Social security contributions

For welfare and social security purposes, employers who recruit employees are required to fulfil their obligations to INPS by submitting monthly salary and contribution statements containing information necessary for calculating social security contributions and making the corresponding payments.

The social security contribution guarantees workers against events which may render them unfit for work. Because contributions are tailored to correspond to the required benefits (due to the principle of insurance underlying the social security relationship), some benefits provided for employees in one activity sector may not be provided for other sectors.

Social security contributions therefore consist of an ‘insurance premium’ paid to insure the worker for a given event, such as sickness, maternity, unemployment or pension, etc.

The contribution rates affect workers and the employer. However, the employer is responsible for paying both its own contributions and the employee’s contributions.

The insurance cover taken out for the worker and the contributions to be paid are imposed by a law, which determines whether or not certain types of insurance are applicable to different activity sectors. INPS classifies companies with such accuracy because all the social security schemes applicable to a worker stem from this classification.

Relevant legislation

• Article 44(9), Decree-Law No 269 of 30 September 2003 (in Italian) converted by Law No 326 of 24 November 2003
• Article 49, Law No 88 of 9 March 1989 (in Italian)