New “PNRR” Decree: main updates on labour issues

Edited by Francesca Tironi, Giulia Spalazzi, Giulia Duso

On 2 March 2024, Law Decree No. 19/2024 came into force, providing for “Further urgent provisions for the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR)” (the “Decree”).

This article summarizes some of the main innovations on labour issues contained in Chapter VIII of the Decree and, in particular, on the prevention and combating of irregular work, on the strengthening of assessment activities and on combating violations in the areas of contributions and safety at work.

1. Provisions on contracts for services and supply of workmanship

Contracts for services, subcontracts and supply of workmanship (Article 29, paragraph 2) – The Decree establishes that the personnel employed in the contract for works or services and in the subcontract, if any, shall be paid an overall economic treatment not less than that provided for by the national and territorial collective agreement most widely applied in the sector and for the area whose scope of application is closely related to the activity that is the subject of the contract.

The Decree also provides for the extension of the solidarity regime in the obligation to pay wages and contributions between the principal and the contractor also in the cases of the user resorting to the supply of workers in the cases referred to in Article 18, paragraph 2, as well as in the cases of contracting and secondment referred to in Article 18, paragraph 5-bis, Legislative Decree No. 276/2003.

Increase in sanctions in the area of outsourcing (Article 29, paragraphs 3 and 4) – Among the provisions of a repressive nature, criminal sanctions are introduced – in place of administrative sanctions, the result of a previous decriminalization – for the cases of fraudulent supply of workmanship, unlawful use of workers, and abusive supply with exploitation of minors.

In particular, the amounts of sanctions in the field of labour and social legislation are increased by 30% in the case of the employment of employees without prior notification of the establishment of the employment relationship by the private employer; on the other hand, sanctions relating to violations of the provisions of art. 18 of Legislative Decree No. 276/2003 (supply of workmanship), Article 12 of Legislative Decree No. 136/2016 (secondment), and Article 18-bis, paragraphs 3 and 4, of Legislative Decree No. 66/2003 (working hours) are increased by 20%.

With regard to the supply of workmanship:

the unauthorized exercise of the activities is punishable with arrest of up to one month (a sanction not previously provided for) or a fine of EUR 60 for each worker employed and for each day of work; if there is no profit motive, the punishment is a term of arrest of up to two months or a fine of EUR 600 to EUR 3,000;
the unauthorized exercise of staff searches and selection and outplacement support activities is punished with arrest of up to three months (a sanction not previously provided for) or a fine ranging from EUR 900 to EUR 4,500; if there is no profit motive, the sanction is arrest of up to forty-five days (a sanction not previously provided for) or a fine ranging from EUR 300 to EUR 1,500;
in respect of the user who resorts to the hiring of workers by persons other than those provided for by law or in any case outside the limits provided for therein, the penalty of arrest of up to one month (penalty not previously provided for) or of a fine of EUR 60 for each worker employed and for each day of employment shall apply;
in cases of non-genuine contract for services and/or secondment, the user and the supplier are punished with arrest of up to one month (a sanction not previously provided for) or a fine of EUR 60 for each worker employed and for each day of employment;
a sanction is also introduced in the case of supply of workmanship carried out for the specific purpose of circumventing mandatory provisions of the law or of the collective agreement applied to the worker: in this case, the supplier and the user are punished with arrest of up to three months or a fine of EUR 100 for each worker involved and for each day of supply.

The amounts of the aforementioned sanctions are increased by 20% where, in the previous three years, the employer has been subject to criminal penalties for the same offences. The amount of the sanctions may not, in any case, be less than EUR 5,000 or more than EUR 50,000.

Supply of workmanship’s adequacy checks in construction (Article 29, paragraphs 10 to 13) – The Decree then focuses on public and private construction contracts. In this context, before proceeding to the final payment of the works, the project manager (in public contracts) or the principal (in private contracts) are obliged to verify the appropriateness of the costs of workmanship. In particular, in the case of private contracts with a total value of EUR 500,000 or more, the payment of the final balance, in the absence of a positive outcome of the verification or prior regularization of the position by the contractor, entails an administrative sanction between EUR 1,000 and EUR 5,000 to be borne by the principal.

Points license in construction sites (Article 29, paragraph 19) – Also in the area of construction sites, the Decree introduced a new system of qualification of companies and self-employed workers (so-called points license), mandatory for those who intend to operate in construction sites, in order to strengthen the activity of combating undeclared work and supervision in the area of health and safety in the workplace.

As of 1 October 2024, companies and self-employed workers operating at temporary or mobile construction sites pursuant to Article 89, paragraph 1, letter a) of the Health and Safety Legislative Decree No. 81/2008 (“TUS”). The license is issued, in digital format, by the competent territorial office of the Labour Office subject to possession of the following requirements by the legal head of the applicant company or self-employed person:

registration with the chamber of commerce industry and handicrafts;
fulfilment, by the employer, the managers, the supervisors and the workers of the enterprise, of the specific training obligations;
fulfilment, by self-employed workers, of the training obligations provided for by the Decree;
possession of the valid Single Document of Contribution Regularity (so-called “DURC”);
possession of the Risk Assessment Document (so-called “DVR”);
possession of the Single Document of Fiscal Regularity (so-called “DURF”).

The license has an initial score of thirty points and allows persons to operate on temporary or mobile construction sites with a minimum of 15 points. The license is subject to deductions related to the results of investigations and consequent definitive measures issued to holders by the competent authorities for violations of TUS articles. In the case of accidents resulting in death or permanent incapacity for work, absolute or partial, the competent territorial branch of the National Labour Office may suspend the license as a precautionary measure for up to twelve months.

Points deducted may be restored following attendance of training courses by the holder. Each course enables five points to be regained, subject to transmission of the relevant certificate of attendance to the competent office of the National Labour Office. The points thus regained may not exceed a total of 15.

Any activity on temporary or mobile construction sites by a company or a self-employed worker without a license or in possession of a license with a score lower than fifteen points shall entail: (a) the payment of an administrative sanction ranging from EUR 6,000 to EUR 12,000 and (b) exclusion from participation in public works pursuant to Legislative Decree No. 36/2023 for a period of six months.

2. Inspections

Inspectorate’s compliance list (Article 29, paragraphs 7 to 9) – The Decree establishes that upon the outcome of inspections on labour and social legislation, including health and safety in the workplace, if no violations or irregularities are found, the National Labour Office (“INL”) issues a certificate and enters the employer, subject to consent, in a publicly searchable computerized list called the “INL compliance list”.

Employers to whom the certificate has been issued are not subject, for a period of twelve months from the date of registration, to further checks by INL in the matters covered by the checks, without prejudice to checks on health and safety in the workplace, any requests for intervention, and investigations ordered by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. In the event of violations or irregularities ascertained through evidence subsequently acquired by the supervisory bodies, the INL shall remove the employer from the INL Compliance List.

Measures to strengthen the activity of ascertaining and combating violations in the field of contributions (Article 30) – The Decree introduced additional provisions in the area of contributions in order to implement one of the missions of the PNRR concerning the introduction of direct and indirect measures to transform undeclared work into regular work by making it more advantageous to operate in the regular economy.

In particular, with effect from 1 September 2024, persons who fail to pay their contributions or premiums due to the social security and welfare administrations by the established deadline, or who do so to an extent less than the amount due, shall be liable:

in the event of non-payment or delayed payment of contributions or premiums, the amount of which can be ascertained from the reports and/or compulsory registrations, to the payment of a civil penalty, on an annual basis, equal to the official reference rate increased by 5.5 points. If the payment of the contributions or premiums is made within one hundred and twenty days, in a single instalment, spontaneously before any dispute or request by the tax authorities, the surcharge does not apply. The civil penalty may not exceed 40% of the amount of the contributions or premiums not paid by the statutory deadline;
in the event of evasion connected to omitted or untrue registrations, reports or compulsory declarations, carried out with the specific intention of not paying contributions or premiums by concealing existing employment relationships, remuneration paid or income produced, or facts or information relevant to the determination of the contribution obligation, to the payment of a civil penalty, on a yearly basis, equal to 30%, it being understood that the civil penalty may not exceed 60% of the amount of the contributions or premiums not paid by the statutory deadline.

If the declaration of the debt situation is made spontaneously before any dispute or request by the tax authorities, and in any case within twelve months from the due date for payment of the contributions or premiums, the persons concerned shall be required to pay a civil penalty equal, at the yearly rate, to the official reference rate increased by 5.5 points, if the contributions or premiums are paid in a single instalment within thirty days of the declaration. The official reference rate shall be increased by 7.5 points, if the lump-sum payment of contributions or premiums is made within ninety days of the notification. The civil penalty may not, in any case, exceed 40% of the amount of the contributions or premiums not paid within the statutory deadline;
in the event of a debt situation detected ex officio by the Tax Authorities or as a result of inspections, to the payment of the civil penalty referred to above at the rate of 50%, if the payment of the contributions and premiums is made, in a single instalment, within thirty days of the notification of the dispute.

Moreover, in order to introduce more advanced forms of communication between the taxpayer and the INPS, also in terms of anticipating contribution deadlines, aimed at simplifying compliance, stimulating the fulfilment of contribution obligations and encouraging the spontaneous emergence of taxable bases, as from 1 September 2024, INPS will make available to the taxpayer (or to its intermediary) the elements and information in its possession referable to the same taxpayer, either acquired directly or received from third parties, relating to employment relationships, taxable amounts and elements relevant to the determination of the contribution obligations. The taxpayer may report to INPS any facts, elements and circumstances not known to the latter.

Also with effect from 1 September 2024, and without prejudice to any further inspections, the activities of control and charging of social security contributions, including the contributions due in the event of the use of employees formally charged to a third party or under joint and several liability may be based on verifications carried out ex officio by INPS on the basis of elements drawn also from the consultation of databases of INPS itself or of other public administrations, from which the existence and extent of undeclared taxable bases or the enjoyment of contributory benefits, exemptions or concessions, however denominated, wholly or partly not due, can be deduced.

On the basis of the results of the assessment activity carried out ex officio, the INPS may issue a notice of assessment, to be notified to the taxpayer by certified mail as a priority. Where the taxpayer makes full payment of the contributions due within thirty days of such notification, the civil penalty shall apply to the extent provided for in Article 116(8)(c) of Law No. 388/2000.

3. Other provisions

Regulatory and contributory benefits (Article 29, paragraph 1) – The Decree provides for the provision of regulatory and contributory benefits under labour and social legislation, subject to the absence of violations in these matters. The right to such benefits remains unaffected, however, in the event of subsequent regularization of contribution and insurance obligations as well as further violations ascertained, within certain deadlines. In the case of administrative violations that cannot be regularized, the recovery of the benefits paid out cannot be more than double the amount of the sanctioned amount.

Emersion of irregular domestic work (Article 29, paragraphs 15 to 18) – On the subject of domestic work, an exemption from the payment of 100% of social security and insurance contributions has been introduced for domestic employers (who have a valid indicator of the equivalent economic situation (ISEE) value, not exceeding EUR 6. 000), up to a maximum amount of EUR 3,000 on an annual basis, in the case of recruitment or conversion to an open-ended contract of domestic work contracts with tasks of caregiver to elderly persons, with an age of at least eighty years, who already have an accompanying allowance.

Further urgent labour provisions (Article 31) – Lastly, the Decree provided for measures to strengthen/reinforce inspection and supervision staff in the field of labour, social legislation and safety at work (INL, Carabinieri Nucleus, INPS and INAIL) for checks on the Italian territory.