ITALY - The Italian government is set to pave the way for the implementation of the pension reform approved by parliament last week.

According to the new pension regulations, the retirement age will pass from 57 years with 35 years of contributions to 60 years of age, from 2008. Italians will be encouraged to stay at work longer with a monthly extra 32%, tax-free.

The labour and welfare ministry, headed by Roberto Maroni as well as the economy ministry with the newly appointed Domenico Siniscalco, will work together on a joint decree to fix the rules for the payment of the so-called “super bonus”, to which only employees of private sector will be entitled between 2004 and 2007.

Public employees will get the super-bonus from 2008.

No deadline has been officially been given for the decree, but Maroni told the press that workers who have reached pension age, until 2008 still 57 years, by June 30 would be entitled to the bonus already this October.

The two ministries are also expected to decide what information should be fed to the pension assets database - the ‘Casellario’.

It was created to monitor transparency and will comprise information about migrant workers, invalidity and workplace accidents.

But the most keenly-awaited innovation is the degree regulating the use of the so-called Tfr, the indemnity every worker is given and which will be used to boost the second pillar.

The government has one year to produce the decree and 18-months to pin-point the categories of workers which will allowed a special treatment, such as workers with physically demanding jobs and female workers with children.

Topics