Industry contracts: valid for 5 years, including growth and “recovery”

The renewal of the sectoral contract has been completed. After the conclusion of the Minutes of Agreement, ANIS met with OSLA, CSDL, CDSL and USL to formally sign the sectoral contract covering the period from 2024 to 2028. An unprecedented period that will bring stability and certainty to entrepreneurs and workers, who will receive generous salary increases totaling more than double digits. In fact, on top of an increase of 9.5% over five years, plus the return of 4% inflation in the previous years, plus “coverage” for the next few years, should the cost of living increase by more than what is calculated today. In addition, for many employees, namely those who have worked for the same company for more than 11 years, there is a “loyalty bonus” of 2.5%

Duration, increase and “competitiveness”

As previously announced, the new contract will last for five years, from 2024 to 2028, instead of two years as in the recent renewal. This option, strongly supported in particular by ANIS, will guarantee stability in the sector, protect entrepreneurs from union conflicts and allow better planning of their recruitment and human resources management plans.

On the other hand, it will also guarantee workers a certain salary increase over five years to cover their purchasing power, as was the inspiring (and formal) principle of the ANIS-CSU contract, from which this agreement emerged (also signed by OSLA and USL, as well as two other unions). In short, flexibility in exchange for purchasing power, this time more concrete, given the figures involved.

The new contract in fact provides for the following increases in the wage bill: +1.90% from January 1, 2024, +2.00% from January 1, 2025, +2.00% from January 1, 2026, +2.00% from January 1, 2027, +2.00% from January 1, 2028 +1.80%. During the term of the contract, in January 2026, 2028 and 2029, checks are planned to identify any deviations from the actual recorded inflation (HICP index).

The inflation gap for the 2022/2023 biennium is expected to return to the following values: 1.10% from January 1, 2024, 1.00% from January 1, 2025, 1.00% from January 1, 2026, 0.50% from January 1, 2027 and 0.40% from January 1, 2028.

A new content is that from January 1, 2025, employees who have provided services to the same company and will provide services for at least 11 years in the future will receive a monthly loyalty pay equivalent to 2.50% of the salary; in addition, it will be updated according to salary dynamics.

These are substantial increases, a completely original mechanism of recovery and protection against inflation, which also guarantees on the part of the companies a certain competitiveness compared to the outside. In fact, never before during this period have the contracts in Italy and elsewhere been renewed so quickly and with such large increases that it could have put San Marino companies in a difficult position. But this is not the case, and this is another point of emphasis in this renewal of contracts, which, as we all know, involve more than 10,000 people between San Marino and cross-border workers, almost 40% of the total workforce of the system.

“Heavier” wages and wage arrears

The contract will now be reviewed by the Collective Bargaining Guarantee Committee, which will verify that the contract’s comprehensive law is in compliance with the law; the workers will then vote on it through a series of assemblies organized by the CSdL, CDLS, USL trade unions. In the meantime, however, the software used to process payrolls has been updated in accordance with the new wage scale, so workers have already seen an increase in the July payroll issued in the first days of August. In most cases, they have also already paid the related arrears from January, except for those companies that have already given holidays, which will calculate these arrears in the next payroll (therefore issued in August, early September). ).

Corporate welfare and combating harassment

Among the innovations, in addition to the annual increase in contracts and longer validity periods, it is easier to reach the number of hours for accumulating the Presence Bonus, which will take into account 75 hours of CIG and flexible hours hours not recovered. There is also a better explanation of the method of using short-term permits in the context of companies for family reasons, university masters and solidarity holidays. The Social Services Fund has pledged to grant 500,000 euros during the contract period to guarantee 50% of the credit of workers who cannot be recovered due to the bankruptcy of the company.

This was followed by a commitment to create a contractual benefits platform valid for all workers through a social services fund and to share at company level the communication, implementation and awareness initiatives of the Multiannual National Plan to Eliminate Violence, Harassment and Discrimination worldwide. Other elements such as digital transformation and the EU’s use of artificial intelligence also became part of the contract.

Furthermore, if the government intends to interfere with changes made by past legislatures in labour market reform, the parties commit to request a tripartite meeting to initiate the necessary discussions.