SERVICES
Pensions and contributions
Early retirement for Sicilian miners: are contributions due even if time-barred? The Supreme Court clarifies the limits of automatic entitlement
Supreme Court, Labour Section
A former worker in the Sicilian mining sector, already receiving a seniority pension, brought an action against the regional company that had managed the closure of the mines, seeking recalculation of the social-security contributions due to INPS in relation to the early-retirement allowance actually paid. The trial court upheld the claim, but the Court of Appeal rejected it, considering that a previous settlement amounted to a waiver of claims.
In an earlier ruling in 2020, the Supreme Court clarified that pension rights arising from the cessation of mining activities are not at the worker’s disposal and therefore cannot be validly waived. After the case was resumed, however, the Court of Appeal again rejected the claim on the grounds that the contributions were time-barred.
The Supreme Court confirmed this outcome: the principle of automatic entitlement to social-security benefits—which protects workers even where the employer fails to pay contributions—is not absolute and is expressly limited by the rules governing limitation periods. In particular, for contributions due after the entry into force of Law No. 335/1995, the five-year limitation period applies; a worker’s complaint does not extend this period.
The decision reiterates that, even where the employer is a public entity or a regionally controlled company, the contribution obligation remains subject to statutory limitation periods and cannot be reopened once those periods have expired.