At a glance
- Law 213/2023 (Budget Law 2024) has introduced special incentives to encourage the hiring of women and young people in the private sector.
- The incentives include reductions in social security contributions for employers hiring individuals under the age of 30, and disadvantaged women.
- A 100% social security contribution exemption has also been introduced for employers hiring women who are victims of violence.
Budget Law 2024 has introduced special incentives to encourage the hiring of women and young people. The first incentive is aimed at promoting the employment of individuals under the age of 30 and offers a 50% reduction in social security contributions (capped at EUR3,000 per year) for a maximum period of 36 months.
This exemption applies to private sector employers hiring individuals:
- on a permanent contract;
- who are under the age of 30; and
- who have never been previously employed under a permanent contract.
The incentive applies to new hires as well as when an employer is converting a fixed-term contract into a permanent one.
The second incentive involves a 50% reduction in social security contributions for private sector employers hiring disadvantaged women. Unlike the first initiative, there is no ceiling on the amount of the reduction, but there is a time constraint. The reduction period is 12 months for fixed-term contracts and 18 months for open-ended contracts.
Disadvantaged women are defined as:
- women over 50 who have been unemployed for more than 12 months;
- women who have been unemployed for the last six months residing in areas eligible for funding under the EU Structural Funds (or unemployed for the last 24 months regardless of the area of residence);
- women employed in professions or sectors characterised by gender inequality (ie with a strong prevalence of male employees) which exceeds the average male-female disparity in all economic sectors by at least 25%.
Finally, a social security contribution exemption has been introduced for private sector employers hiring women in the period from 2024 – 2026 who are victims of violence. Specifically, a 100% exemption from social security contributions, up to a maximum of EUR8,000 per year, is granted to employers hiring unemployed women benefiting from aid provided by the Fund for Victims of Violence. The contribution exemption applies for:
- 24 months for permanent contracts;
- 12 months for fixed-term contracts;
- 18 months where a fixed-term contract is converted into a permanent one.
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