INPS has issued the initial operational instructions concerning the exemption from payment of 100% of compulsory social security contributions introduced by art. 1 of Decree-Law No. 62/2026 in favour of employers who, during the period from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026, hire, under a permanent employment contract, women of any age, wherever resident, who have not had regularly paid employment for at least 24 months, or for at least 12 months where the workers concerned are:
– aged between 15 and 24, or over 50;
– have not attained an upper secondary school or vocational qualification, or have completed full-time education no more than two years previously and have not yet obtained their first regularly paid employment;
– live alone with one or more dependants;
– are employed in sectors characterised by a gender imbalance rate exceeding the average national gender imbalance by 25%;
– belong to an ethnic minority (art. 2, para. 4, letters b) to g), of Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014).
The exemption from social contribution duties also applies with reference to women who, on the date of the incentivised recruitment, are found to have been employed under an open-ended contract of employment with a different employer that has only partially benefited from the exemption in question.
The maximum monthly amount of the exemption, which applies solely to the employer’s share of compulsory social security contributions, is EUR 650.00, increased to EUR 800.00 where the recruitment concerns a female worker resident in one of the following Regions: Abruzzo, Molise, Campania, Basilicata, Sicilia, Puglia, Calabria, Sardegna, Marche and Umbria.
In the event of recruitment under a part-time contract of employment, these maximum amounts must be reduced proportionately.
The incentive is granted for a maximum period of:
– at least 24 months;
– at least 12 months, where the worker belongs to one of the categories of ‘disadvantaged worker’ (art. 2, para. 4, letters a) to c) and e) to g), of Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014).
Without prejudice to compliance with the general principles governing the use of incentives (art. 31 of Legislative Decree No. 150/2015) and with the conditions laid down by art. 1, para. 1175, of Law No. 296/2006, the employer may access the exemption in question provided that it:
– has not carried out, with reference to the same production unit, dismissals for objective justified reasons or collective redundancies in the six months preceding the recruitment;
– applies to employees the ‘fair’ wage, defined as individual remuneration not lower than the overall remuneration provided for by the NCBAs entered into by the trade union organisations that are comparatively most representative at national level;
– does not fall within the category of entities that have received individual aid subsequently found by the European Commission to be unlawful or incompatible, and have not repaid such aid or paid it into a blocked account;
– is not an ‘undertaking in difficulty’ (art. 2, point 18, of Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014);
– ensures, through the recruitment, a net increase in employment calculated on the basis of the difference between the number of workers employed in each month and the average number of workers employed during the preceding 12 months. With regard to employees engaged under a part-time employment relationship, the calculation is weighted on the basis of the ratio between the number of hours agreed in the contract and the number of hours constituting normal working time for full-time employees. For the purposes of calculating the increase in employment, any reductions in the number of employees occurring in subsidiaries or associated companies (art. 2359 of Codice Civile) or in companies controlled, including through an intermediary, by the same person or entity are expressly excluded.
We remain available for any further clarification.