News regarding the “Relaunch” decree
News about CIGO and ordinary cheque COVID-19
Art. 68 of the “Relaunch” decree makes significant changes and additions to the body of art. 19 of Legislative Decree 18/2020, which contains special rules on ordinary payroll integration and ordinary allowance.
In summary, the main amendments concern:
· the extension from 9 to 18 weeks of the maximum duration of treatment, usable – under certain conditions – in the period between 23.2.2020 and 31.10.2020;
· the granting of treatment to employees on 25.3.2020;
· recognition of the household allowance to recipients of the ordinary allowance;
· the reintroduction of the obligation – for the employer – of information, consultation and joint examination with the trade union representatives for the purposes of the application for ordinary salary supplement;
· the deadline for submission of the application for access to integration treatment set within the month following (and no longer the fourth) the month in which the period of suspension or reduction of work began;
· the use of the Agricultural Workers’ Wage Supplement Fund (CISOA) with facilitated modalities.
Again, in relation to ordinary wage subsidies, art. 71 of the same “Relaunch” decree intervenes about the regulation of direct payment of the subsidy.
News on the IGC by way of derogation
Article 70 of the “Re-launch” decree also intervenes with reference to the provisions on redundancy fund in derogation provided for by COVID-19 in Article 22 of DL 18/2020.
Also, in this case, the duration of the treatment is extended:
- of 9 weeks for periods starting from 23.2.2020 to 31.8.2020;
- increased by a further 5 weeks in the same period only for employers who have made full use of the period previously granted.
Any additional period of up to 4 weeks of treatment referred to in this paragraph for periods from 1.9.2020 to 31.10.2020 is also recognised.
In addition, it is envisaged, as for CIGO, the recognition of treatment to employees on 25.3.2020.
In the face of these extensive interventions, the rule in question restricts the scope of application of the exemption from the obligation to reach a trade union agreement, which is necessary for the purposes of submitting an application for access to derogatory treatment, limiting it only to employers employing up to 5 employees. Still about CIG in derogation, art. 71 of the decree in question defines, for access to the CIG in derogation after the first 9 weeks of use, the procedure for direct application to INPS.
Specific leave and bonus for employees
Art. 72 extends until 31.7.2020 the possibility to take the COVID-19 leave referred to in art. 23 of DL 18/2020, conv. L. 27/2020, with extension of the related period of enjoyment to 30 days.
As for the right to abstain from work, the reference is now to children under the age of 16.
There is also the possibility to use the bonus referred to in Article 23, paragraph 8 of DL 18/2020, conv. L. 27/2020 – the amount of which has increased to 1,200.00 euros – as an alternative to the purchase of babysitting services for enrolment in summer centres and supplementary services for children.
Extension of “104” permits
Article 73 of the “Relaunch” decree establishes that the increase in the so-called “104 permits” to a total of 12 days, initially planned for March and April 2020, is also extended for the months of May and June 2020.
Equivalence of quarantine with disease
By amending art. 26 of DL 18/2020 (conv. L. 27/2020), art. 74 of the “Relaunch” decree extends to 31.7.2020 (end of the State of Emergency) the period until which the period spent in quarantine with active health surveillance of employees in the private sector is treated as illness for the purposes of economic treatment.
Extension of suspension of cross-compliance measures
Article 76 increases the duration of the suspension of cross-compliance measures from 2 to 4 months. Therefore, for the period between 17.3.2020 and 17.7.2020 the following are suspended: the obligations related to the use of the citizenship income, the conditionality measures of unemployment benefits (NASpI and DIS-COLL) and salary integration treatments.
Extension of the ban on economic redundancies
Through the amendment of art. 46 of DL 18/2020, conv. L. 27/2020, art. 80 of the “Relaunch” decree introduces the following innovations:
- extension of the prohibition of dismissals for economic reasons for 5 months after 17.3.2020;
- suspension, for the same period, of dismissal procedures for justified objective reasons as per Article 7 of Law 604/66;
- possibility of revocation of the dismissal for objective reasons enjoined in the period from 23.2.2020 to 16.3.2020 even more than 15 days after the appeal against the dismissal, with simultaneous request for use of one of the shock absorbers referred to in Law Decree 18/2020, conv. L. 27/2020, from the date of the original dismissal.
Validity of DURC
Art. 81 excludes from the extension of validity until 29.10.2020 the Single Document of Contributory Regularity (DURC); therefore, this document, which shows in the “expiry date” field a date between 31.1.2020 and 15.4.2020, remains valid until 15.6.2020.
Emergency income
Article 82 of the “Relaunch” decree introduces the emergency income (so-called “REM”), an extraordinary income support for households that are in particular need due to the health emergency caused by the spread of COVID-19.
Health Surveillance
In order to carry out productive and commercial activities safely, Article 83 of the “Relaunch” decree provides for the obligation for public and private employers, including those who are not required to appoint the competent doctor (art. 18 paragraph 1 letter a) of Legislative Decree 81/2008), to ensure exceptional health surveillance of workers most at risk of infection.
Allowances for self-employed workers, collaborators and employees for April and May 2020
Article 84 of the “Relaunch” decree states that for the month of April 2020, the indemnity for the self-employed, collaborators and employees is recognized – under certain conditions – in the amount of 600.00 euros.
For those persons who have already received from INPS the indemnity for the month of March 2020, the indemnity for the month of April will be paid automatically, without the need to submit a further application.
For fixed-term agricultural workers, the allowance for April amounts to EUR 500.00.
On the other hand, for May 2020, the allowance amounts to EUR 1.000,00 for the following persons, subject to special conditions:
· Coordinated and continuous collaborators registered with the INPS Separate Account who have terminated their employment on 19.5.2020;
· self-employed workers registered with the INPS Separate Account who have suffered a reduction of at least 33% in income in the second two months of 2020, compared to income in the second two months of 2019;
· employees (including temporary workers) in the tourism sector and bathing establishments who have involuntarily ceased their employment between 1.1.2019 and 17.3.2020.
For the other categories, the allowance is replicated in May at €600.00, with the sole exception of fixed-term agricultural workers and those enrolled in the Special Management of the AGO.
Right to activate agile work
Article 90 of the “relaunch” decree provides that until the end of the state of health emergency, scheduled for 31.7.2020, the right to perform work in agile mode (so-called “smart working”) to parents employed in the private sector is recognized:
· who have at least one child under the age of 14;
· provided that there is no other parent in the household in receipt of income support instruments in the event of suspension or cessation of work or that there is no non-working parent.
HIDDEN and DIS-COLL extension
In accordance with Article 92, the NASpI and DIS-COLL services, whose period of use ends between 1.3.2020 and 30.4.2020, are extended by a further 2 months, starting from the day of expiry. The beneficiary must not be the beneficiary of the allowances provided for specific categories of workers established by DL 17.3.2020 n. 18, conv. L. 24.4.2020 n. 27 and DL 19.5.2020 n. 34.
Renewals and extensions of fixed-term contracts
In order to deal with the restart of activities as a result of the emergency from COVID-19, in derogation of art. 21 of Legislative Decree 81/2015, art. 93 of the “Relaunch” decree provides for the possibility of renewing or extending until 30.8.2020 the term employment contracts existing on 23.2.2020, even in the absence of the conditions set out in art. 19, para. 1 of Legislative Decree 81/2015.
Promotion of agricultural work
In accordance with art. 94 of the “Relaunch” decree, the recipients of zero hour social shock absorbers, NASpI and DIS-COLL and Citizenship Income can stipulate, with agricultural employers, term contracts not exceeding 30 days, renewable for a further 30 days, without suffering the loss or reduction of the benefit. Furthermore, until 31.7.2020, those who offer aid and support to farms located in mountain areas are not considered workers.
Support for enterprises for safety at work
Article 95 states that in order to promote the implementation of the provisions of the “Protocol for the regulation of measures to contain and combat the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the workplace” of 14.3.2020, as integrated on 24.4.2020, INAIL promotes extraordinary measures for companies that, after the date of entry into force of DL 18/2020, have adopted measures to reduce the risk of contagion.
LDP Payroll remains available for further clarification.
De Carlo Arianna – adecarlo@ldp-payroll.com
Head of Payroll Department