Social security contribution incentives: why checking them (also retrospectively) can free up resources for the Company

Prepared by Marzio Scaglioni, Leila Rguibi, Andrea Brignoli

Social security contribution incentives are one of the tools through which the legislator pursues the objective of promoting maximum employment and facilitating the entry into the labour market of specific categories of individuals (such as young people, women, unemployed people, among others). In most cases, the relief results in a lower contribution burden for the employer and therefore in savings on the overall cost of labour, without penalising the employee, whose pension is calculated on the “full” contribution base.

The range of measures is broad and constantly evolving: incentives vary according to the type of employer (size, sector, location of the workplace, e.g. in the Single Special Economic Zone for Southern Italy – ZES) and the category of the person hired. Alongside structural measures, such as the 50% relief for the permanent hiring of young people under 30, there are many others that can be considered “contingent” (for example, the Women’s Bonus, the Youth Bonus, the ZES Bonus, the tax exemption for hiring mothers with at least three children, etc.).

However, access to any incentive is subject to numerous and complex checks. It is necessary to verify the subjective requirements of the employee (age, unemployment status, absence of previous open-ended employment, etc.) and the objective requirements of the incentive hiring (type of contract, net increase in headcount, absence of dismissals in certain periods, etc.), in addition to the general conditions: by way of example only, and not exhaustively, contribution compliance (DURC) and compliance with legal obligations and collective agreements, as well as the principles set out in Article 31 of Legislative Decree No. 150/2015 (for example, the incentive is not due if the hire implements a pre-existing obligation or breaches a right of precedence).

It is also necessary to check the specific methods of use of each incentive: many measures require a prior online application to INPS (e.g. through the “Incentives Portal”), are subject to spending caps and application deadlines (consider the 30 September 2026 deadline for the Cohesion Decree exemptions) and must be correctly reported in the UniEmens filings. Moreover, the operation of many reliefs depends on the publication of INPS technical and operational instructions and, in some cases, on EU authorisation.

There is also a significant new development: from 1^st December 2026, employers intending to benefit from incentives and contribution relief for new hires will be required to publish the vacancy in advance on the SIISL portal (Information System for Social and Employment Inclusion. The vacancy must be linked to the Mandatory Employment Notification and tracked in UniEmens filings via the id_vacancy; otherwise, the relief may not be granted even where all other requirements are met.

Precisely because of the complexity of the framework, in practice companies quite often fail to benefit from incentives to which they would be entitled: because INPS instructions were issued after the start date of the measure, because the requirements were not checked at the time of hiring, or because the relief was not captured in the payroll cycle. This is where an important opportunity arises: entitlement to incentives can also be verified retrospectively.

Employers may in fact analyse their existing workforce to identify incentives not yet claimed but potentially due, and then recover them within the five-year limitation period, together with all applicable law requirements.

Retrospective recovery, however, requires a thorough check of all applicable legal conditions, with reference to the period in which the relief would have been due: formal and substantive requirements of each measure, the possible need for and timeliness of the application to INPS, compliance with spending caps, contribution compliance, absence of disqualifying violations (in the areas of labour law, social legislation and health and safety) and compliance with the principles of Article 31 of Legislative Decree No. 150/2015. It is also necessary to identify the correct operational recovery method (e.g. offsetting or correction of UniEmens filings) indicated by INPS for each measure.

A rigorous analysis also protects the company in the event of subsequent inspections. Paragraph 1175-bis of Article 1 of Law No. 296/2006 introduced an important mitigation regime: benefits already enjoyed are not recovered if the employer regularises its contribution obligations and the violations found within the deadlines set by the inspection bodies, while for violations that cannot be regularised the recovery may not exceed twice the amount of the penalty.

The economic benefits can be significant: many exemptions cover up to 100% of employer contributions, with caps which, for example, reach EUR 8,000 per year per employee and a duration of up to 24 or 36 months. Recovering unclaimed incentives therefore makes it possible to free up additional financial resources, which the company can reinvest in new hires, training, pay policies or welfare.

With a view to optimising labour costs, it is therefore advisable to carry out a systematic mapping of past hires, cross-checking employees’ personal and contractual data against the incentive measures in force in the various periods and the available documentation (Mandatory Employment Notifications, Single Employment Register, UniEmens filings, DURC). Going forward, it is equally important to embed the incentive check in the recruiting process, also in light of the new obligation to publish vacancies on SIISL.

It should not be overlooked that, in addition to these social security contribution incentives, companies can often evaluate and combine further so-called “non-automatic” grant schemes published by Ministries, Regional Authorities, Chambers of Commerce, and Interprofessional Funds. These incentives can be applied for to increase the overall benefits available in support of employment initiatives or employee training programs.

Our professional advisors are available to assist companies at every stage of the process: from mapping the workforce and checking the requirements under the applicable rules, to calculating and support recovering the incentives due within the limitation period. It is understood that this area is constantly evolving and requires ongoing monitoring.