CONVERTED INTO LAW D.L. 125/2020
Law 159/2020 has been published in the Official Gazette, converting Decree Law 125/2020, containing “Urgent measures related to the extension of the declaration of the state of epidemiological emergency by COVID-19, for the postponement of electoral consultations for the year 2020 and for the operational continuity of the COVID alert system, as well as for the implementation of Directive (EU) 2020/739 of June 3, 2020, and urgent provisions on tax collection”.
Among the changes are the following.
Agile working
The following have been extended until January 31, 2021 and, in any case, not beyond the state of emergency:
- the obligation of telematic communication of the names of workers and the date of termination of the service in agile mode;
- the possibility of taking advantage of simplified procedures in the absence of individual agreements.
Collection
Payments originally due in the period from March 8, 2020 (February 21 for those in the first red zone) to December 31, 2020 (previously October 15, 2020), deriving from payment demands issued by collection agents, as well as the notices provided for by articles 29 and 30, Law Decree no. 78/2010, expire on January 31, 2021.
Also included in the suspension are the notifications of the new demands, the sending of other acts of collection, as well as the possibility of initiating precautionary and executive actions (administrative detentions, mortgages and seizures).
Foreclosures
The resumption of the provision obligations deriving from garnishments from third parties carried out before May 19, 2020 by the collection agent and parties registered in the Register pursuant to article 53, Legislative Decree no. 446/1997, regarding sums due by way of salary, wages and other indemnities relating to the employment or employment relationship, including those due on account of dismissal, as well as pensions, indemnities in lieu of pensions or retirement allowances, is postponed until January 1, 2021.
Subject: INPS clarifications on social shock absorbers ex DL 137/2020
| With Circular 139/2020, INPS has illustrated the innovations introduced by DL 137/2020 (so-called DL “Ristori”), as integrated by the subsequent DL 149/2020 (so-called DL “Ristori-bis”) and 157/2020 (so-called DL “Ristori-quater”), to the regulatory system regarding the treatment of wage subsidies provided for the hypothesis of suspension or reduction of work activity due to events attributable to the epidemiological emergency from COVID-19. Below is what was specified by the Social Security Institute. |
As known, Law Decree 137/2020 has implemented the set of measures on social security in conjunction with employment relationship connected to the epidemiological emergency from COVID-19.
Specifically, a further 6 weeks of ordinary redundancy fund (CIGO), ordinary allowance and redundancy fund in derogation (CIGD) have been arranged, to be used between 16.11.2020 and 31.1.2021.
The 6 weeks are granted
- to employers who have used up the previous 18 weeks provided for by Legislative Decree no. 104/2020 (“August” Legislative Decree)
- as well as employers belonging to sectors affected by the measures of the Prime Ministerial Decree of 24.10.2020, most recently updated by the Prime Ministerial Decree of 3.12.2020, which provides for the closure or limitation of economic and productive activities.
With reference to the first type of subject, namely those who have completed the 18 weeks of the “August” Decree, INPS specified that the transmission of applications referring to the new 6 weeks will be possible, regardless of the release of the authorization for the second 9 weeks provided for by Decree Law 104/2020, by the territorial structures of the Institute itself.
The “Ristori” decree then confirmed that employers who submit an application for integration periods relating to the 6 weeks pay an additional contribution determined on the basis of a comparison between the company’s turnover for the first half of 2020 and that of the corresponding half of 2019, equal to:
- 9% if the reduction in turnover is less than 20%;
- 18% if no reduction in turnover has occurred.
| Note
The additional contribution is not due from employers who: – Have suffered a reduction in turnover of 20% or more; – by those who started their business activities after January 1, 2019; – by employers belonging to the sectors affected by the Prime Ministerial Decree of October 24, 2020, regardless of the territorial location of the production unit for which treatment is requested. |
From what has been stated above, it can be deduced that the new discipline must be coordinated with the one previously introduced by Law Decree 104/2020, which in parallel regulates access to wage integration treatments for the period from 07.13.2020 to 12.31.2020.
EXAMPLE 1
If a company has suspended or reduced work activity since October 26, 2020, in the absence of previous authorizations for periods after July 12, 2020, it may request, pursuant to the discipline of DL 104/2020, the first 9 weeks of treatment until December 31, 2020 with reason “COVID 19 national”, without the obligation to pay the additional contribution.
EXAMPLE 2
If a company has been fully authorized the total period of 18 weeks of DL 104/2020, the same company can request the additional period of 6 weeks introduced by DL 137/2020 to be placed within the time frame from 16.11.2020 to 31.1.2021.
With regard to the periods of integration previously requested and authorized under the so-called DL “August” (9+9 weeks), placed, even partially, in periods subsequent to November 15, 2020, it has been provided that the same are attributed, where authorized, to the six weeks introduced by the new decree.
Therefore, if a company has already requested – with the reason “COVID 19 with turnover” and for a continuous period from October 19, 2020 to December 19, 2020 – the second 9 weeks of CIGO, CIG in derogation or ordinary allowance provided for by Decree 104/2020 and these weeks have been authorized by the Institute, the same company can still benefit from an additional week of new treatments until January 31, 2021.
WORKERS INVOLVED
The treatments of wage supplementation fund (ordinary and in derogation) and ordinary allowance provided by DL 137/2020 and DL 104/2020 are also applicable to workers who are employed by employers requesting the service to 9.11.2020.
Warning:
With reference to the treatments governed by DL 104/2020, INPS has clarified that these can be applied to workers employed as of November 9, 2020, provided that the submission of applications for access to the relative treatments complies with the regulations on time limits.
| In accordance with the ministerial opinion, it will be possible to integrate the applications relating to the periods of DL 104/2020 already usefully transmitted, in order to allow the Institute to re-evaluate them with reference exclusively to workers who are in force on the date of 9.11.2020. On the other hand, employers who have not submitted previous applications for wage subsidies pursuant to Decree Law 104/2020 may include workers in force as of November 9, 2020 only in applications whose submission complies with the rules on time limits. |
DEROGATED LAYOFF TREATMENTS (CIGD)
The Social Security Institute has clarified that the DL 137/2020 has not changed the rules to be followed for the request of the treatments of CIG in derogation; therefore, the application for CIG in derogation – to be sent exclusively to INPS – must be preceded by the definition of a trade union agreement that the company and the organizations comparatively more representative at national level can also conclude electronically. Employers with a company size of up to 5 employees are excluded.
TERMS FOR SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS
It has been confirmed that the deadline for submitting applications for redundancy payments (ordinary and special) and ordinary allowances is set by the end of the month following the month in which the period of suspension or reduction of work began.
INPS pointed out that the time limits must not be understood as absolute, but must be considered operative only with reference to the period covered by the application in respect of which the forfeiture occurred, since the employer can always send a different application referring to a different period. Therefore, where the request concerns a period of time lasting several months, the forfeiture regime will only apply to the period in relation to which the deadline for submitting the request has expired.
TERMS OF TRANSMISSION OF DATA USEFUL FOR THE PAYMENT OF TREATMENTS
Confirmed that, in the case of direct payment by the Institute, the employer is required to send all the data necessary for payment (simplified “SR41” form) by the end of the month following the month in which the period of wage integration is placed or, if later, within the term of thirty days from the notification of the measure of concession. If these terms are not met, the payment of the benefit and the related charges remain the responsibility of the defaulting employer.
LDP Payroll stay at your disposal for any further information.
Milan, 07/01/2021
Best regards,
LDP PAYROLL SRL-STP
Arianna De Carlo
Head of Payroll Department