“Today is a historic day for the show.” With these words, the minister of culture, Dario Franceschini announces new rules, included in the support decree bis, which will strengthen the safeguards for show business workers. “We have brought to the Council of Ministers a package of significant measures to ensure adequate welfare and social security safeguards for entertainment workers and correct the numerous distortions that have emerged in recent years and become no longer sustainable, especially after the pandemic,” continued Franceschini.
The new protections
The new welfare system aims to recognize to show workers the protections that exist for other types of professionals, in order to ensure better conditions of equity and social dignity. A provision that has been awaited for years and which aims to increase the protections relating to assistance and social security, taking into account the specificities of the sector, in which the employment relationship is structurally discontinuous. And it is precisely the legislation relating to the discontinuity of work that has prevented thousands of workers from accessing sickness, maternity and pension benefits.
The measures for the protection of show business workers apply to all subjects enrolled in the Entertainment Workers’ Pension Fund (FPLS), including, among other things, an update of the Fund within 120 days from the entry into force of the provision.
Parenting
Among the most anticipated measures there is certainly that relating to parenthood which modifies the system for calculating the allowances provided in this regard: the reference parameter will be established on the daily amount of income received in the twelve months prior to the indemnity period, instead of at last 4 weeks as per current measurement.
The illness
But it is on the protections in case of illness that one of the most important matches was played. With the new system, in order to access the relative economic allowance, 40 daily contributions paid to the Entertainment Workers Pension Fund are required from January 1st of the year preceding the onset of the disease. Previously the contributions had to be 100 working days. The new measures also provide for an increase in the maximum daily wage of contributions: from the current € 67.14 to € 100.
Involuntary unemployment
From January 1, 2022, the Self-Employed Entertainment Workers (Alas) insurance allowance for involuntary unemployment will be introduced. Workers who are not self-employed or employed, are not entitled to direct pension payments from compulsory social security schemes, are not beneficiaries of citizenship income, have accrued in the last year prior to the application, will be able to access the allowance. unemployment at least fifteen days of contributions, have an income relating to the previous year not exceeding 35,000 euros.
Pensions
The daily contributions required to reach the contribution annuity are reduced from 120 to 90. This is the big news under the item “pensions”. An important corrective for workers who work for a fixed term, artistic or technical activity, connected with the production and realization of shows.