Minimum wages for the crediting of contributions, integration to the minimum wage: the 2024 INPS amounts.
For 2024, INPS, with an important circular [1]communicated the values of the minimum daily wages, the integration to the minimum salary, as well as the limits for the crediting of contributions: essentially, the institute illustrated the values on which to base the social security contributions due.
For most workers, in fact, social security and welfare contributions cannot be calculated on daily taxable amounts lower than those established by law. More precisely, the salary on which to calculate the payments must be determined in compliance with the provisions in force regarding the minimum taxable salary (contractual minimum) and the minimum daily salary established by law.
These values are revalued annually as a result of the equalization of pensions, i.e. the adjustment to the cost of living of the treatments provided by the INPS. So let’s take stock of the main news regarding pensions: minimum contributions for 2024, integration to the minimum salary, what changes regarding the minimum salary for the crediting of a whole year of contributions.
How many minimum contributions do I have to pay for my pension? Which treatments do the adjustments affect? The increases operate on the economic benefits recognized by the INPS, although in a different way, based on the type of treatment: the increases, moreover, also have an effect on the income thresholds not to be exceeded in order to be entitled to certain benefits.
As a result of the revaluation, the contribution minimums and the minimum salary for full credit for pension purposes are increased. The contribution limits, the portion of salary subject to the additional 1% contribution, the value of some fringe benefits, the limits for the crediting of mandatory and notional contributions and, in general, all the values useful for the calculation have also been re-evaluated. of the contributions due regarding social security and assistance. But let’s proceed in order.
Minimum treatment 2024
Based on equalizationcalculated definitively for 2023 and provisionally for 2024, the supplement to the minimum wage increases by 5.4% to 598.61 euros. We remember that theintegration into minimum treatment it is an economic benefit that the INPS recognizes to those who have a very low pension, below the so-called living minimum, equal, for 2024, to 598,61 euro.
There is a super-assessment for those over 75.
Salary minimums 2024
There is a minimum value on which the social security contributionsbelow which one cannot go even if the pay is very low? The answer is yes: this minimum value exists, and it is called minimum salary (also called minimum contributions, or minimum wages).
In simple words, the minimum wage is the minimum wage on which the contributions due to INPS are calculated, below which one cannot go even if the worker has one remuneration small. As regards part-time employees, however, the minimum is re-proportioned on an hourly basis.
In other words, the minimum salary consists of the minimum wage on the basis of which the contributions that the employer must pay to the INPS must be calculated, i.e. the social security and assistance contributions due for the work carried out by the employee.
Normally, this minimum is established by national collective labor agreement (Ccnl), to be precise from the collective agreements stipulated by the workers’ trade union organizations and by the comparatively more representative employers’ associations: the second level agreements, territorial and company, and the individual contract, in fact, can establish the minimum wage only if the amount is greater than that indicated in the Ccnl.
The law, in any case, establishes a daily minimum mandatory, i.e. below which no minimum established by collective bargaining can fall. To be precise, the income to be subject to contributions must be adjusted, if lower, to the minimum daily wage limit, which cannot be less than 9,50% of the amount of the minimum monthly pension paid by the Employees’ Pension Fund (Fpld) in force on 1 January of each year.
Whereas the minimum treatment amount at the Employee pension fund (Fpld) for 2024, amounts to 598.61 euros per month, the mandatory daily minimum is equal to 56,87 euro. In practice, if the collective agreement recognizes a daily wage lower than this value, the employer is still obliged to pay contributions on a minimum daily income of 56.87 euros.
The minimum monthly salary, equal to the daily minimum multiplied by 26 (conventional days in the month), is equal to 1,478.57 euros for 2024.
The obligation to observe the minimum salary for contribution purposes is not foreseen if the employer pays supplementary benefits for mutual benefits of an amount lower than the minimum limit. The minimum must also be respected for workers of cooperative companies and organisations, and for worker members of social cooperatives and other cooperatives.
Different minimums they are foreseen for particular categories (fisheries workers, workers subject to conventional wages…).
2024 daily minimums for part-time workers
Per i part time workers the “full” daily minimum must not be applied, but, considering that the hours are reduced, the minimum must be re-proportioned based on the normal working hours and on the weekly working days (usually 6 days, 5 for the short week ).
Assuming, for example, an ordinary timetable of 40 hours per week over 6 days, the minimal hours like this: 56.87 x 6 /40. The result, equal to 8,53 eurocorresponds to the minimum time that the employer must respect for calculation of contributions.
Assuming, however, a normal contractual working time of 36 hours per week over five days, the calculation is: 56.87 x 5 /36, with a minimum working time, therefore, equal to 7,90 euro.
Minimum salary 2024 for crediting one year of contributions
The minimum wage, or contribution, should not be confused with the minimum wage for the credit of a full year of contributions at the INPS. This salary, in fact, corresponds to the minimum taxable amount to be reached for all 52 weeks of the year to be recognized for the purposes of right to pension: il weekly limit for the crediting of contributions it is equal to 40% of the minimum monthly payment.
For the 2024the value of the minimum wage for the full relevance of the contributions for the purposes of the right to a pension is therefore equal to 239.44 euros per week (596.61 x 40%); in a year, it is necessary to reach a salary, before contributions, at least equal to 12.451 euro.
This means that the contributions paid (considering the rate equal to 33%, valid for all employees) must correspond to at least 79,02 euro per week and per 4.108,86 euro per year: otherwise, the year worked does not count in full for the purposes of the right to a pension (as if the worker had not carried out his activity for the whole year).
But must the contributions calculated on this minimum wage be compulsorily paid by the employer? Unfortunately, the employer is only obliged to calculate the contributions on the daily minimum (or on the hourly minimum for part-time workers), but is not also obliged to calculate them on the minimum salary for crediting one year of contributions.
If the worker carries out his/her activity full time, the problem does not arise, because compliance with the minimum daily contribution always guarantees the crediting of a week’s contribution based on the minimum wage.
If the relationship is part timeHowever, considering that the minimum contribution is on an hourly basis, it may happen that the crediting of an entire week of contributions is not achieved. The contribution useful for the right to a pension, in this case, is calculated in proportion to the amount paid, and the employee could be recognized less than 52 weeks in the yeardespite having worked continuously for 12 months.
From 2021 (retroactively, for workers with pensions starting after 1 January 2021), this provision also applies to mixed and vertical part-time workers, considering even the weeks not worked useful for pension purposes. Employees who have weeks not worked not only in the context of the activity, but also for other reasons (for example, due to unpaid leave) must however submit a specific application to INPS. The same applies to employment relationships that are “exhausted”, i.e. no longer ongoing or transformed into full-time [2].
The worker can still integrate the contribution by paying i voluntary contributions on the weeks discovered, or asking for the ransom.
To whom the 2024 minimums do not apply
Il minimum contribution and the minimum salary for crediting one year of contributions do not apply, in any case, to:
- domestic workers;
- agricultural workers;
- apprentices.
The discontinuity of these works, in fact, would preclude theaccess to pension to the generality of those belonging to these categories. Different minimum rates are then applied for further categories of workers belonging to particular managements administered by INPS, such as Flight Fund, transport, etc.
note
[1] Circ. Inps 21/2024.
[2] Circ. Inps 74/2021
