During 2026, the framework of contribution incentives for hiring has been expanded with several measures, each distinguished by purpose, requirements, and duration: such a large number of bonuses has understandably created some uncertainty among companies as to which measure applies to which type of hiring. This is demonstrated by the issue of the 30 September 2026 deadline, which has been widely reported in recent weeks by many sources and sometimes incorrectly presented as a general deadline: in reality, it only concerns the old Youth and Women bonuses for the 2024–2025 two-year period and does not apply to the 2026 bonuses discussed in this article.

Precisely to help navigate this landscape clearly, below we summarise some of the currently most relevant measures for 2026 hiring and their related requirements, concluding with a summary table of the main deadlines.

We also point out that, on 8 September 2026, the implementing decree for the family–work reconciliation incentive, described further below, was signed. This decree defines the operational rules pending INPS instructions.

Youth Bonus 2026

The 2026 Youth Bonus (Article 2, Decree-Law 62/2026) grants private employers an exemption from paying 100% of their employer social security contributions (excluding INAIL insurance premiums and contributions) for open-ended employment contracts entered into between 1 January and 31 December 2026 for workers who have not reached the age of 35 (up to 34 years and 364 days) on the date of hiring.

Domestic work and apprenticeships are excluded from the benefit; intermittent/on-call work and occasional work services are also excluded, as they are incompatible with the purpose of the measure.

Categories of eligible workers and duration of the exemption

Three categories of workers are envisaged, with different requirements and benefit durations:

• Workers who have been without regularly paid employment for at least 24 months (“highly disadvantaged” workers): exemption of up to €500 per month, for a maximum duration of 24 months.

• Workers who have been without regularly paid employment for at least 12 months and who also belong to one of the categories of “disadvantaged workers” identified by Regulation (EU) 651/2014 (specifically: workers without a diploma or professional qualification; single individuals with dependent family members; people employed in occupations with significant gender imbalance; members of an ethnic minority requiring training): exemption of up to €500 per month, for a maximum duration of 24 months.

• Workers belonging to one of the same categories of “disadvantaged worker” mentioned above, without the need for a minimum unemployment period: exemption of up to €500 per month, but for a reduced maximum duration of 12 months.

For hires made at a workplace or production unit located in the single ZES area for Southern Italy, the maximum exemption amount increases to €650 per month, while the same duration (24 or 12 months) remains applicable depending on the worker’s category.

Net employment increase requirement

The exemption is granted on the condition that the hiring results in a net increase in the workforce, calculated in Annual Labour Units (A.L.U.), by comparing the number of employees in the reference month with the average number of employees during the previous 12 months (for part-time contracts, the calculation is weighted according to the ratio between the agreed working hours and full-time working hours).

Other conditions

• The employer must not have carried out, in the 6 months preceding the hiring, dismissals for objective justified reasons or collective redundancies in the same production unit, nor may it carry out such dismissals during the 6 months following the hiring of the subsidised worker or another worker with the same qualification (otherwise, the exemption will be revoked and any benefit already received must be repaid).

• A level of remuneration must be guaranteed that is not lower than that provided for by the most representative national collective labour agreements.

• It should be noted that the requirement of the worker’s first open-ended employment contract is not required. Therefore, the benefit can also be used in the case of a worker who was previously employed under an open-ended contract.

How to submit the application

• The application must be submitted exclusively online, using SPID, CIE or CNS credentials, through the INPS website, in the section “Portale delle Agevolazioni (formerly DiResCo) – Youth Bonus 2026”, and may concern both employment relationships that have already been established and those that have not yet started.

• The procedure has been available since 11 June 2026 (INPS Message No. 1966/2026); as of today, no deadline has been established for submitting applications.

• Any arrears accrued for the months from January to June 2026 may only be recovered through the Uniemens declarations for July, August and September 2026. Once this period has expired, recovery is no longer possible through ordinary adjustment procedures.

  
  

Women Bonus 2026

The 2026 Women Bonus (Article 1, Decree-Law 62/2026) follows the same structure as the 2026 Youth Bonus: exemption from payment of 100% of employer social security contributions (excluding INAIL insurance premiums and contributions) for open-ended employment contracts involving women of any age, carried out between 1 January and 31 December 2026.

Domestic work and apprenticeships remain excluded, as well as — for the same rationale of the measure — intermittent/on-call work and occasional work services.

Categories of eligible female workers and duration of the exemption

• Female workers who have been without regularly paid employment for at least 24 months (“highly disadvantaged” workers): exemption of up to €650 per month, for 24 months.

• Female workers who have been without employment for at least 12 months and who belong to one of the categories of “disadvantaged female workers” under Regulation (EU) 651/2014: exemption of up to €650 per month, for 24 months.

• Female workers belonging to one of the categories of “disadvantaged female workers” under the same Regulation, without a minimum unemployment requirement: exemption of up to €650 per month, but for a maximum duration reduced to 12 months.

For female workers residing in the single ZES area for Southern Italy, the maximum amount increases to €800 per month.

The Women Bonus is also subject to the same net employment increase requirement described for the Youth Bonus, compliance with the minimum remuneration requirements established by the relevant collective labour agreements, and the same general conditions regarding the prohibition on dismissals during the 6 months before and after the hiring.

For this bonus as well, the benefit may be used even if the worker had previously been employed under an open-ended contract.

How to submit the application

• The application must be submitted exclusively online through the INPS website, in the section “Portale delle Agevolazioni (formerly DiResCo) – Women Bonus 2026”, following the same procedures provided for the Youth Bonus.

• The procedure has been available since 11 June 2026 (INPS Message No. 1970/2026); as of today, no deadline has been established for submitting the application.

• Arrears from January to June 2026 follow the same recovery period as the Youth Bonus: recovery through the Uniemens declarations for July, August and September 2026.

Incentive for the stabilisation of employment relationships

The stabilisation incentive (Article 4, Decree-Law 62/2026) does not concern new hires, but rather the conversion of existing fixed-term employment contracts into open-ended contracts: it applies to conversions carried out from 1 August to 31 December 2026, without interruption, of fixed-term contracts established by 30 April 2026, involving young workers who, on the date of conversion, have not reached the age of 35 and have never been employed under an open-ended contract during their entire working life.

The benefit applies to blue-collar workers, office workers and middle managers, excluding executives, and consists of an exemption from payment of 100% of employer social security contributions (excluding INAIL insurance premiums), up to a maximum of €500 per month, for a maximum period of 24 months.

Conditions

• New fixed-term or open-ended hires are not eligible for the incentive; only conversions of fixed-term employment relationships already existing by 30 April 2026 qualify.

• The worker must never previously have been employed under an open-ended contract; however, previous periods of apprenticeship or intermittent work do not prevent eligibility.

• In this case as well, a net employment increase is required (according to the same rules already described for the Youth Bonus), together with compliance with the prohibition on dismissals for objective justified reasons during the 6 months before and after the conversion within the same production unit.

• Although Article 4, paragraph 5, of Decree-Law 62/2026 formally makes the effectiveness of the stabilisation incentive subject to authorisation by the European Commission, INPS Circular No. 72/2026 considered the measure already operational from 1 August 2026, classifying it as an intervention not subject to State aid notification.

Therefore, a degree of uncertainty remains, since this interpretation differs from the literal wording of the law and has not, to date, been officially confirmed by a position of the European Commission.

How to submit the application

• The online procedure has been available through the INPS portal since 29 July 2026 (INPS Message No. 2518/2026), and the application must be submitted for each individual conversion, with no fixed deadline.

• Any arrears accrued from August 2026 may only be recovered through the Uniemens declarations for August, September and October 2026 (for the agricultural sector, exclusively through the October 2026 declaration).

  
  

Exemption for mothers with at least three children

Separate from the Labour Decree, but equally relevant, is the contribution exemption for mothers with at least three minor children, introduced by the 2026 Budget Law (Article 1, paragraphs 210–213, Law No. 199/2025).

It applies to private employers hiring, from 1 January 2026, women who are mothers of at least three children under the age of 18 and who have been without regularly paid employment for at least six months. Domestic work and apprenticeships are excluded.

The exemption amounts to 100% of employer social security contributions (excluding INAIL insurance premiums), up to a maximum limit of €8,000 per year, equal to €666.66 per month.

• The measure applies both to fixed-term employment contracts (including temporary agency work) and open-ended contracts, as well as to conversions of an already subsidised fixed-term employment relationship.

• The duration of the exemption varies depending on the type of contract:

  • 24 months for open-ended employment contracts;

  • 12 months for fixed-term employment contracts, extended to a total of 18 months in the event of conversion of the fixed-term contract into an open-ended contract.

• Possession of the requirement (at least three children under 18) must be verified at the time of hiring, without taking into account subsequent events such as a child reaching adulthood.

How to submit the application

• The application may be submitted at any time through the dedicated online form “ELM3” on the INPS Contribution Benefits Portal, with no fixed deadline.

• For arrears relating to the months from January to July 2026, recovery may only be carried out through the Uniemens declarations for August, September and October 2026 (in the agricultural sector, exclusively through the October 2026 declaration).

  
  

Family–work reconciliation incentive

The most recent measure concerns family–work reconciliation (Article 6, Decree-Law 62/2026), in force from 28 June 2026 for the three-year period 2026–2028.

Companies holding certification for family–work reconciliation (UNI/PdR 192:2026) are entitled to a contribution exemption of up to 1% of employer social security contributions, within an annual limit of €50,000 per company.

On 8 September 2026, the implementing ministerial decree was signed, regulating the achievement and validity of certifications, the criteria for granting the exemption, and the procedures for submitting applications.

How to submit the application

• The application must be submitted exclusively online to INPS by the legal representative, an authorised delegate, or an accredited intermediary.

• The procedure cannot yet be effectively activated because the operational instructions from INPS are still pending. Companies should therefore be prepared to proceed as soon as the procedure becomes available.

  
  

A measure not to be confused: the old 2024–2025 Youth and Women Bonuses

As mentioned at the beginning, the 30 September 2026 deadline that has been widely discussed in recent weeks concerns the Youth Bonus and Women Bonus for the 2024–2025 two-year period (Decree-Law 60/2024, the so-called Cohesion Decree).

These measures relate to hires and conversions carried out between 1 September 2024 and 31 December 2025: after this deadline, INPS will no longer accept new applications for this now-concluded period.

Therefore, this deadline does not affect the use of the 2026 bonuses described in this article.