INPS (the Italian Social Security Institution), with its message no. 2842 of 6 August 2021, provides guidelines on the absence of private-sector workers for Covid quarantine with active monitoring or voluntary homestay with active monitoring or for precautionary quarantine, ordered by the public health operator. So far, INPS has treated quarantine in the same way as illness and has recognised the corresponding allowance. The Institute clarified that it had received instructions regarding the validity of the certifications attesting to the quarantine with voluntary homestay drawn up by the GP for 2020 social security allowance purposes, even in cases where it has not been possible to find any evidence of the measure issued by the public health operator. Local departments have started the necessary activities to legalise the relevant certificates based on the assessments carried out by their medical-legal offices. These certificates were previously suspended due to the measure’s shortcomings. At the same time, INPS specified that “the legislator has not provided special funding for quarantine for 2021.” The Institute stated that it would not be possible to provide social security protection (indemnity and related notional credit) for the current year. INPS recalled that it would recover any unduly paid sickness benefits and the consequent updating of social security statements of the workers concerned. Recently, the Minister of Labour has declared that “there are the conditions to use the resources set aside by other parties” to equate the Covid quarantine with sickness, assuring that he would talk about it at the next Council of Ministers.
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Our Managing Partner Vittorio De Luca will take part in the second “Welfare & HR Summit” organised by Il Sole 24 Ore on 22 February.
This digital event explores new labour market developments and their impact on corporate governance and personnel management. It is a place for dialogue between Experts and Institutions under the new regulatory scenarios and allow Italian companies to organise themselves to beat the pandemic challenge.
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22 February 2021
3 pm – 6 pm
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Italian Law no. 178 of 30 December 2020 (known as “Budget Law”) has extended the provision of salary supplements due to COVID for a further 12 weeks. Unlike what was envisaged by the previous measures, this time the financial support is free. This means that employers are not required to pay an additional contribution in the event of a reduction in turnover of less than 20% compared to 2019 or in the absence of contraction. The 12 weeks must be used within the timeframe between (i) 1 January 2021 and 31 March 2021 for the ordinary financial support fund and (ii) 1 January 2021 and 30 June 2021 for the “Assegno Ordinario” and “Cassa Integrazione in Deroga” wage supplements. On the other hand, employers that do not require the financial support measures in question are exonerated from paying social security contributions (excluding premiums and contributions due to INAIL (Italian workplace accidents insurance institution)) for a maximum of 8 weeks, which can be used by next 31 March. This exemption is limited to wage supplement hours paid in the months of May and June 2020 and is benchmarked and applied on a monthly basis.
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Considerations at the time of COVID-19: does the current emergency integrate the hypothesis of force majeure for the suspension of remuneration? Does the current COVID-19 spread pandemic situation integrate the hypothesis of force majeure?
In the light of the above questions, it has been deemed appropriate to make some brief reflections on the impact that this event may have on employment relations, evaluating whether the particular contingency may or may not exonerate the operator unable to fulfil the contract – in this case, the employer who suspends the payment of the salary – to invoke force majeure.
As is well known, in Article 2094 of the Italian Civil Code the legislator describes an employee as “a person who is obliged by remuneration to work in the company, performing his or her intellectual or manual work under the direction and dependence of the entrepreneur”.
For the purposes of our interest, the analysis of the above rule shows that in the context of an employment relationship:
– the worker or employee is obliged to carry out a specific work activity, and
– the employer is obliged to pay a salary.
– We add that the employment relationship is, among other things, characterized by:
– the payment of wages to the worker as one of its essential elements;
– synallagmatic performance, in the sense of performance in return for remuneration.
The relationship between employer and employee can also be read from the point of view of debt and credit position.
From this point of view, the employee is bound to an obligation to do, i.e. the locatio operarum, traditionally understood as an obligation of means (one’s own working energies), the employer is bound to pay him/her the salary.
Read the full version of the article in Italian here.
Source: Guida al lavoro – Il Sole 24 ore.
