Bolzano - South Tyrol Solidarity Fund

The Fund has no legal status, is an INPS management scheme and enjoys independent financial and equity management INPS circular of 22nd August 2024, n. 88 (in Italian)).

The Fund provides Income Support Allowances to workers affected by reduced working hours or temporary suspension of employment owing to reasons provided for in the regulations on ordinary and extraordinary wage compensation Provision is also made for crediting the corresponding contribution.

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Mandatory enrolment in the Fund applies to all private employers with at least one employee, belonging to sectors that do not fall within the scope of Title I of Legislative Decree 148/2015, for which no bilateral solidarity Funds have been set up (Article 26, Legislative Decree 148/2015) or alternative bilateral solidarity Funds (Art. 27, Legislative Decree 148/2015) have been established, and who employ at least 75% of their dependent workers in production units in the autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol.

Employers that operate in sectors for which a bilateral Fund (Art. 26, Legislative Decree 148/2015) is established have the right to enrol in the Bolzano – South Tyrol Fund if the above employment requirement of 75% is met. Employers that exercise the above right are no longer subject to the regulation of the original fund.

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The Income Support Allowance can be granted to employers who, in the six months prior to the date of claim submission, have employed an average of up to 15 employees, for both ordinary and extraordinary cases, for a maximum duration of no more than 26 weeks per unit within the rolling two-year period.

Specifically, the Income Support Allowance may be granted:

• for a maximum of 26 weeks for ordinary cases to employers who have employed an average of more than 15 employees;
• for up to 24 months for company reorganisation;
• for up to 12 months in the event of a company crisis;
• for up to 36 months for the extraordinary case of a solidarity contract.

For each production unit, the Income Support Allowance may not exceed a total of 24 months within a rolling five-year period, except in the extraordinary case of a solidarity contract.

WHAT AM I ENTITLED TO?

The amount of the allowance is set at 80% of the overall remuneration that the worker would be entitled to for the hours of work not provided, between zero hours and the limit of the contracted working hours. The amount that is consequently determined is not subject to the reduction provided for in Article 26 of Law No 41 of 28th February 1986, currently equal to 5.84%, since it is not provided for in the Fund's founding decree. Therefore, for 2025, the maximum gross monthly benefit is 1.404,03 euro (INPS circular of 29th January 2025, n. 25 (in Italian)). The amounts are re-evaluated every year with the methods and criteria in place for the industry’s Wage Compensation Fund.

For periods in which the Income Support 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 the amount. 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 employer makes the payment at the end of each pay period, which is then reimbursed by INPS to the employer or adjusted in the monthly contribution report (INPS circular no. 170 of 15 November 2017(in Italian)). Deadlines are set for adjustments and claims for reimbursement of amounts paid to workers. These must be submitted, under penalty of forfeiture, within six months of the issuance of the INPS authorisation:

• from the end of the current pay period to the end of the concession period;
• from the date of notification of the authorisation issued by INPS, if later.

Direct payment by INPS may only be arranged in cases of serious and documented financial difficulties faced by the company, upon the explicit claim of the employer.

The payments and benefits guaranteed by the Fund are authorised by the decision of the Executive Committee.

In relation to funding, the Bolzano – South Tyrol Fund operates in accordance with the balanced budget principle and cannot make payments if it has no financial resources. The payments borne by the Fund are granted following the creation of specific financial reserves within the limits of the resources already acquired.

The fund is due:

• For the funding of all services, an ordinary monthly contribution of 0,50%by employers with an average of up to five employees (divided between employer and employee in a ratio of two-thirds to one-third respectively), calculated on the taxable income for social security purposes of all employees receiving benefits, including apprentices with any type of contract, home workers, and managers. Conversely, a standard contribution of 0.80% is payable by employers who have employed an average of more than five employees in the previous six months (divided between employer and employee in the ratio of two-thirds to one-third respectively), calculated on the taxable remuneration for social security purposes of all employees receiving benefits, including managers;
• If the Income Support Allowance of the Fund is used due to suspensions or reductions in work, the employer must also make an additional contribution of 4%, which is calculated on the taxable remuneration for social security purposes lost by the workers who use the service.

The worker that carries out employed or independent work during the Income Support Allowance period does not have the right to the benefit for the days of work carried out.

This restriction can be explained as total non-cumulability or total or partial cumulability as identified in the INPS circular, 4th October 2010, n. 130 (in Italian).

The worker loses the right to the ordinary allowance if they do not promptly inform the local INPS office of the self-employed work activity, since self-employed work is not included among the types of work subject to prior notification.

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Regarding Income Support Allowance, the guidelines in message no. 2373 of 26 June 2023 (in Italian) apply to the requirements for trade union disclosure when employers access ordinary wage supplementation (CIGO).

WHEN CAN I CLAIM?

Claims to access the Income Support Allowance, regardless of the reason given, must be submitted by the company no sooner than 30 days before and no later than 15 days after the start of the suspension or reduction in work. Failure to respect the time limits does not lead to the loss of eligibility for the benefit, but, in the event of submission before 30 days, the claim is not admissible, and if submitted after 15 days, there may be a delay in the benefit taking effect. In the event of late submission, any income support payments cannot have been made for periods less than one week before the submission date (namely, from Monday of the previous week).

HOW CAN I CLAIM?

Claims to access Income Support Allowances must be submitted using the on-line service, by the employer or by authorised consultants and intermediaries.

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