INPS with circular no. 88 of 25 July 2022, provided operating instructions on the expansion contract, as amended by Law 234/2021 (“Budget Law 2022“).
The experimental scheme for stipulating expansion contracts has been extended until the end of 2023. This imposes a minimum limit of at least 50 work units, calculated as a total in cases with a stable aggregation of companies with a single production or service purpose.
The expansion contract guarantees workers who are less than five years from retirement an early exit from the labour market by receiving a monthly allowance equal to the gross pension accrued at the time of termination. The allowance may be paid to workers enrolled in the employee fund or similar funds hired under an open-ended contract, provided they wish to terminate their employment by 30 November 2023. Workers who wish to access an old age pension with different requirements from the ordinary (e.g., “Opzione Donna” early retirement) are excluded.
The allowance is paid until the first fulfilment of the requirements for pension entitlement, whether old age or early retirement and until the related contribution requirement is met.
Only one annual early retirement plan may be submitted for each year in 2022 and 2023.
Early retirement plans must specify the maximum number of workers involved, the assumed date of employment termination, which is the same for all workers, and the early retirement date, which may not be later than 30 November, for each year.
The employer must obtain a bank guarantee to apply to INPS to fulfil contribution obligations. The amount due to the Institute must be increased by a variable portion of at least 15 per cent, depending on later decisions adopted by the Institute.
At the end of the early retirement plan, INPS will carry out a final check, disbursing any refunds or requesting further sums from the employer.
The employer must send the following documentation to the local INPS office:
1) copy of the expansion contract signed at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies;
2) the request for the accreditation and modification of the monthly allowance ( Form SC96);
3) the application for authorisation to access PRAT (portal for atypical services) for personnel or the delegate identified by the employer to use the program. This application must be submitted at least 90 days before the entry date.
INPS stated that for annual early retirement plan purposes, submitting several applications for entitlement certification which is 20 per cent more than the number of workers specified in the expansion contract is not permitted.