TFR to the INPS treasury fund: what it is and 3 mistakes to avoid

The severance pay (TFR) is a remuneration item which is characterized by being paid at a later time than that of its accrual.
Except for the cases of advance of a quota – part of the severance pay (subject to a series of legal requirements), the sums accrued by the employee can only be liquidated upon termination of the contract, regardless of the cause at the origin of the event.
Depending on the will expressed by the employee, the severance pay accrued during the relationship can alternatively be: Set aside in the company to be paid to the worker upon termination of the contract; Intended for supplementary pension provision.
With regard to the first point, however, severance pay is managed in different ways depending on the size of the company.
It is no coincidence that severance pay is the responsibility of the employer only for companies with an employment base of up to 49 employees.
However, in the presence of a workforce equal to or greater than 50 employees, the employer is obliged to pay the severance pay to the Treasury Fund set up at the INPS.
Let's analyze the issue in detail.
TFR to the INPS Treasury Fund: what it is and 3 mistakes to avoid What is the INPS Treasury Fund? Corporate operations and contract transfers Non-subject employer: pay attention to the transfer of employees Forgetting to carry out a simulation of any shortage What is the INPS Treasury Fund? Pursuant to article 1, paragraphs 755 and following of Law number 296 of 27 December 2006, the «Fund for the provision of severance pay referred to in article 2120 of the civil code to employees in the private sector» is established.
The Fund in question, also known as the INPS Treasury Fund, is financed by a contribution equal to the TFR quota accrued by each private sector worker starting from 1 January 2007, not intended for supplementary pension schemes.
Private sector employers with a number of employees equal to or greater than 50 are affected by the payment obligation (to be made with form F24).
The size limit is calculated: For companies in business on 31 December 2006, taking reference is the annual average of workers employed in 2006; For companies that begin operations after 31 December 2006, the annual average number of workers employed in the calendar year of commencement of activity is taken as reference.
The obligation to pay severance pay to INPS occurs with reference to workers for whom article 2120 of the Civil Code applies, regarding severance pay.
However, the following cases are excluded from payment to the Treasury Fund: Fixed-term employees, with a relationship lasting less than 3 months; Home workers; Seasonal workers in the agri-food sector for whom the end of the employment relationship is not pre-established but is linked to the occurrence of an event; Employees, managers and managers in the agricultural sector (insured for severance pay by Enpaia) for whom the collective bargaining agreements provide, also through referral to second level negotiations, for the accrued portions of severance pay to be set aside with third parties (this is the case of construction workers with TFR set aside at the Building Funds) or, instead of the provision, the periodic payment of the accrued TFR portions.
read also Employee in financial difficulty: what help can the employer give? Corporate operations and contract transfers It may happen that an employer, obliged to pay severance pay to the INPS Treasury Fund, acquires employees as a result of: Corporate operations (for example acquisition of a company or branch thereof, merger by incorporation, etc.); Assignment of contract.
With respect to the aforementioned employees, the previous employer was not subject to the obligations of the Treasury Fund.
In these situations, the company receiving the workers must not fall into the mistake of thinking that the payment of severance pay to INPS is not due for them.
On the contrary, the employer is required to fulfill the obligation to allocate severance pay to the Treasury Fund, also for the personnel in question, starting from the pay period in progress on the date of acquisition of the employees.
Non-subject employer: pay attention to the transfer of employees A situation contrary to that described above arises in the event that, due to corporate operations or contract transfers, the transfer occurs to an employer not required to pay to the Treasury Fund, of workers previously employed by companies that were otherwise subject to the obligation.
In these cases, the new employer is still required to: Allocate the severance pay to INPS, albeit limited to the personnel being transferred; Re-evaluate the TFR of the acquired employees also considering the sums paid to the Treasury Fund by the transferring company.
read also Do holidays, leaves of absence, contributions, severance pay, thirteenth and fourteenth salary accrue during illness? Forgetting to carry out a simulation of any insufficiency In addition to collecting the severance pay portions accrued by employees, the Treasury Fund is responsible for disbursing severance pay (and related advances) with reference to the portion accrued by the employee as of 1 ° January 2007.
The payment of the amount accrued by the worker is carried out by the company in full, also for the share pertaining to the Fund.
The sums advanced by the employer in the pay slip on behalf of the INPS are recovered by the employer (so-called "adjustment") when paying the contributions to the Institute with the F24 form.
As clarified by the INPS with Circular dated 3 April 2007 number 70, the adjustment (recovery) of severance pay dues to the Treasury Fund (as a credit to the employer) is carried out, in order of priority: On contributions (to debt) owed to the Treasury Fund; In case of insufficiency of the sums referred to in the previous point, on the mandatory contributions due to the Institute (IVS contributions and other minor contributions).
In short, if «the total amount of the services pertaining to the Fund that the company is required to provide in the month – whether as a final service or an advance – exceeds the amount of the overall contributions due to the Fund and to the Social security institutions with the declaration of the month of disbursement" it is the Treasury Fund "that has to pay the entire share of the benefits requested" (Inps Circular number 70/2007).
In similar situations, the employer is required to: Immediately notify INPS of the shortage that has arisen and the Treasury Fund will provide the worker with the amount of the benefit directly to his/her share; To notify the employees concerned of the start of the procedure for the payment of severance pay by INPS and not in the pay slip.
Given that the timescales for payment of the severance pay by the company are, as a rule, shorter than those for the settlement of the sums by the INPS, the company, to protect the workers, must not fall into the mistake of not carrying out a or more simulations regarding the capacity of the contributions with respect to the severance pay to be paid in the payslip.
The situation to be avoided is that of the worker who, relying on the provision of severance pay according to the company's salary payment deadlines, makes a series of commitments (think of the payment of the advance for the purchase of the vehicle) destined to be reviewed or even canceled (with obvious inconvenience for the interested party) in the event of intervention by the Treasury Fund.