Bilateral solidarity and occupational redeployment funds

Fondi bilaterali di solidarietà o di supporto all'occupazione

Country	Italy , applies nationwide
Time period	Open ended, started on 28 June 2012
Context	Restructuring Support Instruments
Type	Legislations or other statutory regulations
Category	Promoting the economic, labour market and social recovery into a green future – Active labour market policies (enhancing employability, training, subsidised job creation, etc.)
Author	Lisa Dorigatti (University of Milan) and Eurofound
Measure added	23 June 2022 (updated 07 November 2022)

Background information

Solidarity Funds, initially established by Law No. 92 of 28 June 2012, are currently regulated by Legislative Decree No. 148 of 14 September 2015 (Articles 26-40a). Several sectoral funds were established over the last two decades to support employees of companies facing restructuring and redundancies and the creation of new and stable jobs.

Content of measure

These funds promote socially responsible entrepreneurship and bring together different stakeholders (trade associations and unions, institutions, employment services and company representatives) to join forces to support workers’ transition into new careers and the creation of stable jobs. Beneficiaries are employees of companies facing restructuring and possible redundancies or the companies themselves which want to create new employment. Benefits are restricted to companies which have signed the framework agreement instituting the funds, and their employees. Examples of provisions granted by these funds are:

training and requalification programmes;
personalised assistance in finding new jobs;
incentives to permanent hirings.

Employer associations and trade unions define the characteristics of the instruments through national agreements while the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies partially funds some of these programmes and through its technical agency ItaliaLavoro supports their activities. Public employment services administer active labour market provisions.

Updates

The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.

07 November 2022

As of 1 January 2022, as indicated in the Budget Law 2022, solidarity funds must provide workers with protection in cases of reduction or suspension of activity for both ordinary and extraordinary reasons and adapt by the end of the year. Thus, the funds will have to be mandatorily established for all sectors not covered by the redundancy fund. In addition, the minimum limit of 5 employees has been eliminated; in fact, the wage supplementation allowance becomes accessible also for companies with fewer than 5 employees. The deadline for adjustment by the already established funds has been set at 31 December 2022.

Use of measure

Examples include the fund Welfarma, established in 2008 in the pharmaceutical industry, and the National fund for supporting employment in the credit sector (Fondo Nazionale per il Sostegno all'Occupazione nel Settore del Credito) created in 2012 in the banking sector. Welfarma, for example, offers to workers dismissed by companies belonging to the scheme assistance in finding employment either in the pharmaceutical industry or similar industries, in other economic sectors, or in starting a business.

According to an evaluation of the pilot phase of the Welfarma scheme founded in 2008 (2009-2011), 625 workers took part to the initiative; out of these, 275 found a job as a result of their participation and 115 workers have undergone training and counselling. According to the industry trade union FISAC-CGIL, since 2012 the fund financed the hiring of over 18,000 workers in the sector.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Applies to all workers	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Trade unions Employers' organisations Public employment service	Employees Employer European Funds National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Unknown	Unknown
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

Unknown
Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

Unknown

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