On March 23, 2026, the Annual Law on Small and Medium Enterprises (Law n. 34/2026) was published in the Official Gazette. This comprehensive act includes a myriad of tax, economic, and insurance measures but also implements improvements linked to the world of work. These include facilitating technology transfer between generations, simplifying workplace health and safety procedures, and allowing agricultural workers and employers to directly register with the INPS.
The Act’s Article 6 promotes part-time work for those nearing retirement, aiming to enable smoother transfer of expertise. Experimentally, for 2026 and 2027, a scheme is set up for a maximum of 1,000 full-time, indefinite contract workers with private employers of up to 50 employees. These employees, who have been making contributions before January 1, 1996, and are slated for retirement by January 1, 2028, can temporarily shift to incentived part-time work until their pension commences.
Under this scheme, part-time or reduced hour workers will be exonerated 100% of their IVS pension contributions, relating to actual wages and capped monthly at EUR 3,000. This program has an expenditure cap of EUR 1 million for 2026 and EUR 1.4 million for 2027. The scheme will run until December 31, 2027, or the worker’s retirement date if that comes first.
Additionally, these employees will be supplemented with pension contributions matching unpaid wages resulting from the shift to part-time. During periods of reduced work, notional contributions will be recognized, subject to expenditure caps of EUR 3.7 million for 2026 and EUR 5 million for 2027.
Article 10 assigns INAIL the task of designing simplified models for workplace health and safety, training workers on wage integration fund, and administrative simplifications for agricultural enterprises. Notably, this allows agricultural workers and employers to directly register with INPS.
Lastly, Article 11 mandates employers to ensure all compatible safety obligations for remote workers. Employers must annually provide written information detailing the general and specific risks linked to working remotely, notwithstanding the employee’s responsibility to cooperate with preventive measures set by their employer.
