4 november 2024
Decree-Law No. 56/2024, converted into Law No. 95 of July 4, 2024 (Cohesion Decree), introduces new contribution incentives for hirings made starting from 1 September 2024.
The actual enjoyment of these incentives is subject to:
1. to the authorization of the European Commission not required for the sole “Women’s Bonus”;
2. to the issuance of implementing decrees by the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economy and Fi-nance in which the implementation methods of the incentives and the methods to determine the relation-ships with INPS as the managing entity will be defined;
3. to the issuance, by INPS, of the operational procedures.
Below a summary of the main benefits and characteristics for their effective use by employers:
Young People Bonus (Under 35)
The exemption, introduced to increase youth employment, is aimed at private employers who hire, from 1 September 2024 to 31 December 2025, young people under 35 with a permanent employment contract or those whose fixed-term contracts are converted into permanent ones, for a period of twenty-four months.
The worker, on the date of hiring or the transformation of the contract into an indefinite term:
➢ must not have reached the age of thirty-five;
➢ must not have been employed on a permanent basis with the same or another employer throughout the entire working life.
This exemption cannot be applied to apprenticeship relationships and domestic work relationships. In the case of apprenticeship, it will be applied only in instances of prior hiring with an apprenticeship contract that was not continued as a regular subordinate employment relationship with an indefinite duration.
The amount of the exemption is equal to 100% of the social security contributions paid by the employer, excluding the premiums and contributions due to Inail, up to a maximum of 500 euro per month for each worker for a maximum of 24 months.
Under the same conditions, the exemption is recognized up to a maximum limit of 650 euro monthly if the hiring takes place in the South regions (Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Basilicata, Sicily, Puglia, Calabria, and Sardinia).
Furthermore, the exemption is not cumulative with other exemptions or reductions of financing rates pro-vided by current legislation and is compatible, without any reduction, with the increase in the deductible cost in the presence of new hires as per Article 4 of Legislative Decree 216/2023.
It also applies to individuals who, at the time of the incentivized hiring, were employed on a permanent basis by a different employer who has partially benefited from this exemption.
The exemption applies to employers who, in the six months preceding the hiring, have not carried out col-lective individual dismissals in the same production unit, without prejudice to the general principles of in-centive utilization referred to in Article 31 of Legislative Decree No. 150 of September 14, 2015, accord-ing to which incentives are not granted if:
➢ the hiring constitutes the fulfilment of a pre-existing obligation, established by law or collective agreements, even in the case where the worker entitled to the hiring is employed through a supply contract;
➢ the hiring violates the right of priority to rehire another worker who has been dismissed from a perma-nent contract or whose fixed-term contract has ended;
➢ the employer or the user with a supply contract have ongoing work suspensions related to a crisis or corporate reorganization;
➢ with reference to those workers who were dismissed in the six months prior by an employer who, at the time of dismissal, has ownership structures substantially coinciding with those of the employer, who hires or uses supply arrangement, that is a relationship of connection or control with the latter;
Finally, employers who, within 6 months following the facilitated hiring/transformation, proceed to dis-miss for just cause the facilitated worker, or another worker with the same qualification in the same pro-duction unit, will have the incentive revoked and will be required to return it.
Women’s Bonus
In order to promote equal opportunities in the labor market for women, so-called disadvantaged women, a contribution exemption is granted to private employers who, from 1 September 2024, until 31 December 2025, hire women of any age who are without regular employment (for six months in the South regions and for twenty-four months anywhere else residing) with an indefinite-term subordinate employment con-tract, and also to women without employment working in professions and sectors with an employment dis-parity rate of at least 25% between men and women.
The amount of the exemption is equal to 100% of the social security contributions paid by the employers (excluding premiums and contributions due to INAIL), up to a maximum limit of euro 650,00 per month for each worker and for a maximum period of 24 months.
The exemption cannot be combined with other exemptions or reductions of financing rates provided by current regulations and is compatible, without any reduction, with the increase in the cost allowed for de-duction in the presence of new hires as per Article 4 of Legislative Decree 216/2023.
Furthermore, for the purpose of benefiting from the exemption, it is necessary to achieve a net employ-ment increase and to await the implementation methods that will subsequently be issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies and the subsequent operational instructions from INPS.
The Women’s Bonus does not apply to domestic work relationships and apprenticeship contracts.
ZES (Special Economic Zones) Bonus for over 35
To reduce territorial disparities in our country, a new exemption has been introduced in favor of employers who intend to make new hires with permanent employment contracts starting from 1 September 2024 until 31 December 2025, in one of the ZES Zone located regions.
The so-called “Single ZES Zone” has been established as a special economic zone for the South, which in-cludes all the municipalities in the territories of disadvantaged regions such as Abruzzo, Basilicata, Ca-labria, Campania, Molise, Sicily, and Sardinia.
The exemption is granted exclusively to employers who employ up to 10 employees in the month of hiring in an headquarter or production unit located in one of the mentioned disadvantaged regions.
To get the benefit, the worker must meet the following requirements:
➢ to be at least 35 years old;
➢ to be unemployed for at least 24 months.
The amount of the exemption is equal to 100% of the social security contributions paid by employers (ex-cluding premiums and contributions due to INAIL), up to a maximum of euro 650,00 monthly for each worker, for a maximum period of 24 months, and, in any case, within the limits of the authorized expendi-ture.
Moreover, the exemption is not cumulative with other exemptions or reductions of financing rates provid-ed by current legislation and is compatible, without any reduction, with the increase in the cost allowed for deduction in the presence of new hires as per Article 4 of the Legislative Decree
Even in this case, this contribution exemption does not apply to domestic work relationships and appren-ticeship relationships.
It also applies to individuals who, at the time of the incentivized hiring, were employed on a permanent basis by a different employer who has partially benefited from the exemption referred to in this article.
Without prejudice to the general principles of incentive utilization referred to in Article 31 of Legislative Decree No. 150 of September 14, 2015, already listed in the case of the “youth bonus” incentive, the con-tribution exemption is granted to employers who, in the six months prior to the hiring, have not proceeded with individual dismissals for justified objective reasons or collective dismissals in the same production unit.
The dismissal for justified objective reason of the worker hired with the benefit or of a worker holding the same position in the same production unit, if carried out within six months following the incentivized hir-ing, implies the revocation of the exemption and the recovery of the benefit enjoyed.
General Requirements for Employers
To benefit from the mentioned contribution incentives, employers must meet the following conditions:
➢ Contribution regularity (DURC);
➢ Compliance with legal regulations and collective agreements, including health and safety regulations;
➢ Absence of liability for violations of labour or social legislation in the six months preceding the hiring;
➢ Absence of individual or collective dismissals for justified objective reasons in the six months preced-ing (for Young People Bonus and SEZ Bonus for over 35).
Dr. Angelo Pisciotta