EXTENSION OF SIMPLIFIED SMART WORKING AND HEALTH SURVEILLANCE

 

Decree Law 52 of April 22, 2021, in force since April 23, 2021, the so-called Reopening Decree, which provides for the extension of the state of emergency until July 31, has been published in the Official journal no. 96/2021.

Article 11 of the regulation provides for the extension to July 31, 2021 of terms related to the state of epidemiological emergency from COVID-19, including the following:

• deadline for availing oneself of simplified smart working (article 90, paragraphs 3 and 4, Decree Law 34/2020), by simply notifying the Ministry of Labor, via telematic means, of the names of the workers and the date of cessation of the agile working service, resorting to the documentation made available on the website of the Ministry itself, even in the absence of individual agreements and with obligations to inform about the general and specific risks connected to the particular mode of execution of the working relationship to be fulfilled via telematic means, also resorting to the documentation made available on the Inail website;
• term for the exceptional sanitary surveillance in order to guarantee the safe carrying out of productive and commercial activities in relation to the risk of contagion from the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which the public and private employers ensure for the workers who are more exposed to the risk of contagion, due to their age or to the risk condition deriving from immunodepression, also from COVID-19 pathology, or from the outcomes of oncological pathologies or from the carrying out of life-saving therapies or, however, from co-morbidities that can characterize a greater risk. The unsuitability for the task ascertained pursuant to this provision cannot, in any case, justify the employer’s withdrawal from the employment contract (article 83, Law Decree 34/2020).

 

 

THE NEW ANTI-COVID PROTOCOL

 

On April 6, 2021 the Government, in agreement with the trade unions and employers’ associations, signed the new “Shared protocol for updating the measures to combat and contain the spread of the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 virus in the workplace”.

The document takes into account the measures to contrast and contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 in the workplace, already contained in the shared protocols signed after the declaration of the state of emergency, in particular on March 14 and April 24, 2020, also developed with the technical-scientific contribution of Inail.

Regarding the company organization, limited to the period of the emergency due to COVID-19, the protocol establishes that companies will be able to

• order the closure of all departments other than production or, in any case, those whose operation is possible through the use of agile and remote work;
• reshuffle production levels;
• Ensure a rostering plan for workers dedicated to production, with the aim of minimizing contacts and creating autonomous, distinct and recognizable groups;
• use agile and remote work for all those activities that can be carried out in this way, as a useful and modulable prevention tool;
• evaluating, in the event of the use of social shock absorbers, the possibility of ensuring that they cover the entire company structure, if necessary also with appropriate rotation of the personnel involved.

A particularly interesting point concerns national and international travel. In the new protocol they are not excluded, but it is advisable that the employer, in collaboration with the competent doctor and the RSPP, takes into account the context associated with the different types of transfers envisaged, also with reference to the epidemiological trend of the destination locations.

The return of the worker after having been infected always requires the presence of a swab that certifies the negativization.

On the same date, an agreement was also signed for vaccines in the workplace, which can be carried out when the necessary doses are available. The document provides guidance on the vaccination and the procedure for the activation of territorial vaccination points for workers, with the involvement of competent doctors or other health workers affiliated with the employer. This mode will be additional to the ordinary.

The vaccination points in companies will ensure the requirements of effectiveness, efficiency and safety provided and the adherence of workers will be voluntary and informed, in the protection of their privacy.

The adherence of companies to the initiative must be communicated to the health company of reference and the costs are borne by the employer or the respective trade associations, with the exception of vaccines, devices for administration (syringes / needles) and training tools and recording of vaccinations.

It is recommended that any at-risk individuals be referred to the appropriate health care provider so that they can be vaccinated in a protected environment.

 

 

 

SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS FOR THE HIRING OF YOUNG PEOPLE UNDER 36 YEARS OF AGE

 

Inps, with circular no. 56/2021, has provided the first operational indications regarding the facilitation introduced by article 1, paragraphs 10-15, Law 178/2020 (Budget Law 2021), relating to the hiring of young people under 36. Hiring on a permanent basis and the transformation of fixed-term contracts into permanent contracts carried out in the two-year period 2021-2022 may be facilitated.

The operating instructions, however, do not provide the methods for recovering the exemption, as it is still necessary to wait for authorization from the European Commission. The facility is granted within the limit of the Temporary Framework.

The exemption from social security contributions is granted at the rate of 100%, for a maximum period of 36 months, up to a maximum amount of 6,000 euros per annum, 500 per month. To this end, it is necessary that at the date of the first incentivised hiring the subjects have not reached 36 years of age.

The exemption from contributions is recognized for a maximum period of 48 months to private employers who make assumptions in a seat or production unit located in the following regions:

• Abruzzo;
• Molise;
• Campania;
• Basilicata;
• Sicily;
• Apulia;
• Calabria.

In addition, the exemption from contributions is due to employers who have not proceeded, in the 6 months preceding recruitment, nor proceed, in the 9 months following the same, to:

• individual dismissals for justified objective reasons;
• collective dismissals, with regard to workers with the same qualification in the same productive unit.

 

 

 

IN THE GAZETTE THE DELEGATION LAW FOR THE SINGLE ALLOWANCE

 

Delegation Law no. 46/2021 was published in Official Gazette no. 82/2021, through which the Government will proceed, by means of Legislative Decrees, within 12 months, to “reorganize, simplify and strengthen measures in support of dependent children through a single universal allowance“.

This allowance, based on the universal principle, constitutes an economic benefit granted progressively to all family units with dependent children within the scope of available resources.

The regulation of the single allowance will be characterized by the following principles and general guiding criteria:

• access to the allowance is guaranteed for each dependent child with criteria of universality and progressiveness, within the limits established by the Law;
• the amount of the allowance is modulated on the basis of the economic condition of the family nucleus, as identified through the Isee or its components, taking into account the age of the dependent children and the possible disincentive effects to work for the second earner in the family nucleus;
• for the purposes of access and for the calculation of subsidised social benefits other than the allowance, the calculation of the latter may be differentiated within the Isee until it is eventually reduced to zero;
• the allowance is fully compatible with the fruition of the citizenship income, referred to in Article 1 of Legislative Decree 4/2019, and is paid jointly with it with the modalities of disbursement of the citizenship income.

In particular, with the introduction of the single allowance, the following will be eliminated:

• the allowance to nuclei with at least 3 minor children, as per article 65, Law 448/1998;
• the birth allowance, as per article 1, paragraph 125, L. 190/2014, article 23-quater, paragraphs 1 and 2, D.L. 119/2018 and article 1, paragraph 340, L. 160/2019;
• the birth or adoption premium, as per article 1, paragraph 353, Law 232/2016;
• the birth support fund, as per article 1, paragraphs 348 and 349, Law 232/2016.

As specified, moreover, by the Fondazione studi consulenti del lavoro with in-depth study of April 9, 2021, as part of a broader reform of the tax system, the following measures will be gradually overcome or suppressed:

• IRPEF deductions for dependent children, provided for by article 12, paragraphs 1, letter c), and 1-bis, Tuir. They are due in inverse proportion to income and are cancelled for incomes equal to or greater than 95,000 euros;
• the Anf, provided for by article 2, Law Decree 69/1988, as well as family allowances provided for by the Consolidated Law on family allowances, as per Presidential Decree 797/1955.

 

 

FACILITATED HIRING OF DISADVANTAGED WOMEN – INPS GUIDELINES

 

With the recent Budget Law 2021 (L. 178/2020), it was decided to expand the scope of the contribution facility provided for the recruitment of disadvantaged women, both in terms of time, extending this benefit for the years 2021-2022, and in relation to the percentage of relief, now passed to 100% of contributions charged to the employer, with an annual limit of 6,000 euros.

The Inps, with message no. 1421/2021, back to explain the operation of the facility, stating that the same concerns:

• fixed-term recruitments
• recruitment on open-ended contracts;
• transformations of a previous facilitated relationship into an open-ended one.

It is also reiterated, as already clarified in a previous act, that the disadvantage of the worker, or the state of unemployment for more than 12 months, must exist at the date of the event for which it is intended to request the benefit.

Two operational examples are then proposed for the case of a fixed-term contract transformed into an open-ended one:

1. in the case of a request for the benefit for a fixed-term employment, the disadvantage requirement must exist at the date of hiring and not at the date of any extension or transformation of the relationship into an indefinite term;
2. in the event that the benefit is requested for conversion to an open-ended contract, without having requested the same for the previous fixed-term employment, compliance with the requirement is required at the date of conversion.

Still on the subject of fixed-term contracts, it should be borne in mind, in fact, that the benefit in question may also be applied in the event of the conversion to an open-ended contract of a fixed-term contract entered into without the benefit of the tax relief.

The contribution benefit also applies in the event of extension of the fixed-term contract, within the overall limit of 12 months envisaged by the regulations governing the type of contract.

 

 

 

 

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