amount of EUR 8,000 on an annual basis, prorated and applied on a monthly basis. The calculation rate for pension benefits remains unaffected. The exemption does not apply to domestic work relationships (Article 1, paragraph 294).
The exemption is also granted for transformations of fixed-term contracts into open-ended contracts made from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023 (Art. 1, par. 295).
The tax exemption is also recognised at the rate of 100% and for a maximum period of 36 months for new open-ended hirings and conversions of fixed-term contracts into open-ended contracts made from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023 of persons who, on the date of the first incentivised hiring, have not reached the age of 36 years. The maximum amount is raised to EUR 8,000 (Art. 1, para. 297).
In addition, the contribution exemption is also granted at the rate of 100% for new hirings, made from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023, up to a maximum amount of EUR 8,000, of women of any age who have not been in regular paid employment for at least six months and who reside in regions eligible for financing under the EU's structural funds and in areas characterised by a gender gap rate that is at least 25% higher than the average gender gap in all economic sectors, as well as hirings of women of any age who have not been in regular paid employment for at least 24 months, wherever they reside (Article 1, paragraph 298).
Occasional Work Contract
Firstly, according to the Law, the applicability of the discipline to services, which give rise for each user with reference to all lenders, now applies to fees for a total amount not exceeding EUR 10,000 (instead of EUR 5,000 as previously envisaged). It also extends to work activities of an occasional nature carried out in the context of the activities of discos, dance halls and night clubs. The provision was repealed that required, as part of the services to be rendered to companies in the agricultural sector, the self-certification of the provider in the IT platform of not having been registered in the registers of agricultural workers in the previous year. Finally, the number of workers employed by the user is raised to ten in order to determine the possibility of having recourse to the occasional service. There are also special provisions envisaged to facilitate the finding of manpower for seasonal activities, favouring simplified forms of use of occasional fixed-term work in agriculture. In particular, the agricultural services of occasional fixed-term subordinate work refer to activities of a seasonal nature lasting no more than 45 days per year per individual worker, rendered by persons who, with the exception of pensioners, have not had ordinary employment relationships in agriculture in the three years preceding the establishment of the relationships, or other than that provided for by these regulations, such as: a) unemployed persons, as well as recipients of NASpI or DIS-COLL or citizenship income or recipients of social safety nets; b) old age or seniority pensioners; c) young people under the age of 25, if regularly enrolled in a cycle of studies at an educational institution of any order and level, compatible with school commitments, or at any time of the year if regularly enrolled in a cycle of studies at a university; and d) detainees or internees, as well as subjects in semi-freedom detained or interned in semi-freedom.
Flexible early retirement
On an experimental basis for 2023, it will be possible to obtain the right to early retirement upon reaching a minimum age of 62 years and a minimum contributory seniority of 41 years (i.e. "flexible early retirement", the so-called quota 103). This treatment cannot be combined, from the first day of retirement and until the requisites for access to the old-age pension have been met, with income from employment or self-employment with the exception of those deriving from occasional self-employment within the limit of EUR 5,000 gross per year. Employees who have met the minimum requirements for early retirement and decide to continue the employment relationship will benefit from the payment in their favour of the share of social security contributions due to them. The methods for implementing this bonus will be governed by a specific decree to be issued by 31 January 2023.
Parental leave
An additional month of optional maternity leave or alternatively paternity leave paid at 80% up to the sixth year of the child's life is provided.
Changes to "Women's Option" treatment
The possibility of accessing the pension treatment has been extended for 2023 for female workers who, by 31 December 2022, have accrued years of contributions equal to or greater than 35 years and a registered age of at least 60 years, reduced by one year for each child within the maximum limit of two years and who belong to one of the following categories: caregivers, invalids (with disability greater than or equal to 74%) and redundant workers or employees of companies for which a crisis table is active. |
