Under the so-called Pension Law Reform, the retirement age of
Italian workers was increased starting in 1 January 2012.
Women's retirement age was increased to 62 from 60 and, as of
2018, this will increase to 66. From 2018, retirement ages for men
and women will be equal. Public sector employees' retirement
age has also been increased to 66 years. In addition, the
contributory pension (i.e., the pension payable on the basis of the
contributions paid by workers) is now payable when a worker has
paid contributions for at least 41 years and three months for
women, and 42 years and three months for men (up from the previous
40 years' requirement). Moreover, under the Pension Law Reform,
the workers' retirement age will increase over the next few
years on the basis of life expectancy criteria.
The Pension Law Reform changes, particularly the increase in
retirement age, have triggered major concerns among the workers
known as "esodati". This term, coined by the
Italian media in 2012, refers to the thousands of workers who have
lost or left their employment as a consequence of corporate
restructuring plans, trade union agreements or individual economic
agreements and are not yet entitled to a pension, due to the
increase in retirement age and to the tightening of the retirement
requirements provided for by the Pension Law Reform. Many Italian
workers close to retirement age, subordinate employees and
independent contractors entered into agreements with their
employers which provided for the termination of their employment in
return for the payment of a fixed amount that was, in most cases,
calculated on the basis of the remaining years before the worker
would reach retirement age.
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