A business alarm: 10.4 million Italians both precarious and employed at risk of poverty due to the Covid pandemic
ROMA. In the “Sostegni decree” there is a flexibility mechanism and a new important provision on the subject of dismissals for small businesses, which is somewhat the logical continuation of the criterion adopted up to now and on the basis of which as long as social safety nets are used he cannot be fired.
In the text, which in the last few hours has been stamped by the State General Accounting Office, it is specified that “starting from 1 July the blocking of dismissals is linked to the use of wage integration treatments with the causal Covid-19”. Therefore, to employers who initiate layoffs after this date, we speak – as mentioned – exclusively of small businesses and all those activities that before Covid did not have access to ordinary layoffs, “the possibility of submitting an application for the granting of wage supplement with the reason for Covid-19 ». Redundancies remain permitted only in the event of cessation of business and bankruptcy.
The overall ceiling on the use of the Covid cash is set at 40 weeks. But if there are savings on this item, other weeks of Cig can be financed in derogation for employers who have exceeded this ceiling. Only for those who have used all the weeks available, therefore, it will be possible to finance other weeks beyond the 28 already provided by the new decree. In total, another 4.88 billion euros are allocated to refinance the shock absorbers: 2.9 billion euros for the Cig and ordinary check, 1.6 for the fund in derogation and 375.9 million for that of agricultural workers.
In favor of seasonal workers, precarious workers without other coverage and sports workers, around 565 thousand workers in all, a new one-off allowance of 2,400 euros is instead provided. In detail, this measure affects 228,000 seasonal and temporary workers in tourism, 49,000 seasonal workers from other sectors, 44,000 entertainment workers and the same number of intermittent workers, 2,000 occasional self-employed workers and 4,000 home sellers. In the field of sport, an intervention is foreseen in favor of about 200 thousand people, differentiated (from 1. 200 to 3. 600 euros) based on the income received in 2019, distinguishing between those who make sports work their sole or primary source of income and who not.
In support of VAT and autonomous numbers, in addition to non-repayable indemnities, an amnesty of the amicable notices of the tax authorities are instead envisaged which potentially should concern 54% of this audience to which 205 million euros would be subsidized and the extension of contribution exemption involving 820 thousand subjects (330 thousand registered with private funds and 490 thousand among artisans, traders and professionals registered with INPS management) with incomes of up to 50 thousand euros and losses of 33%. The media each of them will have 3 thousand euros of s account.
Despite all these interventions, for many Italians the prospects continue to remain very uncertain. According to the Unimpresa study center due to the pandemic, there are 10.4 million Italians at risk of poverty, between 4 million unemployed, formerly employed and inactive and 6.3 million still employed but in unstable or economically weak situations or with low wages.
Compared to 2015, 1.2 million more people are at risk of slipping below the minimum subsistence level. “To prevent this area of social hardship from growing even more, we need to go well beyond those 32 billion allocated, which are not enough. And this the Draghi government must understand quickly »comments the vice president of Unimpresa, Salvo Politino. According to which “it is necessary to put companies in a position to retain workers and return to grow to hire, only in this way we will no longer have poor people in our country”.
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