The INPS illustrated with its circular of 20 February the extension of theSocial APE for 2024 foreseen by the Budget Law and with a message on the same date clarified that there are no maximum age limits for access to unemployment benefits. In detail:
Social APE extension also for 2024
The social APE is an allowance, introduced in 2017 and extended from year to year, guaranteed by the State and paid by the INPS, to workers in certain contributory conditions and in a state of need, who are not already holders of a pension in Italy or abroad. The allowance is paid until the age foreseen for the old-age pension or the requirements for early retirement are reached. The Budget Law, in extending this measure throughout 2024 for those who reach the age requirements of at least 63 years and 5 months at the time of application or in any case complete it by 31 December 2024, has also introduced some new features.
In particular, the new provisions also apply to subjects who have met the requirements to access the benefit in previous years despite not having submitted the relevant application before 1 January 2024 or to those who, having previously forfeited the benefit, due to for example, having exceeded the annual income limits, they must resubmit the verification application in the year 2024.
However, the Budget Law has not changed the contribution requirements for access to this allowance, which generally remain at least 36 years of contributory seniority for an employee, reduced to 32 years of contributions for workers who have carried out demanding activities , and 30 years of contributions if they are subjects with a reduced working capacity equal to or greater than 74%.
Social APE: cannot be cumulated with income from work
Another novelty concerns the new regime incumulability with income from work. In fact, the right to access the social APE lapses if:
– the holder of the benefit carries out employed or self-employed work from its commencement and until reaching the age for the old-age pension
– the owner carries out occasional self-employed work which generates income exceeding the limit of 5000 euros gross per year (including the months of the year preceding the start of the allowance or after reaching the age for the old-age pension)
For those whose right to receive the social APE was certified before 1 January 2024, the allowance remains cumulative with the receipt of income from employed or para-subordinate work not exceeding 8000 euros gross per year and income deriving from work self-employed within the limit of 4800 euros gross per year.
Social APE: here are the deadlines for submitting applications
Interested parties must submit an application for recognition of the conditions for access to the benefit by the deadlines of 31 March 2024, 15 July 2024 and 30 November 2024. Applications submitted after the deadlines and in any case by 30 November 2024 will be taken into consideration. consideration of whether the necessary financial resources will remain, integrated by the 2024 Budget Law.
The deadlines within which INPS must communicate the outcome of the verification investigations to the subjects who have requested it are:
– 30 June 2024, for applications submitted by 31 March 2024
– 15 October 2024, for applications submitted by 15 July 2024
– 31 December 2024, for applications submitted after 15 July and by 30 November
2024.
The social APE starts from the first day of the month following the application for the benefit, following the cessation of the employee, self-employed and para-subordinate work activity carried out in Italy or abroad.
NASpI and Dis-coll: there are no maximum age limits
The INPS has also clarified that there is no maximum age limit for enrollment in ordinary employment, also for the purposes of access to NASpI, unemployment compensation for employed workers who have involuntarily lost their jobs, and to Dis-connect, the monthly unemployment benefit for coordinated and continuous collaborators. Furthermore, workers who involuntarily lose their job must always issue a declaration of immediate availability, as a prerequisite for the recognition of unemployment benefits. Finally, INPS reminds you that the minimum age limit for registration at the Employment Center remains fixed at the age of 16.
This limit also concerns access to NASpI and Dis-coll in relation to the impossibility of issuing the declaration of immediate availability for subjects under the age of 16, with consequent exclusion of access to the same services.
