Retired 5 years early with the «expansion contract»? Because (maybe) it will no longer be possible – WWN

Expansion contract Goodbye. The Meloni government seems determined not to extend for 2024 the incentivized exodus for companies with over 50 employees introduced, on an experimental basis, in 2019 by the Growth decree and renewed several times until the end of 2023. Without a last-minute intervention in the conversion in law of the Milleproroghe decree, expected by the end of February, the tools for companies to accompany their employees to retirement will thus be reduced.

Who it was aimed at

The expansion contract was designed with the aim of helping company reconversions and restructuring by replacing the expansionary solidarity contracts. The declared objective was to encourage the restructuring of companies in crisis, avoiding the phenomenon of redundancies. The 2022 budget law had given another two years of life to the contract which allowed, subject to agreement between the company and the unions, to voluntarily retire workers who were less than 5 years away from leaving work (both in the case of old age pension, at 67 years, and early, 42 years and 10 months for men and 41 years and 10 months for women). The Draghi government, with the latest extension, had introduced a substantial change by also including medium-small companies with at least 50 employees in the contract (the 2019 expansion contract only concerned companies with at least 1,000 employees, which dropped to 250 and then again to 100).

How the contract worked

The worker who signed up to the agreement was entitled to a pension equal to that accrued at the time of ordinary exit. The cost of the monthly allowance, for the entire duration of the advance, was borne by the company, net of the value of the Naspi due to those who take early retirement. The pension that would then be received could be cumulated with any income from other work. The calculation of the monthly allowance (for 13 months) was done by the INPS, based on the gross pension accrued at the time of termination of the employment relationship. The costs that fell on the company were partly compensated by the State through the use of Naspi which financed the retirement allowance and the recognition of the notional contribution.

What tools do companies have left?

Now, accompanying an employee to retirement will therefore cost companies much more. If the government does not change its mind (as mentioned, the renewal of the instrument for at least this year could still be included in the conversion into law of the Milleproroghe decree), the instruments remaining at their disposal in the business world are reduced to isopension (read how this tool works, in force until 2026); the extraordinary allowance of bilateral solidarity funds and the social Ape (read here), which however is reserved only for certain categories of disadvantaged workers.

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