The 2026 Budget Law (law no. 199/2025) has redesigned the relationship between severance pay (TFR, or monthly severance pay that the worker receives from the employer upon termination of the relationship) and supplementary social security, introducing a mechanism for automatic membership of pension funds for those employed in the private sector, which will come into force from 1 July 2026.
In concrete terms, from today anyone hired in the private sector will be automatically enrolled in a pension fund, without having to sign or choose anything. The mechanism is that of silent consent: if the worker does nothing within 60 days of hiring, that silence is considered a yes and his TFR begins to flow into the fund instead of remaining in the company. To avoid this you must expressly say so within those 60 days. It is the exact reversal of the previous logic, when joining the supplementary pension scheme required an active choice on the part of the worker.
What did the severance pay system provide before the reform and payment
The TFR is the sum of money that each employee receives at the end of his employment contract and which is set aside monthly by the employer. More precisely, it is a part of the salary that is not paid immediately, but set aside year after year and paid to the worker when the employment relationship ends, for any reason. In practice it is a sum that accrues over time: every year a portion equal to approximately one thirteenth of the salary is set aside. Over time, however, the TFR has taken on a function increasingly linked to the pension, becoming one of the main channels for financing the so-called complementary pension, i.e. the “second pillar” which complements the public pension.
Until now the rules were those established by the 2007 reform, which left the choice in the hands of the worker: keep the TFR in the company or move it to a pension fund. Those who decided nothing followed a “default” option that depended on the size of the company: in companies with fewer than 50 employees the severance pay remained set aside in the company, in larger ones it ended up in the fund managed by INPS.
A first form of silent consent had already been tested then, but much more limited than today’s: only for a short initial window – the first months from 2007 or from hiring – those who did not express their opinion saw their severance pay automatically paid into a collective pension fund. Those who instead chose to allocate it to a fund could add voluntary payments, which could be deducted from taxes up to 5,164.57 euros per year.
Where does it end and what contributions go into the pension fund
Now, as seen, membership of the pension fund will be automatic. But to which fund does the severance pay go? The rule is simple: to that provided for by the relevant collective agreement (national, territorial or company); if there is more than one in the company, the one with the most members is chosen; if there is no agreement, the TFR flows into a “reserve” fund – for metalworkers, for example, it is the Cometa fund.
Then there is a detail that should be kept in mind: with automatic membership, not only the TFR changes, but also the contributions paid by the employer and the worker himself, in the measures established by the contracts. The only exception is those who have a very low annual salary, below the social security threshold: in that case the additional contributions are not triggered automatically.
What changes for workers and businesses from 1 July 2026
COVIP intervened to define the practical rules of this passage and, with the resolution of 19 June 2026, provided the operational clarifications expected by employers, pension funds and consultants. For the individual worker, the rule of thumb is simple: to find himself enrolled in the fund he doesn’t have to do anything, just let the 60 days pass. Those who do not want to join must move within that deadline and communicate it, choosing to leave the severance pay in the company or direct it to a different fund. However, pay attention to the timing, because it is not reversible in the same way: once the severance pay has flowed into the fund – by choice or by silence – you can no longer go back and bring it back to the company; those who opt to keep him in the company within 60 days remain free to change their mind and join later.
The reform also affects the wallet and businesses. On a fiscal level, the annual ceiling of contributions that can be deducted from taxes rises from 5,164.57 to 5,300 euros, and the possibility of withdrawing the accumulated sums in a single solution is made more flexible. For companies, however, who is obliged to pay the TFR to the INPS fund changes.
Until now, the obligation was triggered on the basis of a sort of “snapshot” of the past – the average number of employees recorded in a specific year – a criterion which however left out many companies that grew to more than 50 employees in subsequent years. The new rule closes this gap, also involving those who reach that dimension at a later time. The transition will be gradual: in the two-year period 2026-2027 it will concern companies with at least 60 employees, while from 2032 the threshold will drop to 40.
Who does the reform involve and why is it needed
The technical report gives the measure of what is at stake: private employees number around 17 million (2024 data). Of these, around 6 million work in companies already obliged to pay into the INPS fund and, among them, around 3.3 million had chosen not to move the severance pay to supplementary pensions; the new ones affected by the change are estimated at 2.5 million, employed in companies now permanently above the threshold.
An enlargement that also serves to make ends meet: it helps to compensate for the lower income for the INPS linked to silent consent, the same financial node that blocked the proposal a year ago. Meanwhile, on the membership front, 2025 marked a record for the last ten years with 775 thousand new members. But participation remains weak precisely among those who the reform would like to reach: young people stop at 33.2%, women at 38.8%.
This is precisely the underlying purpose of the reform: to push workers to build a supplementary pension, in a context marked by fragmented careers and future public benefits destined to be less generous. Accompanying the news is also the new supplementary pension portal, created by the Ministry of Labor together with the National Youth Council and Mefop and online from 20 May. And while many were asking for a postponement, the president of Covip Mario Pepe ruled out extensions, announcing for the first year a collaborative and soft approach to the new obligations.
