TFR, when it arrives in 2023

One of the concerns of employees upon termination of the employment relationship concerns the arrival date of the severance pay, more commonly known as severance pay.
The payment times for TFR (which stands for severance pay) are not in fact the same for everyone: they differ between workers in the public and private sector, and even among the latter the answer could vary depending on the relevant collective agreement.
It is the employees who have to wait longer, as more unfavorable treatment is applied to them, which was recently the subject of a ruling by the Constitutional Court which found its unconstitutionality, which can delay payment of TFR (or TFS, End of Service Indemnity) of even 24 months.
And it is precisely for this reason that solutions have recently been introduced for them to ensure that the accrued TFR can be paid much earlier as it is advanced by a banking institution or INPS, with a subsidized interest rate (especially in the case of the Institute).
The arrival of severance pay for private sector employees, however, is more immediate, for which, as mentioned above, it is the Ccnl that establishes the terms within which the employer must pay the severance pay.
TFR which is worth underlining is due regardless of the reason that led to the termination of the contract.
It is therefore due following resignation, as well as dismissal for just cause: if anything – but only for public employment – depending on the reason that led to the termination of the relationship there may be different payment times.
And as we will see below, severance pay is also due in the event of company bankruptcy.
In this regard, here is a guide that answers all doubts about the payment of TFR depending on the working sector to which it belongs, revealing what the timing is for the arrival of the one that it is also defined as severance pay.
When the TFR arrives When the TFR arrives for private sector employees When the TFR arrives for public employees When the TFR arrives if paid by the INPS Guarantee Fund When the TFR arrives for private sector employees In the case of private sector employees the payment of severance pay is the responsibility of the employer, except in two cases: if the worker has decided to transfer his severance pay to a supplementary pension fund; in the case of companies with at least 50 employees, which have the duty to pay the TFR quotas relating to contracted workers into the INPS Treasury Fund, which will take care of the management and payment of the severance pay.
Therefore, except for the two aforementioned cases, upon termination of the employment relationship, the employer, in addition to the reference salary, accrued and untaken holidays, unused leave, any compensation for notice not respected, and other , is also required to pay the severance pay.
Therefore, in general, the severance pay, set aside over the years of service, must be paid with the last paycheck.
There are, however, exceptions, which are mainly dictated by the National Collective Labor Agreement (Ccnl) applied by the employer.
In fact, the collective bargaining agreements may provide for a different severance pay payment term, which must be reported in the employment letter.
For example, the Ccnl Commercio e Artigianato, as well as the Ccnl Professional Studies, reiterates what has just been said, adding however that the payment cannot exceed the 45th day from the date of termination of the employment relationship.
In the Tertiary Collective Bargaining Agreement, however, it is established that severance pay must be paid within 30 days of the termination date; slightly different from what is foreseen by the TFR Turismo, which instead obliges the employer to pay the severance pay at the same time as the last pay slip, i.e.
the one that refers to the same month in which the cessation of work activity occurred.
Both the metalworkers' collective bargaining agreement and that of the telecommunications sector, however, set the final deadline for the payment of severance pay as the 30th day from the date of publication of the Istat index useful for calculating the revaluation of the share of the compensation that the worker has accrued up to that date.
moment.
The Transport Collective Bargaining Agreement, on the other hand, limits itself to establishing that severance pay must be paid at the "moment of termination of service", thus adopting the provisions of the Civil Code.
Before concluding, we would like to remind you that understanding when the TFR must be paid by is very important: the Ccnl, in fact, establish that if the payment times are prolonged the worker would be entitled to the recognition of monthly interest on all monthly balances due.
Therefore, if the employer delays the payment of severance pay without reason, the worker has the right to request interest and monetary revaluation on this sum.
When does the TFR arrive for public employees In the case of the TFR due to public employees, the settlement times are much longer than expected for private sector workers and – as anticipated – these also depend on the cause that led to the termination of the employment relationship.
For example, in the event of termination motivated by incapacity or death, the severance pay is paid to the former employee, or his family members, within 105 days.
After this deadline, so-called interest at the legal rate is applied to the payment for each day of delay.
However, it is due after 12 months, in the event of termination due to: reaching the age limit; end of the fixed-term contract; unilateral termination of the employer following the achievement of the early retirement requirements.
From the 12th month after the termination event, INPS has another 3 months to proceed with the liquidation, under penalty of the application of interest at the legal rate.
In all other cases, such as for voluntary resignations, the TFR is paid after 24 months and the INPS still has another 3 months before triggering interest.
Payment methods also differ between the public and private sectors.
If in the latter case the employee is entitled – unless otherwise agreed with the company – to TFR paid in a single solution, in the public sector the following rules are taken into account: TFR paid in a single solution only when the amount is less than 50,000 euros; TFR paid in two annual installments (one for the first year and the other for the following year) when the amount is between 50,000 and 100,000 euros.
The first tranche is 50,000 euros, the remainder is paid with the second; for amounts exceeding 100,000 euros the severance pay is paid in three annual instalments, i.e.
50,000 in the first year, 50,000 in the second and the remainder in the third year.
Depending on the case, therefore, for a public employee with TFR of an amount exceeding 100,000 euros it can take 4 to 5 years to receive the entire sum due as severance pay.
However, these rules may soon be subject to change.
With sentence no.
130 of 2023, the Constitutional Court ruled against the rule that defers the payment of severance pay for public employees; in the coming months we therefore expect government intervention aimed at changing and reducing the current timescales.
In the meantime, for those who wish to reduce the wait there is the possibility of requesting the severance pay in advance from the INPS (with a subsidized rate of 1% plus 0.5% as an opening expense) or from a bank that has joined the framework agreement provided for by article 23, paragraph 2, of legislative decree no.
4 of 28 January 2019.
When does the severance pay arrive if paid by the INPS guarantee fund? Another possibility is that of the worker of the bankrupt company, who receives the severance pay from the specific INPS guarantee fund.
In this case, the time required to apply for access to this Fund must be considered, which may vary depending on the circumstances.
Once the access request has been submitted and after having assessed that the now former worker has the right to the severance pay directly from the Guarantee Fund, the INPS has 60 days to pay the severance pay as well as, possibly, the last three months' salary not paid by the bankrupt company.
read also severance pay for a bankrupt company: who pays it, how to recover it