Urgent Measures - Enactment of the Tax and Labor Decree into Law

Subject: Urgent Measures Concerning Labor and Unavoidable Necessities; Enactment of the Tax and Labor Decree into Law

Tax and Labor Decree No. 146 of October 21, 2021, was converted, with amendments, into Law No. 215 of December 17, 2021, published in the Official Gazzetta on December 20, 2021.

Below are the most noteworthy updates regarding labor issues.

One-time reimbursement of sick pay fully covered by the employer

Within the spending limit of 188.30 million euros for the year 2021, private-sector employers subject to social security contributions to the INPS funds—excluding employers of domestic workers—are entitled to a lump-sum reimbursement for expenses incurred in relation to their employees who are not eligible for INPS health insurance (for example: industrial sector employees). For periods of illness occurring from January 31, 2020, through December 31, 2021, employers must submit an electronic application to the INPS to obtain the reimbursement, which will be paid by INPS in the amount of €600.00 per employee. The application must be accompanied by a statement certifying the periods covered by economic sickness benefits. We are awaiting instructions from the Institute regarding the procedures and deadlines for submitting applications. The reimbursement is granted to the employer as a one-time payment for each individual employee and is provided only in cases where work cannot be performed remotely during the period of sick leave. INPS will verify the accuracy of the submitted declarations.

Parental Leave

An employee who is the parent of a child under the age of 14 living in the same household may, alternately with the other parent, take leave from work for a period corresponding, in whole or in part, to the duration of the suspension of in-person schooling or educational activities for the child, the duration of the child’s SARS-CoV-2 infection, or the duration of the child’s quarantine ordered by the locally competent ATS following exposure, regardless of where it occurred.

The benefit is granted—regardless of the child’s age—to parents of children with disabilities that have been certified as severe pursuant to Article 3, paragraph 3, of Law No. 104/1992, in cases where the child has contracted a SARS-CoV-2 infection, or for the duration of the child’s quarantine, or in cases where in-person teaching or educational activities have been suspended, or where the child attends day care centers that have been ordered to close.

Parental leave may be taken on a daily or hourly basis; an allowance equal to 50% of the employee’s salary is paid in lieu of wages, calculated in accordance with the provisions of the Consolidated Law on Maternity and Paternity (Decree 151/2001), with the exception of paragraph 2 of Article 23 of the aforementioned Consolidated Law. The relevant periods are covered by imputed contributions. In a circular dated December 21, 2021, INPS announced that the relevant applications may be submitted electronically. For periods of parental leave taken by parents from the start of the 2021–2022 school year until the effective date of Decree (October 21, 2021), these periods may be converted to this leave upon request (provided they were taken because the child was ill after contracting SARS-CoV-2, or due to the child’s quarantine, or due to the suspension of in-person educational activities, or due to the closure of daycare centers providing care services).

A spending limit has been established, and INPS is responsible for monitoring compliance, reporting the results to the Ministry of Labor and Social Policies and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Additional Provisions Regarding Wage Supplement Programs

The law converting the Tax and Labor Decree confirmed an additional thirteen weeks of Ordinary Unemployment Benefits and Exceptional Wage Supplementation, for the period from October 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021, without any additional contributions. Applications may be submitted by private-sector employers who suspend or reduce work activities due to events related to the COVID-19 public health emergency; these applications may cover employees on the payroll as of October 21, 2021.

These benefits are granted up to a spending limit of 657.9 million euros for the year 2021, divided between the two measures mentioned above. INPS is responsible for monitoring the situation, and if it becomes apparent that the spending limit has been reached—even on a projected basis—it will not consider any further applications.

Employers referred to in Article 50-bis, paragraph 2, of Decree-Law No. 73 of May 25, 2021 (employers in the textile, apparel, leather goods, and similar industries, identified—according to the ATECO 2007 classification of economic activities—by codes 13, 14, and 15), who suspend or reduce work activities due to events related to the COVID-19 epidemiological emergency, may apply for ordinary wage supplementation (CIGO) for 9 weeks from October 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021. These benefits are also granted only within the spending limit of 140.5 million euros for the year 2021. INPS will monitor the situation, and if it anticipates—even on a prospective basis—that the spending limit will be exceeded, INPS will not consider any further applications.

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