On December 9th, the Council of Ministers approved a decree-law introducing urgent provisions on regulatory deadlines, also known as the “Decree Mille Proroghe”. The decree addresses several aspects related to work in public administrations, such as the rationalization of recruitment procedures (contests), the extension of the suspension of the statutory prescription periods for mandatory social security and welfare contributions, and measures in favour of Ukrainian citizens with temporary protection.
Until now, the problem of the time necessary to announce and conclude recruitment procedures in relation to when hiring powers were granted to the public administration was managed through annual extensions, which have been stretched out up to 11 years. With the new decree, a maximum term of 3 years is now established within which hiring procedures must be concluded by the public administration without any possibility of extension. If this term is not respected, the assigned recruitment powers and the related budget will be lost. This new law will apply from 2025 and an extra year of extension is granted to finalize hiring procedures not yet completed.
In terms of contribution measures, the suspension of the statutory prescription periods for mandatory social security and welfare contributions charged to administrations and in favour of public administration employees is extended until December 31, 2025. A similar extension is planned for contributions from separate management in relation to coordinated and continuous collaboration relationships. It was also decided to extend by one year the deadline for public administrations to regularize the insurance positions of public employees for wage periods until December 31, 2020. This is to avoid placing the burden of retirement benefits for unassisted service periods on public employers and the INPS. Moreover, the deadline until which civil penalties are not applied in case of non-payment or late payment of mandatory social security and welfare contributions by the public administrations in favour of public workers is extended to December 31, 2025.
Regarding Ukrainian citizens, the possibility to renew residence permits granted to Ukrainian citizens, beneficiaries of temporary protection already extended ex-lege until December 31, 2024, is set until March 4, 2026. These individuals are given the opportunity to convert their residence permit into a work permit.
