Maternity bonus and Under-35 employment stabilisation incentive: INPS exemptions now in force

If the contract is converted to a permanent contract, the exemption applies for a maximum period of eighteen months from the date of the original appointment. Finally, if the employee is hired on a permanent contract, the exemption applies for a period of twenty-four months from the date of recruitment.

Domestic employment contracts and apprenticeship arrangements are excluded from this benefit, as the regulatory framework already provides for the application of social security contribution rates that are lower than the standard rate in respect of these arrangements.

Let’s look at the procedures for claiming the exemption. The employer who has taken on the employee must submit to INPS – using only the online application form ‘ELM3’ – specifically designed by the Institute and already available on the website www.inps.it, in the ‘Portale delle Agevolazioni (formerly DiResCo)’ section – to submit an application for the scheme.

Once the INPS has received the online application, it uses its central IT systems to verify compliance with the eligibility criteria and that sufficient resources are available. Following authorisation, the exemption may be applied for in contribution returns and, if recruitment has already taken place, any incentive payments due for previous months may also be claimed.

In its circular no. 2518 of 29 July 2026, the INPS provided guidance on how to fully implement the incentive scheme for converting fixed-term employment contracts into permanent ones for young people under the age of 35.

The Institute announces that applications for exemption from social security contributions may be submitted for conversions carried out or to be carried out from 1 August 2026 onwards, by logging in with your digital identity to the institutional website www.inps.it, in the section entitled “Subsidy Portal (formerly DiResCo) – Incentives under the 2026 Labour Decree – Article 4 – ESTA’, and by completing the relevant online application form.

The incentive consists of a 100 per cent exemption from the payment of social security contributions payable by private employers in respect of the conversion of fixed-term employment contracts to permanent contracts, carried out between 1 August 2026 and 31 December 2026, concerning young people who, on the date of the conversion, have not yet reached the age of thirty-five and have never been employed on a permanent basis; this is known as the ‘Stabilisation Incentive’.

In this regard, it should be noted that, in Circular No. 72 of 3 July 2026, the Institute has already published instructions regarding the scope of application of the provisions set out in Article 4, namely the conversion of employment contracts for young people to permanent contracts, for the purposes of the lawful application of the contribution exemption, must meet two conditions: they must be carried out within the time period expressly provided for in Article 4 of the Labour Decree, namely from 1 August 2026 to 31 December 2026; they must relate, without interruption, to employment contracts originally established on a fixed-term basis that meet two criteria: with regard to the start date of the fixed-term employment contract to be converted into a permanent contract, it must have been established no later than 30 April 2026; with regard to the duration of the fixed-term employment relationship to be converted, its actual duration must not exceed twelve months.