Alarming news for those paying casual workers under the voucher scheme. For those of you who aren’t aware, the voucher scheme was introduced in 2003 as a less complicated method for paying casual workers. This was invaluable for those running small rental businesses and needing help with cleaning, welcome, gardening etc. However, as seems so often to happen in Italy, the system has been roundly abused – in the south a furniture-making factory was discovered where the entire workforce were apparently working under the voucher scheme(!)
And unusually, the Italian Government has acted very quickly: a draft law proposing the abolition of the voucher system was presented in the House, approved and came into force the next day, with the result that as of last week (18th March) it is no longer possible to purchase vouchers. Any already issued will be valid until the end of the year.
This creates an enormous headache for those attempting to legally engage casual workers. The fall-back position will be to employ them under part-time on-call or “a chiamata” contracts, but this will inevitably prove more expensive. We wait to see if any alternative system is to be proposed…..
If you have been using the voucher system and would like to discuss what alternatives are available, please contact us
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