Incentives only for those who apply the salary treatments of leading contracts

Access to the benefits for employers under the 1 May decree is granted if the individual economic treatment paid to the worker is not lower than the overall economic treatment (Tec) of the leading contracts. Therefore, in order to benefit from the incentives - first and foremost the decontribution for the hiring of young people under 35, of over 35 in the Single Zones of Southern Italy and of 'disadvantaged' women -, it is necessary to apply economic treatments including minimum wage rates, allowances and accessory salary, similar to those of the Ccnl signed by the employers' associations and the comparatively most representative trade unions.

The draft of the Decree brought to the Council of Ministers to support the dissemination of the 'fair wage', refers to the Total Economic Treatment (TEC) defined by the national collective bargaining agreements signed by the employers' and workers' organisations 'comparatively more representative at national level' - the so-called leader agreements - taking into account the reference production sector and category, as well as the main or prevailing activity exercised, the size and legal nature of the employer. The TEC provided for in collective bargaining agreements signed by smaller unions may also not be lower than the TEC identified by the leading collective bargaining agreement. For sectors not covered by collective bargaining, the TEC cannot be lower than that provided for by the leading Ccnl. On the SIISL digital platform, the job positions published must bear the indication of the Ccnl applied with the unique alphanumeric code assigned, the salary linked to the qualification and the contractual level, corresponding to the task to which the worker is assigned.

Another rule of the draft is at risk, which provides that the planned salary increases of expired collective labour agreements run from the natural expiration date of the previous contract. If collective labour agreements are not renewed within the first twelve months following the natural expiration date, salaries are adjusted, by way of a lump-sum advance of the planned salary increase, to the change in the HICP, up to a maximum of 50 per cent per year, without prejudice to any other contractual agreements. The rule applies to collective bargaining agreements that expire after the entry into force of the decree; for collective bargaining agreements that have already expired, the provisions apply from 1 January 2027.

The draft also includes the refinancing of the New Skills Fund increased, for 2026, by EUR 500 million from the administrative surplus of the Anpal account - which finances hourly wages, as well as charges for social security and welfare contributions for working hours allocated to training courses - a provision, however, at risk due to coverage problems (see 'Il Sole -24 ore' of 26 April).

A chapter of the draft Decree is dedicated to occupational health and safety regulations: in Legislative Decree No. 81 of 2008, reference is added to the certifications relating to the fulfilment of occupational health and safety training obligations under the decree, which must be uploaded by the employer within the Social and Labour File, interoperable with the SIISL platform for the purposes of their validity, within five days of their issue by the training organisations.