You are in

Solidarity fund for mooring crew and boatmen of Italian ports

Publication: 17/02/2022

The Bilateral solidarity fund of mooring crew and boatmen of Italian ports was established by decree of the Minister of Labour and Social Policies, jointly with the Minister of Economy and Finance, No. 95440 of 18 April 2016, published in the Official Gazette No. 138 of 15 June 2016. The Fund has no legal status and enjoys financial and equity autonomy (INPS circular No. 141 of 3 August 2016).

The Fund, managed by INPS, is joined by all workers in the mooring crew and boatmen Groups of Italian ports operating in ports and in coastal waters regardless of the number of staff. This Fund provides the ordinary allowance in favour of workers, excluding managers, who are affected by decreases in working hours or temporary suspension of work due to the reasons provided for by the legislation on ordinary or extraordinary wage subsidies, as well as the payment of the contribution related to the relevant compulsory insurance scheme of each worker.

All workers of mooring crew groups and boatmen of Italian ports with an employment relationship, including apprentices with a professional apprenticeship employment contract regardless of the number of staff, may benefit from the Fund's benefits. Dependent workers and managers with an apprenticeship contract for professional qualification and diploma, upper secondary education diploma and higher technical specialisation certificate and workers with an apprenticeship contract for higher education and research are excluded.

START DATE AND DURATION

The ordinary allowance can be paid for a maximum duration of no less than one eighth of the total hours that can be worked to be calculated in a two-year rolling period and not exceeding one year.

Specifically, in the event of lodging an appeal regarding the Ordinary Wage Compensation Fund (transitory events and not attributable to the employer or dependent workers, including seasonal inclement weather, as well as temporary market situations), the allowance can be granted up to a maximum period of 13 continuous weeks, which can be extended quarterly up to an overall maximum of 52 weeks in a two-year period.

Employers who received the 52 consecutive weeks of ordinary allowance may propose a new claim for the same production unit, only if a period of at least 52 weeks of normal work has elapsed.

For reasons of the Ordinary Wage Compensation Fund (CIGO), ordinary hours of allowance exceeding the limit of one third of the workable hours in the two-year period cannot be authorised, with reference to all workers of the productive unit who are on average employed in the semester preceding the claim.

The ordinary allowance, in the event of an appeal to the Extraordinary Wage Compensation Fund (reorganisation and corporate crisis), can be paid for a maximum of 12 months, even continuous, in a two-year period. For corporate crises, a new claim cannot be granted before a period of two-thirds of the previous authorisation has elapsed, again within the maximum limit of 12 months in the two-year period.

For reasons of Extraordinary Wage Compensation Fund (CIGS) for corporate reorganisation and crises, starting from 24 September 2017, suspensions of work can be authorised only up to 80% of the hours that can be worked by the production unit in the time frame of referred to the authorised programme.

The maximum duration of the ordinary allowance, for each production unit, in compliance with the rolling two-year period, cannot exceed a total of 24 months in a rolling five-year period.

Groups that make use of the ordinary allowance cannot involve more than 40 work units per year for a period of less than 80 working days each and for a maximum of 3,200 total days a year of the redundancy fund.

WHAT AM I ENTITLED TO?

The amount of the benefit allowance is set at 80% of the overall remuneration that the worker would be entitled to for hours not worked, between zero hours and the limit of contracted working hours. Therefore, for 2020, the maximum gross monthly benefit is of 998,18 for salaries equal to or less than €2.159,48 and 1.199,72 for salaries over Euro 2.159,48 (INPS circular No. 20 of 10 February 2020). The amounts are re-assessed annually in accordance with the procedures and criteria in effect for the CIGO.

For periods in which the ordinary allowance is paid, the Fund pays the benefit's corresponding contribution to the employee's pension scheme. The contribution due is used to achieve pension eligibility (including the advance pension) and to determine its amount.

The remuneration value considered for the calculation of contributions is equal to the amount of the normal remuneration that the worker would be entitled to in the month the work event takes place. The sums necessary to cover the corresponding contribution are calculated using the funding rate of the dependent workers' pension scheme in force at the time and are paid by the Fund for each quarter within the following quarter.

The Fund operates in accordance with the balanced budget principle and cannot make payments if it has no financial resources. Payments borne by the Fund are granted following the creation of specific financial reserves and within the limits of the resources already acquired.

For the funding of all services, the Fund is due an ordinary monthly contribution of 0.30% (of which 0.20% is borne by the employer and 0.10% by dependent workers), which is calculated on the taxable remuneration for social security purposes of all employed workers, excluding managers. In the event of making use of the ordinary allowance an additional contribution of 1.5% is also due to the Fund, calculated on the taxable salaries for social security purposes lost by workers receiving benefits.

The same provisions in force concerning CIGO apply to the benefits guaranteed by the Fund in terms of payments and reimbursement of benefits. Therefore the payment is made directly by the employer to entitled dependent workers, at the end of each pay period, and reimbursed by INPS to the employer or from this settled. The payment is reimbursed to the employer on the basis of the regulations for the balance between contributions due and benefits paid, within six months of the end of the pay period in progress at the end of the term of duration or from the date of the authorisation, if subsequent to the period pay in progress at the end of the term of the concession.

With INPS circular No. 170 of 15 November 2017 instructions were provided for the adjustment of payment supplement benefits and for the payment of the additional contribution from Solidarity Funds. Specifically, with message No. 3235 of 31 August 2018 operating instructions were provided with specific reference to the ordinary allowance, guaranteed by the relevant Solidarity Fund, with a reason for payment due to a solidarity contract. Direct payments can only be made in cases of serious and proven financial difficulties of the employer.

During the period of receipt of the ordinary allowance, the Family Allowance (ANF) is not due.

REQUIREMENTS

Access to the benefit is based on criteria of precedence and rotation and in compliance with the principle of proportionality of payments in respect of payments made.

New claims for access by the employer may be examined subject to the acceptance of any claims by other employers with a priority status.

WHEN CAN I CLAIM?

Claims to access the ordinary allowance, regardless of the reason given, must be submitted no sooner than 30 days before and no later than 15 days later than the start of the suspension or decrease of work. Failure to comply with the time limits does not result in losing the right to the benefit, but, in the event of submitting it before 30 days, determines the temporary inadmissibility of the latter.

In the event of submitting it after 15 days, a postponement of the deadline for the provision of the benefit is determined.

HOW CAN I CLAIM?

The claim to INPS must be submitted on-line using the dedicated service (please see message No. 2536 of 19 June 2017). The group that intends to make use of the ordinary allowance is required to notify the employers' associations and the relevant national and regional secretariats, as well as, where existing, the trade union representatives of the signatory institutions of the agreement of 6 March 2014.

It is necessary, at the time of submitting the claim, to notify compliance with the duties of information and consultation of trade unions, attaching the preventive notices and the relevant receipts of registered letters with acknowledgement of receipt or certified emails (PEC) sent to the trade unions mentioned above.

The claim must be submitted by the Production Unit.

The granting of interventions is ordered by the Fund's Management Committee in accordance with a resolution.