Incentives have been introduced for the permanent private sector employment of workers in southern Italy.

Application

In order to encourage employment in the southern Italian regions, incentives have been introduced specifically for the permanent employment, in the private sector, of unemployed workers in the Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Puglia, Sicily, Abruzzo, Molise and Sardinia.

Requirements

Employers hiring the following workers without being obliged to, between 1 January and 31 December 2017, are eligible for this incentive:

  • unemployed young people aged between 16 and 24 years
  • workers aged 25 years and over that have not been in regularly paid employment for at least six months. This applies to anyone who, in the six months prior to the subsidised employment, has not worked under an employment contract with a duration of at least six months, or has not worked under a regime of self-employment or semi-employment generating an income lower than the minimum annual income excluded from taxation (respectively €8,000 or 4,800).

By Letter no. 41/2017, INPS has clarified that without prejudice to the conversion of temporary employment contracts into permanent contracts, for the purpose of eligibility to the incentive, workers must not have been under an employment contract with the same employer in the six months prior to employment.

Subsidised employment applies to the following contracts:

  • permanent employment including staff leasing
  • professional apprenticeship
  • permanent part-time employment
  • conversion of temporary employment into permanent employment

cooperative member workers, if hired by way of a permanent employment contract.

The incentive at hand, which is payable in monthly instalments, is equal to the social security contributions on the account of employers with a maximum amount of €8,060 annually per worker hired.

The benefit is payable in compliance with the provisions on the so-called de minimis aids. In the event of excess amounts, the benefit will still be granted if the employment constitutes a net occupational increase.

Process

To receive the incentive, since 15 March 2017, INPS has made available on its website (within the app DiResCo - Dichiarazioni di Responsabilità del Contribuente), a form named "B.SUD" for submission of a preliminary application for admission to the grants and to book the incentives.

The applications relating to workers hired between 1 January and 14 March 2017 must have been submitted by 30 March 2017. For these applications, the verification of the financial resources will be made in the chronological order of the effective employment dates. Regarding applications submitted after this date, the availability of resources will be evaluated in the chronological order of submission of the applications. If within 30 days from the date on which the application has been submitted, the Institute communicates that the application has been granted, the employer must proceed with the hiring within seven calendar days. Within 10 calendar days from the date of acceptance of the booking (visible at the bottom of the application), the employer must also notify, under penalty of invalidation, that employment has occurred and request confirmation of the booking be made.

Finally, it should be considered that for the purpose of the legitimate use of the incentives, employers must be in good regulatory and contributory standing, as provided for by the applicable legislation on the matter.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.