Renewal of the CCNL for Companies in the Tertiary Sector, Distribution and Services - Confcommercio
- Studio Piceci
- Apr 4, 2024
- Reading time: 12 min
News n.15/2024
On March 22nd, the trade union organizations Filcams-Cgil, Fisascat-Cisl, UilTuCS and Confcommercio-Imprese per l’Italia, signed the draft agreement for the renewal of the CCNL (National Collective Labor Agreement) for the Tertiary Sector, Distribution and Services, which expired on December 31, 2019. Subsequently, on March 28th, an Integrative Agreement was signed between the same social parties, in order to provide clarifications and specifications to the previous draft agreement.
The National Collective Labor Agreement is thus considered renewed and will have a four-year duration, with validity (for the economic part) from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2027.
For the regulatory part, instead, the renewal is effective from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2027.
Regarding the economic contents of the agreement, a salary increase of 240 euros gross is foreseen for the IV level (with relative re-parameterization on the other contractual levels), to be paid in 6 tranches, at the following deadlines:
April 1, 2023 (this is the advance on future contractual increases agreed upon with the Extraordinary Protocol of December 12, 2022, which, starting from April 1, 2024, is included in the basic pay);
April 1, 2024;
March 1, 2025;
November 1, 2025;
November 1, 2026;
February 1, 2027.
Substantial changes have been made to the regulatory part, redefining its scope of application and updating the classification of professional profiles in the sector based on the new standards.
In fact, the areas of activity in both the commerce and services sectors have been extended. In particular, the scope of organized distribution has been integrated with parapharmacy products and the inclusion of dark stores; while in the world of services, rental and sale services for audiovisuals and software and hardware products have been introduced, as well as general administrative services at private online universities, tax assistance centers, and operational marketing service companies.
Furthermore, improvements have been introduced in gender policies, and additional leave is planned for female victims of violence; specific reasons have been introduced for fixed-term employment contracts, to be used both for renewals (from the first renewal) and for extensions beyond 12 months and up to 24 months.
The Parties, sharing the importance of agile work as an organizational method to reconcile life and work times, as well as to contribute to the reduction of environmental impact, with the Agreement of March 22, 2024, have implemented the National Protocol of December 7, 2021, on agile work.
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Regarding the economic aspect, we summarize the increases in basic pay and their respective effective dates:
(*) this is the AFAC agreed with the Extraordinary Protocol of December 12, 2022.
Below are the new basic salaries and their respective deadlines, considering the increases in minimum wages:
(*) this is the AFAC agreed with the Extraordinary Protocol of December 12, 2022.
The following must be added to the amounts above:
- A function allowance for employees classified as EXECUTIVES, amounting to €260.76 per month;
- A collective over-minimum wage for employees classified at the VII level, amounting to €5.16 per month;
- The cost-of-living allowance and the distinct element of remuneration, deriving from the 1992 Interconfederal Agreement, as per the following table:
Absorptions
The Collective Bargaining Agreement stipulates that:
The following CANNOT be absorbed:
· Increases granted for merit, meaning those granted with reference to the employee's skills and performance;
· Increases deriving from seniority bonuses;
· Increases paid collectively and unilaterally by the employer during the 6 months immediately preceding the expiration of this contract (expired on December 31, 2019).
The following CAN be absorbed:
· Increases paid by companies independently of collective agreements stipulated in trade union negotiations, provided that they are absorbable by any trade union agreements;
and/or:
· Increases resulting from unilateral actions, provided that they are expressly established at the time of granting as an advance or down payment on future contractual increases, paid from January 1, 2022.
With the supplementary agreement of March 28, 2024, it was confirmed that this last point should be interpreted to mean that the advance on future contractual increases (AFAC) of €30 referring to the IV level, as an increase in the base pay, and the one-time amounts of €350 referring to the IV level provided for by the Extraordinary Protocol of December 12, 2022, cannot be absorbed by the salary increases paid from April 2024 to February 2027, nor by the amount as a one-time payment, payable in July 2024 and July 2025, as provided for in the renewal agreement of March 22, 2024.
One-Time Payment
In order to fully cover the period of contractual gap (January 1, 2020 – March 31, 2023), in addition to what is provided for by the Extraordinary Protocol of December 12, 2022, the social parties have provided for the disbursement of a "One-Time Payment" amount.
The One-Time Payment is due only to employees employed as of March 22, 2024, and is to be paid in 2 tranches, according to the following scheme by classification level:
The amount can be divided into 15 monthly installments, and is determined in proportion to the duration of the employment relationship and the actual service provided in the period from January 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023.
To reiterate, the one-time payment is disbursed in two tranches: one with the remuneration for the month of July 2024 and the other with the remuneration for the month of July 2025.
For apprentices employed as of March 22, 2024, the one-time payment will be disbursed on a pro-rata basis according to the economic treatment under the National Collective Labor Agreement of July 30, 2019, with the same effective dates of July 2024 and July 2025.
The one-time payment must be proportionally reduced in case of unpaid absences or leaves of absence. It must be re-proportioned for periods of part-time work, for suspensions and/or reductions of working hours agreed upon with a trade union agreement, or in case of hiring/termination, as well as in the case of part-time/full-time transformations and vice versa, or changes in the classification level during the reference period.
Furthermore, for the purposes of accruing one month of entitlement to the one-time payment, the calculation criterion now consolidated in our National Collective Labor Agreement, which considers a fraction equal to or greater than 15 days as a full month, applies.
The one-time payment is not relevant for the calculation of any contractual provision, nor is it a relevant amount for the purposes of the Severance Pay (Trattamento di Fine Rapporto).
According to established negotiation practice between the Parties, any amounts already paid by employers as future contractual increases and/or contractual improvements and disbursed from January 1, 2022, are to be considered for all purposes as advances on the “one-time” amounts indicated in the Agreement. It is understood that the advance payment on future contractual increases established with the Extraordinary Protocol of December 12, 2022, is not considered as such, as it has currently become a tranche of contractual increase for all purposes as provided for in Article 213 of the National Collective Labor Agreement.
With the supplementary agreement of March 28, 2024, it was confirmed that this last point should be interpreted to mean that the advance on future contractual increases of 30 euros referring to the IV level (and re-parameterized for the other levels), as an increase in the basic pay, and the one-time amounts of 350 euros referring to the IV level (and re-parameterized for the other levels), provided for by the Extraordinary Protocol of December 12, 2022, cannot be absorbed by the salary increases paid from April 2024 to February 2027, nor by the amount as One-Time Payment, payable in July 2024 and July 2025, as provided for in the renewal agreement of March 22, 2024.
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The Collective Agreement will expire on March 31, 2027, and if, six months after the contractual expiration date, the parties have not reached a renewal agreement, employees must be paid a provisional element of remuneration (so-called: “Contractual Vacancy Indemnity”), for 14 months and quantified at 30% of the forecast IPCA index for the current year (net of important energy items), applied to the minimum contractual salaries in force, including the former cost-of-living allowance. The amount of the contractual vacancy indemnity may be absorbed, up to the amount, exclusively by sums granted as an advance or anticipation on future contractual increases subsequent to March 31, 2027.
Financing of territorial bilateral bodies
The contractual rule has specified that the contribution to be recognized to the territorial bilateral body at the expense of the company (in the amount of 0.10% of basic pay + cost-of-living allowance) and the worker (in the amount of 0.05% of basic pay + cost-of-living allowance) must be paid for 14 months and includes the contribution to support the activities of the Joint Bilateral Commissions.
Consequently, the company that omits the payment of the aforementioned contribution is required to pay the employee the Separate Element of Remuneration (E.D.R.), equal to 0.30% of basic pay + cost-of-living allowance, to be paid to the employee for 14 months.
EST Fund
An increase of 3.00 euros has been established for the contribution payable by the employer to the EST Fund, effective from April 1, 2025.
Health care fund “Qu.A.S.”
An increase of a total of 40 euros has been established for the contribution payable by the employer, of which 20 euros effective from January 1, 2025, and a further 20 euros effective from January 1, 2026.
New Staff Classification
An important intervention concerned a detailed activity of revision and updating of the professional figures contained in the staff classification.
In this regard, it should be noted that the declaration recorded in the minutes in Articles 113 and 115 of this National Collective Labor Agreement provides that the updates of the professional figures included in the aforementioned articles apply to personnel hired from March 22, 2024, while any coordination for figures employed as of that date must be carried out at company level.
For the sole purpose of hiring through professionalizing apprenticeship, the entry into force of the new classification system will be effective from June 1, 2024. Consequently, until the same date and for the same purposes, the previous professional figures remain in force.
The main innovations concern the abolition of professional figures considered obsolete and at the same time new figures have been introduced, including: “the head of training processes and related supply chain”, as well as “the optometrist” and the “parapharmacy pharmacist” together with the inclusion of more current figures such as “the remote sales clerk” and the “e-commerce clerk” (the latter at the V level in the first 18 months from hiring).
Furthermore, in the context of drug distribution, the Parties have committed to regulate by the end of December 2025 the permanence of the figure of the “commission preparer” in the wholesale drug warehouses with the aid of IT support, currently classified at the V level of the classification.
Among the new developments was the reorganization of the classification system for employees of service sector companies, where examples of professional roles operating in the macro-areas of advertising, marketing, and communication/events (Section A), market research (Section B), as well as auditing and business consulting (Section C) were defined, considered as reference points for all companies within the scope of application of the National Collective Labor Agreement (CCNL). Furthermore, the entire Information and Communication Technology macro-area has been updated.
Moreover, the establishment of a specific technical commission has been planned, tasked with defining additional roles operating in the sector, including creative and cultural enterprises, within the contractual term.
Introduction of causal grounds for fixed-term contracts
The Parties have defined the causal grounds for the legitimate application of a term to individual employment contracts with a duration exceeding 12 months, but in any case not exceeding 24 months, or in cases of contract renewal (causal ground to be included from the first renewal).
It is reminded that, by effect of the current provisions, from the effective date of this CCNL (April 1, 2024), it will no longer be possible to apply individual causal grounds for technical, organizational, or production needs, as provided until December 31, 2024, by Article 19, paragraph 1, letter b), of Legislative Decree No. 81/2015), as collective causal grounds will supplant them.
The causal grounds introduced in this contract renewal are listed here:
1) Sales. This category includes workers hired during the sales periods related to end-of-season sales, both winter and summer, as per specific regional regulations;
2) Trade Fairs. This category includes workers hired during the periods affected by the holding of trade fairs identified by the national and international trade fair calendar, including the seven days before and seven days after the fair;
3) Christmas Holidays. This category includes workers hired during the Christmas holidays, specifically in the period between November 15 and January 15;
4) Easter Holidays. This category includes workers hired during the Easter holidays, more specifically in the period between fifteen days before and fifteen days after Easter day;
5) Environmental Impact Reduction. This category includes workers hired with specific skills and employed directly in organizational and/or production processes aimed at reducing the environmental impact of the processes themselves;
6) Advanced Tertiary Sector. This category includes workers hired for
specific tasks of designing, creating, assisting, and selling innovative products, including digital ones, within the advanced tertiary sector. In this regard, this category includes all activities connected to all phases of development – even just one of them – of an innovative product, such as high-tech products, or new materials or services that contribute to improving the level of performance and making processes more efficient.
7) Digitalization. This category includes workers hired with specific professional skills for the development of methodologies and new skills in the digital field;
8) New Openings. This category includes workers hired for the opening of a new production/operational unit and restructurings in the maximum period of 24 months from the date of the new opening of the production/operational unit or in the maximum period of 24 months during the restructuring phase of production/operational units, understood as the expansion of the sales area or the opening of new departments. It should be noted that this category also includes restructuring processes - in addition to new openings of production and operational units - intending as such, by way of example only, also the diversification or expansion of the services offered by a company.
Regarding new openings, the Parties have also established to exclude these employment relationships from the capping limits – as provided for by Article 23, paragraph 2, of Legislative Decree No. 81/2015 – only the employment relationships established in the first 12 months from the new opening. Furthermore, it should be noted that this regulation does not include the start-up/beginning of new activities, which, instead, are already regulated in Article 76 of the National Collective Labor Agreement;
9) Temporary Increase. This category includes workers hired for temporary projects or assignments lasting more than 12 months or extended beyond 12 consecutive months, for a maximum duration of 24 months.
The aforementioned causal grounds may be legitimately applied to contracts lasting more than 12 and not exceeding 24 months for extensions or renewals of contracts beyond 12 months or for the renewal of a contract (regardless of the duration) and must be detailed to justify the reasons in relation to the duration, beyond the mere "title", to avoid the risk of litigation.
It is important to emphasize that these causal grounds can be used by all companies applying this National Collective Labor Agreement, without any distinction between production sectors.
In addition to these, second-level bargaining, territorial and/or company-level, may identify further causal grounds. This bargaining may also: agree on pathways for stabilizing fixed-term contracts; verify that job opportunities in the cases provided for in this article can also be aimed at increasing the working hours of part-time workers present in the production units; identify events/fairs/exhibitions relevant to the territorial context such as to justify the hiring of workers in the periods affected by the holding of events/fairs/exhibitions between seven days before and seven days after the event/fair/exhibition. This causal ground may be legitimately applied to contracts lasting more than 12 months and not exceeding 24 months for extensions or renewals of contracts beyond 12 months or for the renewal of a contract (regardless of the duration).
Parental Leave
Regarding parental leave, the Contract reflects the provisions of Legislative Decree No. 105/2022 “Implementation of Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 20, 2019, on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU”, incorporating the recent regulatory changes of Article 34 of Legislative Decree 151/2001 regarding parental leave and thus adapting the contractual provisions both in relation to the duration of the leave and to the amount of the allowance due.
The same contractual provision has also introduced a further specification referring to the impact of individual institutions during the use of parental leave. In particular, it has provided that periods of parental leave are counted in seniority of service and do not entail a reduction of holidays, rest periods (ROL or ex-holidays), additional monthly payments with the exception of accessory emoluments connected to actual presence in service.
Lastly, the notice period within which the worker is required to notify the employer of the request for parental leave has been reduced to 5 days (previously it was 15 days).
Leave for women victims of violence
As per Article 24 of Legislative Decree No. 80 of June 15, 2015, female workers included in protection programs related to gender-based violence, duly certified by the social services of their municipality of residence, by anti-violence centers, or by shelters, are entitled to abstain from work for a maximum period of 90 working days.
To exercise this right, the worker, except in cases of objective impossibility, is required to notify the employer with a notice period of at least seven days and to produce certification attesting to their inclusion in the programs in question.
During the leave period, the worker is entitled to an allowance corresponding to their last salary, which is advanced by the employer and offset against contributions due to INPS (National Social Security Institute) using the same procedures as for maternity benefits.
The leave can be used on an hourly or daily basis within a three-year period. The worker can choose between daily and hourly use, provided that the hourly use is allowed up to half of the average daily hours of the month immediately preceding the start of the leave.
Elastic clauses in part-time employment relationships
Regarding part-time contracts, it has been established that, starting from January 1, 2025, the compensation to be recognized to the worker for the inclusion of the flexible clause in the individual employment contract will increase from 120 to 155 euros per year, non-cumulative, to be paid in monthly installments.
For all the latest updates, please refer to the National Collective Labor Agreement, which can be viewed in the attachments below:
News Studio:
Confcommercio Draft Agreement 22.03.2024:
ALL. 2 Integrative Minutes CCNL TDS March 28, 2024:
Confcommercio operational clarifications Renewal of the CCNL: