Solidarity Fund for workers of the maritime sector - SOLIMARE

What is it?

The Bilateral Solidarity Fund for the Maritime Sector - called SOLIMARE - was established, in agreement with the Minister of Economy and Finance, with decree no. 90401 of 8 June 2015 of the Minister of Employment and Social Policies, published in the Official Gazette no. 189 of 17 August 2015, which incorporated the content of the national trade union agreement signed on 24 March 2014 between Confitarma, Fedarlinea, Federimorchiatori and FILT CGIL, FIT CISL and UILTRASPORTI, amended and supplemented by Interministerial Decrees no. 95933/2016 and no. 99295/2017, as well as, lastly, by the Interministerial Decree of 8 August 2023.

All ship-owning companies, including maritime transport companies and companies providing concessions for towage services, are members of the Fund, regardless of the size of their workforce. With INPS circular no. 28 of 11 February 2016 indications were provided for the identification of the companies that fall within the scope of application of the Fund. The size limit for access to the Fund has been superseded by Legislative Decree no. 148/2015 which, establishing the mandatory formation of Bilateral Solidarity Funds for employers who employ at least one employee, provided for the adjustment by 31 December 2022 for the Bilateral Solidarity Funds already established, a term which was subsequently extended to 30 June 2023 (INPS circular no. 4 of 16 January 202).

With the collective agreement signed on 10 October 2022 between Confitarma, Assarmatori, Assorimorchiatori, Federimorchiatori, and the National Secretariats of the trade unions FILT-CGIL, FIT-CISL and UIL Trasporti, the signatory parties expressed their willingness to:

• adjust the Fund to the provisions introduced by Article 1, paragraph 208, letter a) of Law no. 234 of 30 December 2021;
• expand the number of employers within the scope of application of the Fund;
• adjust the amount, duration and grounds for accessing the legislation regarding a wage subsidy allowance.

The Fund provides for:

• the payment of an ordinary allowance to employees affected by reductions in working hours or temporary suspension of work, for the grounds provided for by the legislation on ordinary and extraordinary wage subsidies;
• the payment of the contribution related to the relevant mandatory insurance scheme of each worker.

From 1 January 2022, the Fund ensures, in place of the ordinary allowance and in the same manner, the provision of a wage subsidy allowance (INPS circular no. 16 of 23 January 2024).

Who is it aimed at?

All maritime workers, administrative personnel and land personnel, including apprentices with a professional employment contract, of ship-owning companies, regardless of company size, can benefit from the wage subsidy allowance provided by the Fund.

From 1 January 2022, apprentices of all types are once again included among the beneficiaries. Managers remain excluded as they are not expressly included in the decree establishing the Fund. Access to the wage subsidy allowance is not subject to the worker having any seniority in the company.

How does it work?

START DATE AND DURATION

Following the reform, referred to in Law no. 234/2021, amendments were made to Legislative Decree no. 148/2015, which concern the regulations for the provision of a wage subsidy allowance paid by the Wage Subsidy Fund (FIS) and the Solidarity Funds; in particular, it is envisaged that the benefit will be guaranteed by the FIS and the Solidarity Funds in cases of reduction or suspension of work, in relation to the grounds provided for by the legislation regarding Ordinary Wage Compensation Fund (CIGO) and Extraordinary Wage Compensation Fund (CIGS), including the solidarity contract.

The new regulations of the Fund recognise the integrability of all the grounds envisaged for the wage subsidy benefits, both ordinary and extraordinary. Employers who fall within the scope of application of the SOLIMARE Fund may submit claims to the Fund for the extraordinary grounds provided for by the legislation, with a warning to comply with the criteria set out in Ministerial Decree no. 94033/2016 and subsequent amendments and additions, according to the size requirement held in the six months prior to the date of the claim (INPS circular no. 109 of 5 October 2022 and INPS circular no. 16 of 23 January 2024).

The decree establishing the SOLIMARE Fund provides for the following maximum durations: with reference to wage subsidies for ordinary grounds (transient events not attributable to the employer or employees, including seasonal bad weather conditions, as well as temporary market situations), for a period equal to the durations provided for in Article 12 of Legislative Decree no. 148/2015, whereas with reference to extraordinary grounds for a period equal to the durations provided for in Article 22 of Legislative Decree no. 148/2015, in any case in compliance with the maximum overall durations provided for in Article 4, paragraph 1 of Legislative Decree no. 148/2015.

With reference to the extraordinary grounds, in compliance with the maximum durations provided, the single claim for the benefit may not concern interventions from time to time exceeding 12 months, which may be extended, in accordance with the limits provided for by the law for the grounds relating to company reorganisation and the solidarity contract.

The individual claims with ordinary grounds may instead concern, from time to time, periods of 13 continuous weeks, potentially extendable up to a total maximum of 52 weeks in the rolling two-year reference period.

WHAT AM I ENTITLED TO?

The decree establishing the Fund provides for the payment of a wage subsidy allowance in an amount equal to the current wage subsidy benefit. The amount of the benefit of the wage subsidy allowance is set at 80% of the total remuneration that would have been due to the worker for the hours not worked.

From 1 January 2022, the limit of a single ceiling is applied, regardless of the reference monthly remuneration, for the calculation of the benefit (INPS circular no. 18 of 1 February 2022). The amounts are re-evaluated every year with the methods and criteria that are in place for the industry’s Wage Compensation Fund (CIG). Regarding 2024, the recalculated amount is €1,392.89 (INPS circular no. 25 of 29 January 2024).

For periods in which the wage subsidy allowance is paid, the Fund will pay into the pension scheme the worker is enrolled in a contribution that corresponds to the benefit. 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 required to cover the related contribution are calculated on the basis of the financing rate in force in the pension scheme the workers are enrolled in. Law no. 234/2021 extended the rule referred to in Article 3, paragraph 9 to the Solidarity Funds, amending to this effect the provisions of Article 30, paragraph 9 of Legislative Decree no. 148/2015, with effect pursuant to the law from 1 January 2022; therefore, workers receiving the wage subsidy allowance paid by the SOLIMARE Fund are entitled - from this date, in relation to the pay period adopted and to the same conditions as workers at normal hours - to the allowance due to the family unit from the schemes of the Funds themselves, without prejudice to the fact that, from 1 March 2022, the protection in question has been recognised in relation to family units without dependent children.

The payment of benefits to the entitled workers is paid by the employer and reimbursed by INPS or adjusted by the latter, according to the regulations for the balance between contributions due and benefits paid. In particular, the adjustment of the wage subsidy benefit must be carried out, under penalty of forfeiture, within six months from the end of the current pay period at the end of the authorisation period, or from the date of the granting measure, if later.

In the case of the Solidarity Funds, the day on which the six-month period begins coincides with the notification date of the authorisation issued by the Institute. For the recovery of the sums paid in the matching payment, employers may use the UNIEMENS flow, following the procedures described in the INPS circular no. 97 of 10 August 2022.

The direct payment of the benefit to the beneficiaries may be authorised, at the express request of the employer, by the Fund’s Management Committee only in the case of serious and documented financial difficulties of the company, proven by the submission of the documentation indicated in INPS circular no. 197 of 2 December 2015.

The SOLIMARE Fund has no legal status; it constitutes an INPS pension scheme and enjoys financial and equity autonomy (INPS circular no. 173 of 23 November 2017). 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, within the limits of which the benefit may be granted.

To finance the benefits, and for the relevant corresponding contribution, an ordinary monthly contribution of 0.3% is due to the Fund (of which 0.2% is paid by the employer and 0.1% payable by the workers), calculated on the taxable remuneration for social security purposes of all maritime workers and of all the remaining personnel employed by the ship-owning companies for which there is the obligation to pay contributions to the Institute. In the event of making use of the wage subsidy allowance an additional contribution of 1.5% is also due to the Fund from the employer, calculated on the taxable remuneration for social security purposes lost by workers receiving benefits.

The Fund is obliged to submit a technical budget estimate at eight years, on the basis of which the Management Committee may propose changes to the amounts of benefits or the rate of contribution.

The payments are authorised through resolution by the Fund’s Management Committee. Following the resolution, the relevant payment authorisation is issued, which is necessary for the provision of the financial benefit to the workers concerned or for the adjustment and reimbursement of the sums paid by the employers. Moreover, the criteria for access to the benefits is established based on the so-called “company ceiling”, providing that the burden on the Fund for the provision of the benefit requested is calculated not to exceed four times the amount of the ordinary contributions due by the individual employer as of its enrolment in the Fund, taking into account the benefits already resolved in any capacity in favour of the employer itself.

Claim

REQUIREMENTS

In order to access the benefit of a wage subsidy allowance, the requesting employer must comply with the obligations of disclosure to and consultation with the trade union.

The ship-owning company that intends to make use of the wage subsidy allowance is required to notify the following:

• employers’ associations;
• relevant national secretariats;
• relevant regional secretariats;
• company trade union representatives of the organisations that signed the agreement of 24 March 2014 (if these exist).

With regard to the disclosure of information to the trade union, the indications set out in message no. 2372 of 26 June 2023 for employers accessing the CIGO apply. Therefore, even for the wage subsidy allowance provided by the Fund, it is not mandatory to provide documentary evidence of the completion of the procedure referred to in Article 14 of Legislative Decree 148/2015 regarding the disclosure of information to trade unions, but it is possible to provide a substitute declaration pursuant to Article 71 of Presidential Decree no. 445 of 28 December 2000, without prejudice to the obligation to retain the relevant documentation for any checks regarding the veracity of the declaration made.

Regarding, however, the grounds of the “solidarity contract” it is necessary to attach to the claim the minutes of agreement accompanied by the list of workers concerned in the reduction of hours signed by the signatory parties.

From 7 October 2023, which is the date of entry into force of the new regulations of the Fund, all employers who fall within the scope of application of the Fund can access the benefit of the wage subsidy allowance, regardless of the number of employees (message no. 3378 of 27 September 2023).

In order not to penalise employers now included in the scope of application of the Fund who employed an average of up to five employees in the previous six months, Article 4, paragraph 2, of the Decree of 8 August 2023 introduced a transitional provision, which provides for a gradual application of the company ceiling mechanism for this type of employer for the first five years of enrolment in the Fund. More specifically, there is no limit to the services provided in 2023. For the subsequent years, the company ceiling limit is applied according to the following parameters:

• ten times the contribution due in 2024;
• eight times in 2025;
• seven times in 2026;
• six times in 2026;
• five times in 2028.

WHEN CAN I CLAIM?

Claims to access the wage subsidy allowance, regardless of the grounds given, must be submitted by the employer, as well as by authorised consultants and intermediaries, no sooner than 30 days before and no later than 15 days from the start of the suspension or reduction in working activities.

Failure to comply with the time limits does not result in the loss of the right to the benefit, although, in the event of submitting it before 30 days, this leads to 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. In the event of late submission, any benefit from wage subsidies cannot take place for periods within one week prior to the submission date. Claims are examined by the Management Committee on a quarterly basis, deciding on interventions according to the chronological order of submission of claims and taking into account the availability of the Fund.

HOW CAN I CLAIM?

The claim must be submitted to INPS by the employer, as well as by authorised consultants or intermediaries, for each production unit concerned, which may be identified with the ship, if this jointly presents characteristics of organisational or technical-functional autonomy, the performance on board of a production cycle or a phase of it and assigning a crew on an ongoing basis (INPS circular no. 155 of 19 May 1994), exclusively by electronic means through the dedicated service (message no. 981 of 2 March 2016).

From 30 September 2024, it is possible to submit a claim for a wage subsidy allowance, provided by the Solidarity Fund for the maritime sector (SOLIMARE), also by accessing the “OMNIA IS” platform (message no. 3158 of 25 September 2024). Employers and their intermediaries may submit the claim:

• making use of the new service;
• using the current application which will remain available temporarily.

Preliminary investigations are carried out centrally by the Welfare Safety Net Central Department, which manages the entire operating flow and takes care of the subsequent referral of the request and the results of the investigation to the Fund’s Management Committee for the adoption of the relevant resolution.