INPS

The DIS-COLL unemployment allowance may be granted to workers employed through continuous and coordinated contractual relationships, including workers on project-based contracts, who involuntarily lost their job after 1 January 2015 and who are exclusively enrolled on the Pension Scheme for the Self-Employed and Independent Contractors (Gestione Separata) with the INPS. As of 1 July 2017, this benefit was also extended to grant holders and PhD scholarship holders.

The following individuals are not eligible to receive the allowance:

• contractors who are pension holders;
• holders of a VAT number;
• committee members and statutory auditors;
• company auditors;
• associations and other organisations with or without legal status.

START DATE AND DURATION

The DIS-COLL unemployment allowance is payable:

• from the eighth day after termination of the continuous and coordinated contractual relationship/research grant/PhD with a scholarship, if the claim is submitted no later than the eighth day;
• from the day after the claim was submitted, if submitted more than eight days after termination;
• from the eighth day after the end of maternity leave or a period of hospitalisation, if the claim is submitted during maternity leave covered by the maternity allowance or during a hospital stay covered by sick pay;
• the day after the claim was submitted, if submitted after the end of maternity leave or a hospital stay, but still within the terms set by the law.

As regards social security protection for illness pursuant to Article 1(788) of Law No 296 of 27 December 2006, the earlier specifications set out in INPS Circular No 76 of 16 April 2007 concerning the requirement for ongoing and valid employment to exist during periods of illness for sick pay to be able to be granted still apply. As such, illnesses that arise during a continuous and coordinated contractual relationship/research grant/PhD with a scholarship, and continue after termination of the latter, as well as illnesses that arise after termination of a continuous and coordinated contractual relationship/research grant/PhD with a scholarship, do not produce a delay or suspension of the term for submitting the DIS-COLL allowance claim and do not affect the starting date of the DIS-COLL allowance.

The DIS-COLL allowance is paid out every month for half the number of contribution months included in the period lying between 1 January of the calendar year prior to the termination of the contract and the date of termination.

Exclusively for the purposes of calculating the duration of the allowance, contribution periods that have already given rise to payouts of the benefit are not considered. In any case, the DIS-COLL benefit can be granted for up to six months.

If the benefit is granted only for part of this term, when submitting a new claim for the DIS-COLL allowance, for the purposes of calculating the duration of the allowance, contribution months that are twice the number of months the benefit was granted will not be taken into account.

By virtue of the direction taken by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy with the note of 21 April 2015, exclusively for the purposes of calculating the amount and duration of the benefit, "contribution months and portions of these months" are to be construed as months or portions of months included in the duration of the contractual relationship(s). Consequently, when determining the duration of the benefit, single portions of months may also be taken into account.

Being awarded the DIS-COLL allowance does not grant entitlement to imputed contributions.

WHAT AM I ENTITLED TO?

The DIS-COLL allowance amount depends on the taxable income for social security purposes resulting from the payment of contributions made, arising from contractual relationships for which entitlement to the allowance in question was granted, for the year in which the contractual employment relationship was terminated and for the previous calendar year, divided by the number of contribution months or portions of these months.

By virtue of the aforementioned direction taken by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy with the note of 21 April 2015, for the purposes of calculating the amount of the benefit, "contribution months and portions of these months" are also to be construed as months or portions of months included in the duration of the contractual relationship. Consequently, when determining the basis for the calculation and the benefit amount, single portions of months may also be taken into account.

The unemployment allowance amounts to 75% of the average monthly income, as calculated above, when this income is under EUR 1,195 (for 2015, 2016 and 2017), adjusted every year on the basis of variations to the ISTAT consumer price index for blue and white-collar worker households of the previous year. However, the allowance amounts to 75% of EUR 1,195, increased by 25% of the difference between the average monthly income and EUR 1,195, when the average monthly income, which constitute the basis for calculating the DIS-COLL allowance, is higher than the aforementioned EUR 1,195.

In any case, for 2015, 2016 and 2017, the allowance amount cannot exceed EUR 1,300. This amount is reviewed every year.

As of the fourth month of receiving the allowance (91st day), the DIS-COLL allowance will be reduced by 3% every month.

If the beneficiary of the allowance is re-employed on an employment contract of five days or less, the allowance will be suspended. The allowance is suspended automatically in response to obligatory notices. At the end of the suspension period, the allowance will be paid out again for the remaining period due.

If a beneficiary of the DIS-COLL allowance becomes self-employed or starts a sole proprietorship or undertakes para-subordinate work, they must notify the INPS of the income they expect to make from this activity within 30 days of the start of the activity, or if this activity already existed, from the date of the DIS-COLL claim was submitted, respectively.

The allowance amount will be reduced if the beneficiary undertakes:

• self-employed work that generates an income for gross tax that is equal to or less than the tax credits due pursuant to Article 13 of the Consolidated Act on Income Tax (Testo Unico delle Imposte sui Redditi, TUIR), i.e. EUR 4,800 for self-employed work and EUR 8,000 for para-subordinate work;
• ancillary work that generates compensation of more than EUR 3,000 net (EUR 4,000 gross) per calendar year.

In both these instances, the allowance is reduced to 80% of the income expected from the period between the start of self-employment or occasional ancillary work and the end of the allowance period or the end of the year, if this comes first.

The DIS-COLL allowance can be fully cumulated with compensation from ancillary work for up to EUR 3,000 net (EUR 4,000 gross) per calendar year.

Article 54 bis of Decree-Law No 50 of 24 April 2017, converted by amendment by Law No 96 of 21 June 2017, sets out the provisions for occasional employment and outlines the thresholds and procedures by which this work can be carried out. 

In particular, paragraph 1, letter a) of the same Article 54 bis provides that it is possible to carry out paid occasional employment, which shall be construed as work that generates compensation, in terms of combined fees from all organisations using the worker's services, for a total amount not exceeding EUR 5,000 over the course of one calendar year for each worker.

Article 54 bis(4) also provides that compensation received by the worker is exempt from tax and has no bearing on their status of unemployment.

In view of the above-mentioned provisions, DIS-COLL allowance beneficiaries may undertake occasional work provided this work does not generate compensation that exceeds the threshold of EUR 5,000 per calendar year. When below these thresholds, the DIS-COLL allowance may be fully combined with compensation from occasional work and beneficiaries of the DIS-COLL allowance are not required to notify the INPS of compensation generated by this activity.

Lastly, paragraph 8 of Article 54 bis in question provides that, among other things, if workers in occasional work receive income support benefits, the INPS will subtract contributions paid in for this occasional work from the imputed contributions pertaining to these income support benefits. Please note, however, that this provision does not apply to workers in occasional work who receive the DIS-COLL allowance, as Article 15(7) of Legislative Decree 22/2015 on the DIS-COLL allowance stipulates that imputed contributions are not granted for periods in which the allowance was granted (INPS Circular No 115 of 19 July 2017).

The allowance is paid out via:

• transfer to a current bank or post office account;
• transfer to a post office book;
• transfer to Poste Italiane SpA, to a post office branch of the claimant's place of residence or home address.

According to the legal provisions in force, public administrations cannot make payments in cash of more than one thousand euros (Decree-Law No 201 of 4 December 2011, converted into law by Law No 214 of 22 December 2011).

WITHDRAWAL OF BENEFIT

Beneficiaries will lose entitlement in the following circumstances:

• loss of the unemployment status;
• initiating self-employed work, a sole proprietorship or para-subordinate work, without notifying the INPS of the income that they expect to make from the activity, within 30 days of the start of this activity or, if the activity existed previously, within 30 days from the DIS-COLL claim submission date;
• re-employment on an employment contract of more than five days;
• holding of direct pension compensation;
• acquiring entitlement to the ordinary disability allowance, unless the receiver opts for the DIS-COLL allowance;
• non-regular participation in labour activation initiatives and occupational retraining courses offered by the competent services (Article 7 of Legislative Decree 22/2015). In this regard, Article 21 of Legislative decree No 150 of 15 September 2015 introduced measures to consolidate conditionality mechanisms, incorporating and outlining the provisions under Article 7 of Legislative Decree 22/2015 concerning the unemployed worker's obligations to participate in labour market policy measures.

In the event of non-compliance with the obligations, Article 21 has introduced a system of proportional sanctions, ranging from the reduction of a portion or an entire monthly allowance amount, to the loss of entitlement to the benefit and the status of unemployment.

The loss of entitlement sanction is applied in the following cases:

• failure to participate, after the third summoning and without justification, in initiatives and workshops to develop skills in active job seeking;
• failure to participate, after the second summoning and without justification, in training or retraining initiatives or other labour market or labour activation initiatives and failure to participate in the carrying out of activities for public interest services to benefit their local community;
• failure to appear, after the third summoning and without justification, at the meetings or appointments scheduled to prove their unemployment status, to outline and enter into a customised service agreement, and to establish regular contact with the person in charge of the activities;
• failure to accept an appropriate job offer, as defined by Article 25 of Legislative Decree 150/2015.

REQUIREMENTS

The benefit is available to workers employed through continuous and coordinated contractual relationships, including workers on project-based contracts, excluding committee members and statutory auditors, company auditors, associations and other institutes with or without legal status, who are not pensioners and do not have a VAT number, who involuntarily lost their job after 1 January 2015. As of 1 July 2017, this protection also extends to grant holders and PhD scholarship holders.

Beneficiaries must be enrolled exclusively on the Separate Pension Scheme and must meet all of the following requirements:

• must be unemployed at the time of submitting the claim (Article 19 of Legislative Decree 150/2015);
• must be able to claim at least three months of contributions in the period lying between 1 January of the calendar year prior to the termination of employment and the date of termination date itself;
• must be able to claim in the year 2015 at least one month of contributions in the year 2015, or a continuous and coordinated contractual relationship, including project-based contracts, of at least one month and which generated income amounting to at least half the amount that grants entitlement to the crediting of one month's worth of contributions. However, on account of the provisions under Article 1(310) of Law 208/2015 (Stability Law for the year 2016), this requirement no longer applies to continuous and coordinated contractual relationships that were terminated after 1 January 2016.

In order to fulfil the requirement concerning exclusive enrolment on the Separate Pension Scheme, the individual must be enrolled on this scheme, but must not be a pension holder or insured with other forms of compulsory pension schemes.

To check whether this requirement is fulfilled, the applicable rate for calculating contributions to the Separate Pension Scheme, which

• for the year 2015 is 30.72% for those enrolled exclusively on this the Pension Scheme and 23.50% for those enrolled on this scheme who are also pension holders and insured with other forms of compulsory pension schemes;
• for the year 2016 is 31.72% for those enrolled exclusively on the Separate Pension Scheme and 24% for those enrolled on the Separate Pension Scheme who are also pension holders and insured with other forms of compulsory pension schemes;
• for the period from 1 January 2017 to 30 June 2017, the applicable rate is 32.72% for those enrolled exclusively on the Separate Pension Scheme and 24% for those enrolled on the Separate Pension Scheme who are also pension holders and insured with other forms of compulsory pension schemes;
• lastly, for the period from 1 July 2017, the applicable rate for calculating contributions is 32.72%, to which the additional rate of 0.51% must be added for individuals enrolled exclusively on the Separate Pension Scheme. For individuals enrolled on the Separate Pension Scheme who are also pension holders and insured with other compulsory pension schemes, the applicable rate is 24%.

Notwithstanding the above, the requirement regarding exclusive enrolment on the  Separate Pension Scheme is considered fulfilled when there is no overlap between the continuous and coordinated contractual relationship, including project-based contracts, and other work, such as, for example, an employment relationship. However, if during the period being examined for the purposes of ascertaining entitlement and determining the duration and amount to be granted for the DIS-COLL allowance, for a given period of time, the insured worker had both a continuous and coordinated contractual relationship and an employment relationship in force at the same time, the requirement to be enrolled exclusively on the Separate Pension Scheme may be deemed fulfilled only in relation to the period where there is no overlap between the continuous and coordinated contractual relationship and the employment relationship.

Whilst waiting for the National Labour Policy Portal (Legislative Decree 150/2015) to be set up, individuals are deemed to be unemployed workers when they are jobless and declare themselves to be immediately available for work and to participate in active labour measures at the job centre. These individuals must have the status of unemployment at the time they submit a claim for the DIS-COLL allowance. The DIS-COLL allowance claim equates to issuing the Immediate Availability for Employment Declaration (Dichiarazione di Immediata Disponibilità, DID) and is forwarded by the INPS to the National Agency for Active Labour Market Policies (Article 4 of Legislative Decree 150/2015) for it to be entered into the single information system for active labour market policies.

For the customised service agreement to be drawn up, the unemployed worker must contact the job centre within 15 days of submitting the DIS-COLL allowance claim.

In order to access the DIS-COLL allowance, the worker must have at least three months of contributions paid in to the Separate Pension Scheme with the INPS in the period of time lying between the 1 January of the calendar year prior to termination of the contractual relationship and the date of termination itself.

The DIS-COLL allowance is not granted automatically pursuant to Article 2116 of the Italian Civil Code.

WHEN CAN I CLAIM?

Claims must be submitted exclusively via electronic means no later than 68 days after termination of the contractual relationship. This cut-off period starts from the date of termination of the last continuous and coordinated contractual relationship/research grant/PhD scholarship holders. If during these 68 days, the worker takes maternity leave or is hospitalised, either of which may be covered by an allowance, the term will be suspended for the full maternity leave or hospital stay and will resume for the remaining time left.

However, if maternity leave or hospitalisation occurs during the employment relationship, which is then terminated, and continues afterwards, the 68-day cut-off period will begin from the date that maternity leave with the allowance or the hospital stay with sick pay ends.

HOW CAN I CLAIM?

Claims must be made online to the INPS using the appropriate service.

Alternatively, claims can be made through:

•  the contact centre on 803 164 (free for landline calls from Italy) or on +39 06 164 164 from mobile phones;
•  aid offices and intermediaries of the institute, using the electronic services that these provide.