Prepared by Giulia Spalazzi and Antonella Carullo
Published in the Official Gazette no. 224 of 18 September 2021, Law no. 125 of 16 September 2021, converting Law Decree no. 103/2021, which introduces urgent provisions for the protection of employment.
Article 3 of the aforementioned law, concerning the wage supplementation treatment in favour of companies of relevant national strategic interest, introduces on an exceptional basis, for companies with a number of employees not less than one thousand and which manage at least one industrial plant of national strategic interest, the possibility to apply for the ordinary wage supplementation treatment with COVID-19 for a maximum duration of further 13 weeks, usable until 31 December 2021 and within the overall spending limit of €21.4 million for 2021.
Those who decide to benefit from this measure will not be able to initiate collective dismissal procedures and individual dismissal for objective reasons.
In addition, outplacement services are introduced (in particular for the year 2022) for employees of firms under bankruptcy proceedings or in extraordinary administration and for workers who have been placed in the Wages Guarantee Fund (Cassa Integrazione Guadagni) due to the cessation of activity. The necessary implementing provisions will be adopted within 30 days from the date of entry into force of the conversion law, through a decree of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy in agreement with the Minister of Economy and Finance.
Another novelty is represented by Article 3-ter, concerning the so called “accordi di riallineamento”, which states that: “Article 10 of Law no. 199 of 29 October 2016 is interpreted as meaning that, in relation to employer representativeness, the requirement that the company agreements implementing the “realignment programmes” be signed with the same parties is considered fulfilled even if such company agreements are signed only by the employers’ association to which the company concerned and signatory of the provincial “realignment agreement” is affiliated”.
Lastly, with respect to contribution relief, Article 4 extends to 2022 the exemption both from the payment of the severance pay provision and from the payment of the contribution inherent in the interruptions of permanent employment relationships for companies in bankruptcy proceedings or in extraordinary administration that have benefited from wage subsidies between 2019 and 2021 due to cessation of activity.
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