The “New Skills Fund” (Fondo Nuove Competenze) was established by Article 88 of the Relaunch Decree (Decree-Law of May 19, 2020). It allows companies to offer their employees training programs—designed to help them gain or improve skills—by reorganizing working hours instead of resorting to the Wage Guarantee Fund (CIG).
The Fund is an alternative to the use of the Cassa Integrazione Guadagni, CIG. Therefore, the worker cannot receive CIG benefits and participate in a New Skills Fund program at the same time.
This tool is an opportunity to counter the effects of the epidemiological emergency and to allow workers to equip themselves with useful tools to adapt to the new conditions of the labor market and at the same time allows the company to increase the quality level of the resources employed.
All private employers who have signed collective agreements with the most representative employers’ and workers’ associations at national level and with the trade union representatives in the company can access the New Skills Fund. The trade union agreement must include:· The company’s needs in relation to the new or increased skills
- The training path to be followed,
- The number of employees involved,
- And the number of training hours (up to a maximum of 250 hours per employee).
Once the Agreement has been signed, the Company can submit the application for access to the New Skills Fund to ANPAL (National Agency for Active Policies) before the deadline of June 30, 2021, which was extended by Article 1 of the Ministerial Decree of January 22, 2021.The application, signed by the company’s legal representative or an authorized delegate, must be accompanied by the stipulated union agreement and the skills development project. This plan should detail how the training will be delivered, its duration, cost, the training provider, and the learning goals for the employees.
Eligible training providers include all institutions accredited at the national or regional level, as well as other public or private organizations whose mission includes education and training. This includes public and accredited private universities, secondary schools, Adult Education Centers (CPIA), Higher Technical Institutes (ITS), and research centers recognized by the Ministry of Education. Companies themselves may also provide training, as long as it is specified in the collective agreement.
Training providers have 90 days to implement the training program from the date of approval by ANPAL, or 120 days if the application is submitted through Joint Interprofessional Funds or the Fund for Training and Income Support. These deadlines are not strict, and extensions may be granted if justified and approved by ANPAL.
The applications received are evaluated according to the chronological order of submission.
After review, ANPAL determines the funding amount, which covers both the cost of training hours and related social security contributions. Payments are made quarterly by INPS, with 70% paid in advance and the remaining 30% paid upon confirmation by ANPAL.
It is hoped that this new instrument will be easy to apply, compared to all the other Active Policy instruments that are currently struggling to be implemented. Only in this perspective will the Fund be able to bring benefits to the employer in terms of reducing labor costs by combining the reduction of working hours with training, unlike what happens with the CIG as a mere instrument of income support without training and requalification purposes.
