The Budget Law has provided new incentives to employment, including the bonus for the recruitment of young graduates with 110 cum laude (s.c. Bonus Employment young excellences), the reduction of the Corporation Tax for employment growth and the extension of the incentive Employment Mezzogiorno.
It is planned the possibility to take advantage, even in 2019, of some old incentives to employment, such as that for the recruitment of women, of those over 50 and the bonus for those who hires workers in Naspi and in extraordinary redundancy.
As far as vocational apprenticeship is concerned, it is possible to combine the advantages of this particular type of contract with the other exemptions from contributions.
In addition to these benefits, there may be a new benefit for employers who will take on citizenship income recipients. For this incentive, however, we must wait for special ministerial decree.
This is the list of bonuses and benefits provided for 2019:
Bonus assumption for people under 35
For employers who will take on, indefinitely, young people up until 35 years of age, the Decree Dignity has provided, even for the years 2019 and 2020, a relief of 50% of contributions payable by the employer, for a maximum duration of 3 years, within the limit of € 3,000.00 for each year. From 2021, however, the bonus will apply only to the recruitment of young people up to the age of 30, subject to regulatory changes.
In order to benefit from the contribution allowance, the company must not have made redundancies in the same production unit during the six months preceding the employment of the employee hired with the bonus and must not dismiss the new employee in the following six months (or a worker with the same qualification employed in the same production unit).
In cases where the employee, for whom employment is open-ended, has partially taken advantage of the bonus, is recruited again for an indefinite period by other private employers the exemption is granted to the same employers for the remaining period for its full use, within the 36 months limit.
Bonus occupation Mezzogiorno
Art. 1 paragraph 247 of the 2019 Budget Law has refinanced, extending it for a further 24 months, the incentive Employment Mezzogiorno provided by the 2018 budget.
The employment incentive Mezzogiorno is intended for the recruitment, under an open-ended contract, of persons who have not reached the age of 35, or of persons of at least 35 years of age without a regularly paid employment for at least six months, in the regions of Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Basilicata, Sicily, Apulia, Calabria and Sardinia.
Recruitment under an open-ended contract (also for administration purposes) or under a professional or occupational apprenticeship contract (full-time or part-time) and indefinite conversion of fixed-term relationships are encouraged (no unemployment requirement required).
On the other hand, recruitment with a domestic, ancillary (voucher) and intermittent contract of employment is excluded.
The benefit is available in twelve monthly instalments from the date of recruitment or transformation and concerns the employer’s social security contributions to a maximum of 8.060 euros on an annual basis for each worker hired.
In order to obtain the incentive, it is necessary to respect the conditions valid for the generality of the recruitment facilities, such as the regularity of contributions and compliance with the rules for the protection of working conditions. The liability of the incentive is linked to the financial coverage by the INPS, for this purpose, you must submit a reservation request on the web portal of the institution.
Bonus employment young Neet
The Neet employment incentive for the recruitment of young people between the ages of 16 and 29, intended as 29 years and 364 days, has been extended by Directorial Decree n. 581 of 28 December 2018 of ANPAL, who are unemployed in accordance with the provisions of art. 19 of D.L.vo n. 150/2015 (which have made, in electronic form, the unitary information system of labour policies referred to in Article 13, its immediate readiness to work and to participate in active labour policy measures agreed with the Employment Centre).
The incentive consists of a total exemption from the payment of social security contributions payable by the employer, excluding bonuses and contributions Inail, for 12 months, and can be cumulated with the Employment Bonus young people under 35 recognized by the Decree Dignity.
The incentive, which applies to recruitment made until 31 December 2019 and which must be used by 28 February 2021, is obtained by submitting a special application to the INPS, within the limits of availability of resources.
Bonus Employment young excellences
The Youth Excellences Employment Bonus, introduced by the 2019 Budget Law, is reserved for private employers who, from 1 January 2019 until 31 December 2019, hire young graduates with the highest grades or Phd with an open-ended subordinate contract.
The incentive consists of a total annual reduction of social security contributions payable by the employer, excluding Inail premiums, for a maximum period of 12 months from the date of recruitment, up to a maximum of 8.000 euros for each recruitment.
Exemption shall be granted in respect of permanent recruitment of:
- workers with a master’s degree, obtained in the period from 1 January 2018 and 30 June 2019, with a vote equal to 110 cum laude and with a weighted average of at least 108/100, within the legal duration of the course of study and before reaching the age of 30, in State or non-State Universities legally recognised;
- workers holding a PhD, obtained in the period between 1 January 2018 and 30 June 2019, before turning 34 years in State or non-State Universities legally recognised.
The facility also applies to the transformation of fixed-term employment relationships into open-ended contracts, which also took place during 2019, without prejudice to the general requirements at the date of the transformation.
The bonus is also granted for part-time employment, provided that the employment contract is for an indefinite period. In that case, the maximum incentive limit shall be reduced proportionately.
In cases where the employee, for whom the bonus has been partially taken up indefinitely, is again taken up indefinitely by other private employers, in the period from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019, the exemption shall be granted to the employers themselves for the remaining period needed for its full use.
The individual dismissal for justified objective reasons of the worker hired with the occupational bonus young excellences or of a worker employed in the same productive unit and framed with the same qualification of the worker hired with the aforementioned facility, carried out within 24 months of the preferential recruitment, involves the withdrawal of the exemption and the recovery of the sums corresponding to the benefit already received.
Ires reduction of 15% for employment increase
The 2019 Budget Law also provides for a reduction of the Ires rate (corporate income tax) by 9 percentage points. Therefore, from 2019, the taxation of the total net income declared by companies and institutions, relative to the share of profits set aside in reserves, reinvested for the increase in employment (to recruit new employees on fixed-term or permanent contracts) from 24% to 15%.
The same reduction is also provided for the purchase of capital goods.
In order for the company to be entitled to the facility, employees must serve, for the majority of the tax period, in production units located in Italy; in addition, to benefit from the relief, the requirement of increasing the total average number of employees, with reference to employees in the workforce as of 30 September 2018, shall be verified.
Bonuses for women and over 50 unemployed
The exemption contribution is also expected for 2019, introduced by art. 4, paragraphs 8-11, of Law 92/2012 better known as the Fornero Labour Market Law, for the recruitment of:
- women who have been unemployed for at least six months, living in disadvantaged regions or working in sectors with a high gender employment gap;
- unemployed women for at least 24 months;
- workers over the age of 50 who have been unemployed for at least 12 months.
The exemption is equal to 50% of the contributions due to the INPS and the premiums due to the INAIL and has a duration:
- up to 12 months in the case of fixed-term employment;
- up to 18 months, in the case of employment for an indefinite period or conversion of the time contract into an indefinite period.
Bonus contributory workers in redundancy fund
Companies that will take on employees who have been laid off will benefit from a 50% contribution reduction, up to a ceiling of 4.030 euros per year.
The allowance is payable for 12 months, if the employee is engaged on a fixed-term contract, or for 18 months, if the contract is for an indefinite period with increasing protection.
Workers involved in relocation agreements in the hypotheses of CIGS (extraordinary redundancy fund) for crisis or corporate reorganization can activate the path of early relocation and receive the allowance for relocation, provided for by Legislative Decree 148/2015, Article 24a.
The amount of the allowance depends not only on the employability profile of the person concerned, that is, on the difficulty in finding a new job, but also on the duration of the new employment contract:
- 1.000 to 5.000 euros if the unemployed person finds a new job for an indefinite period, including apprenticeship;
- 500 to 2.500 euros if the unemployed person is placed under a fixed-term contract of at least six months;
- from 250 to 1.250 euros if the unemployed, belonging to the less developed regions (Campania, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily), establishes a relationship between three and six months.
The allowance is not collected directly by the worker, but consists of a "voucher" to be used by persons providing intensive job search services (employment centres, employment agencies or delegates of the Employment Consultants Foundation) who can cash it only if they manage to find new employment for the beneficiary of the measure.
Incentives for professional apprenticeship
For those who recruit through the apprenticeship contract there are incentives both of an economic nature and contribution.
The apprentice can be classified, for the duration of the relationship until its transformation, up to two levels lower than the final level of acquisition of the qualification. Some collective agreements provide for a level shift to "half-way" and others, especially for qualifications with a lower professional content, the lowering of a single level.
As a general rule, employers are entitled to a reduction in their contribution, for the duration of the apprenticeship, equal to 11.61% of the taxable earnings for social security purposes, to which must be added that for the young person, equal to 5.84%, for which the total contribution due is 17.45%.
In the case of employers employing 9 or less, the total rate borne by them shall be reduced to 3,11% for the first year and 4,61% for the second year, without prejudice to the employer’s contribution of 11,61% for contribution periods completed after the second year.
In case of transformation of the employment relationship at the end of the apprenticeship period, the contribution facility of 11.61% is recognized for the following 12 months, as confirmed by art. 47, comma 7, of Leg. D. n. 81/2015 that excludes from unemployment treatment, at the time of recruitment, only apprentices from mobility and unemployed persons.
Bonuses for unemployed in Naspi
There is also the incentive to take on Naspi unemployment recipients planned for 2019. The benefit, which is reserved for those who hire a worker while he is still receiving unemployment benefit, entitles the employer to an incentive equal to 20% of the Naspi still owed to the new employee.
The incentive does not apply to those workers who have been summarised after being made redundant within six months of exercising their right of priority (Art. 15, c. 6, of L. 264/1949); this is applied where the hiring undertaking, although belonging to another sector, either in connection with or in control of the withdrawal undertaking, or if the ownership structure is substantially the same.
Bonuses
Confirmed by the Budget Law 2019, the exemption from contributions for all companies that, during the course of 2019, employ, within six months from the achievement of the diploma or graduation, workers who have already carried out, at the same company, internship, work alternation or apprenticeship for the qualification and the professional diploma, the diploma of upper secondary education, the certificate of advanced technical specialization or periods of apprenticeship in higher training.
The contribution allowance has a maximum duration of three years and consists of a contribution reduction of the employer’s contributions of 100% for the first year and 50% for the second and third years.
Replacement of maternity workers
Enterprises with fewer than 20 employees (employing fixed-term workers or employing on-the-job to replace workers or employed or self-employed workers on maternity/paternity or parental leave) they may receive a 50% contribution allowance up until the one year of age of the child of the worker/worker who abstained, or for one year from receiving the child adopted or in foster care, both for INPS and INAIL insurance contributions.
Recruitment of women victims of gender-based violence
Provided by the 2018 Budget Law, the reduction of the contribution rates for compulsory social security and welfare insurance for social cooperatives that employ women victims of gender violence is also applicable for the years 2019 and 2020.
The tax relief is intended for social cooperatives that employ, under contracts of indefinite duration, women victims of gender violence, included in the protection pathways, duly certified by the social services centres of the municipality of residence or by anti-violence centres or shelter.
To access the incentive, social cooperatives must produce, in relation to each recruitment made on the basis of the benefits provided, the certification of the path of protection of the worker. The contribution facilities are recognised by the INPS on the basis of the chronological order of submission of applications within the resources allocated by the budget law.
Bonus assumption to be refinanced
Pending refinancing the Young Parents Bonus and incentives for hiring disabled people.
For further information please visit the ANPAL website