Prescription of work credits 2024: terms and effective date for salaries, overtime, severance pay

Employment credits are subject to statute of limitations, therefore there is a maximum time established by law to be able to demand payment, beyond which the employer will no longer be obliged.
There is no specific rule that regulates the limitation of employment credits, so, being very varied, the terms vary depending on the type of credit.
Jurisprudence, however, provides specific rules on the starting date of this prescription, in consideration of the particular relationship between the parties.
Here's what you need to know, how the statute of limitations for salaries, overtime, severance pay and other unpaid work credits is calculated and what starts in 2024.
The limitation periods for work credits As anticipated, the rules on civil limitation, which provide for 10 years as ordinary periods.
Not all work credits, however, are subject to ordinary prescription.
The law, in fact, imposes a short statute of limitations of 5 years for all credits whose payment had to take place periodically, at least once a year.
Consequently, the following work credits are barred over 5 years: Unpaid monthly salaries.
Thirteenth.
Fourteenth.
Bonuses.
Production and performance bonuses.
Pay differences due to errors on the pay slip.
Unpaid overtime.
Salary differences for different classification or qualification.
Credits due for carrying out higher duties.
TFR, regardless of the contract, as it is still set aside on a monthly basis.
These are work credits that the employee should receive periodically, undoubtedly at least annually or even monthly.
The severance pay falls into this category regardless of the payment methods envisaged by the contract, as it is abstractly set aside every month of work and therefore on a periodic basis.
On the contrary, work credits due on a one-off basis or in any case less frequently than once a year are prescribed in 10 years, such as: Loyalty bonuses.
Transfer allowance.
Qualification rights.
All disbursements foreseen as one-offs.
Replacement allowances for unused holidays and leave.
Compensation for damages for failure to pay social security contributions.
Credits deriving from requalification of the working relationship.
read also Do holidays, leaves of absence, contributions, severance pay, thirteenth and fourteenth salary accrue during illness? When does the statute of limitations for employment credits start? As anticipated, jurisprudence – especially the Court of Cassation – has established particular rules over time on the starting date of the statute of limitations for employment credits.
As a rule, in fact, the statute of limitations starts from the moment in which payment was expected or the event giving rise to credit occurred.
The application of this general principle also to employment credits, however, does not protect employees at all.
It is difficult to think that the latter can or will be able to demand compliance over the years of work, because a warning or even more so a civil lawsuit would compromise relations with the employer.
Obviously, according to the law, personal retaliation against the employee is not permitted, who legally cannot lose his job for having exercised his right.
At the same time, jurisprudence must guarantee the application of the law and its principles within reality, where it can easily be assumed that the worker renounces creating hostility with his employer, also considering the average lengths of civil cases and the predominance of the remedy of compensation instead of reinstatement.
For this reason, judges make the statute of limitations begin to run from the termination of the employment relationship.
The reason why the employment relationship ends is not important, from that moment the statute of limitations begins to run because the creditor is no longer unable to take legal action, regardless of the duration of the employment relationship.
In order to interrupt the prescription, formal requests for payment are needed, starting with a warning (via registered letter with return receipt certifying the date of notification) and ending with forced collection in the event of continuous non-compliance.
read also Lawsuit against the employer: how to do it, what is needed and the deadlines Prescription of employment credits in 2024 Knowing the rules on the limitation of employment credits it is easy to understand that this year they are barred (or have been barred, depending on the precise date): periodic employment credits for employment relationships that ended in 2019; non-periodic employment credits for employment relationships that ended in 2014.
Employment credits that the employee accrues in 2024, however, will only begin to take effect at the end of the relationship.
Assuming it is this year, there will be a statute of limitations for the one-off credits expected in 2034 and for the others, including severance pay, salaries and overtime, in 2029.
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