Public employees: lots of money arriving. 34 years of arrears! Figures

Public employees: rain of arrears coming

A ruling from the has caused a lot of discussion, and it couldn't have been otherwise Constitutional Court. It is number 4/2024, to be precise, whose impact promises to be enormous. The reason is soon explained. In short, the Court's decision proceeds to restore a seniority-related salary increase for public employees. It is necessary to evaluate the situation in detail, obviously, in order to understand the cases in which some salaries may be affected by more than 30 years of arrears. The website quifinanza.it writes it.

A situation that pushes memory back 34 years, to the last century. Precisely the gaze is turned to 1990, when society was radically different and the euro was not in the life of any European citizen.

At that time the public employment relationship was regulated by public Law. The contracts signed were the result of agreements stipulated between the trade union organizations and the political authority, in the absence of the institution of ARAN, or the Agency for the negotiation representation of public administrations, founded in 1993.

But what did the 1990 employment contract provide? The last one regulated by private law highlighted the freezing of seniority for all Civil Service employees. According to paragraphs 4 and 5 of the art. 9, however, these amounts were recognized on the basis of seniority accrued within the threshold of 31 December 1990.

Below is an overview of the various amounts related to qualifications and seniority:

I, II and III qualification, with seniority of 5 years: 300,000 lire;

I, II and III qualification, with seniority of 10 years: 600,000 lire;

I, II and III qualification, with seniority of 20 years: 1,200,000 lire;

IV, V and VI qualification, with seniority of 5 years: 400,000 lire;

IV, V and VI qualification, with seniority of 10 years: 800,000 lire;

IV, V and VI qualification, with seniority of 20 years: 1,600,000 lire;

VII, VIII and IX qualification, with seniority of 5 years: 500,000 lire;

VII, VIII and IX qualification, with seniority of 10 years: 1,000,000 lire;

VII, VIII and IX qualification, with seniority of 20 years: 2,000,000 lire.

What can happen

Once the seniority block was implemented, workers in sectors such as the Revenue Agency, Ministries, Courts, local authorities and others no longer saw automatic economic emoluments recognized.

An immediate salary freeze, awaiting the reform which will then lead to the privatization of public contracts. The increases indicated above were not paid if accrued after 1991.

Starting from 3 February 1993, with Legislative Decree no. 29, the employment relationship of public employees is privatised. This means that its regulation depends on the rules of the Civil Code. A considerable transformation, which obviously leads to a change also with regards to appeals. These pass from the administrative to the civil judiciary.

The new reform has offered many employees the opportunity to appeal to the ordinary judge. The right to receive the increase in the Individual Seniority Salary is recognised, even if it was accrued after 1 January 1990.

The number of appeals was notable, as expected, which pushed the Government to intervene with the finance law for the year 2001. The right to payment of the RIA increase was effectively excluded in relation to the three-year period 1991-1993. A right reserved only for those who had the necessary requirements by 1990.

A unilateral rule, to the exclusive advantage of the Government. However, everything was questioned by the Council, which places emphasis on the principle of non-retroactivity of the law. The legislator, with the rule in question, determined the pending judgments in favor of the State. This was to avoid painful disbursements, which would have had a net impact on the Italian budget deficit.

In light of these developments, it remains to be assessed whether there is the possibility of an appeal to the ordinary judge. This concerns those who have never opened a dispute. It cannot be ruled out, however, that the Court will proceed to call into question only the appeals already initiated in the past, rejected by the judicial authority.

There is no statute of limitations in these cases and, therefore, those who appealed more than 30 years ago could receive a settlement of up to a maximum of 30 years of arrears. Pension contributions should be allocated in the relevant year and not in cash. All this translates into increased pay, higher contributions and, consequently, a higher pension.