1- Introduction and definition of labor in the sports sector

There are many new regulations which, starting from 1 July 2023, affected amateur sports associations and clubs, athletes, coaches, instructors, technical directors , sports directors and athletic trainers. In fact, on the aforementioned date, the text of Legislative Decree no. 163/2022 containing provisions for the reorganization and reform of the rules on professional and amateur sports bodies, as well as sports work. Specifically, the text of the reform contemplates simplification and containment measures for social security contributions and taxes for professional services in amateur associations and clubs. This new legislation, structured in a text divided into thirty-one provisions, modifies the discipline envisaged in Legislative Decree no. 36/2021, which should have entered into force as early as 1 January 2023, entry into force which however was postponed to the first day of the current month due to the so-called "Milleproroghe Decree" of 2023. Furthermore, the adoption by the Council of Ministers held on 31 May 2023 of new corrective decrees of the reform should be underlined.

Before proceeding to a more detailed analysis of the regulatory changes introduced by the Reform that has just entered into force, it seems necessary to better clarify what is meant today by labor in the sports sector. Pursuant to art. 25, legislative decree 36/2021, in fact, a sports worker is considered "the athlete, coach, instructor, technical director, sports director, athletic trainer and race director who, without any distinction gender and regardless of the professional or amateur sector, carries out the sporting activity for a consideration outside of amateur services [...]".

With the introduction of the sport reform, collaborations can be of any type: sport work or volunteering.

2- What's new in terms of the employment relationship

The aforementioned definition of labor in the sports sector is modified by the newly introduced legislative decree, which precisely adds to the list already set out any other person who, by virtue of membership, performs the included tasks for a fee, on the basis of the technical regulations of the individual affiliating bodies, including those necessary for carrying out sporting activities, with the exclusion of administrative-management duties. On the other hand, subjects who provide services in the context of a profession whose professional qualification is issued outside the sporting system and for whose exercise they must be registered in special registers or lists kept by the respective orders are not considered sports workers professional.

On the other hand, as regards the methods of carrying out the relationship and the related applicable contractual types, the new regulation establishes that sports work can be carried out through subordinate contractual types, co.co.co. or even autonomously, both of an occasional nature and through the use of a VAT number; the aforementioned relationship arrangements will be accompanied by the related social security protections and all other ancillary coverages in the field of illness, injury, pregnancy, maternity, parenthood, involuntary unemployment, health and safety in the workplace. Sports clubs, both professional and amateur, will be able to stipulate apprenticeship contracts with young athletes, with the possibility only for professional sports clubs to stipulate the aforementioned contracts, of a professionalizing type, with subjects who have already completed their fifteenth year of age and that we are not 24 years old. It should be emphasized that in the professional sector the contractual type of main adoption appears to remain that relating to the subordinate employment relationship; on the other hand, as regards the amateur sector, the service "is presumed to be the subject of a self-employment contract in the form of co.co.co." if the employment relationship provides for no more than 18 hours per week (excluding participation in sporting events) and the performance is coordinated from a technical-sporting point of view according to the regulations of National Sports Federations, Associated Sports Disciplines and Sports Promotion Bodies.

As regards the time duration of the sports subordinate employment contract, it is established that the latter may contain the affixing of a final term not exceeding five years from the start date of the relationship and the succession of fixed-term contracts between the same subjects as well as the assignment of the contract before the expiry. This provision derogates a therefore to the general discipline, inhibiting the application of articles from 19 to 29 of Legislative Decree 81/2015.

Subjects assigned to tasks of an administrative and/or managerial nature will be classified as co.co.co. and, in terms of social security and taxation, the relative discipline foreseen for coordinated and continuous collaborations of a sporting type will apply.

Lastly, with regard to the mandatory communications that weigh on sporting associations in terms of employment relationships, these are understood to be fulfilled through the communication by the association or company receiving the sporting services to the telematic register of amateur sporting activities of the data necessary for the identification of the sports employment relationship. This communication, in the absence of which the sanctions envisaged by the general legislation are imposed, is made available to the Minister of Labor and Social Policies and to the cooperating bodies. In addition, entities operating in the sports sector are granted the possibility of fulfilling the maintenance of the single employment ledger electronically through the Register of amateur sports activities.

3- News on volunteering in sports fields

The art. 29 of Legislative Decree no. 36/2021 defines volunteers (or amateurs) as subjects "who make their time and skills available to promote sport, in a personal, spontaneous and free way, on a non-profit basis, not even indirectly, but exclusively for amateur purposes”, specifying in paragraph 2 of the same article that “the amateur sporting services referred to in paragraph 1 are not paid in any way not even by the beneficiary”. For these amateur sporting performances, prizes and occasional fees may be recognized in relation to the results obtained in sporting competitions, as well as travel allowances and reimbursements of expenses, even flat rates. Said fees are therefore excluded from income for an amount not exceeding 10,000 euros in the tax year, just as it excludes reimbursements of documented expenses for food, lodging and travel from the formation of the recipient's income.

The new regulations provide that the expenses incurred by the volunteer can be reimbursed by issuing a self-certification provided that the amount of 150 Euros per month is not exceeded; however, there is a need for the competent corporate body to decide on the types of expenses and voluntary activities for which the aforementioned reimbursement method is permitted. The new legislation also contemplates the possibility for public administration employees to provide voluntary work in amateur sports companies and associations, national sports federations, associated sports disciplines, meritorious associations and sports promotion bodies, also Paralympic, CONI, CIP and the company Sport e salute S.p.a., giving advance notice to the relevant administration.

4- News on social security and insurance

The contribution rate for amateurs holding coordinated and continuous collaboration contracts and for amateurs who perform autonomous services is set at 25%. In both cases, the additional rates provided for those enrolled in the separate INPS management to cover sickness, maternity and unemployment are applied. The regulation also establishes the application of social security contributions only for the part exceeding the amount of 5,000 euros of the remuneration and a 50% reduction of the social security taxable amount until 31 December 2027.

This is not a de-contribution but a reduction of the tax base and consequently of the related pension benefits, which will be recognized only for the amounts actually paid. The reduction does not concern the additional rates in force for protection relating to maternity, family allowances, hospital stay, sickness and parental leave, unemployment.

Turning to the issue relating to the insurance protection of athletes, subordinate sports workers and co.co.co, both in professionalism and in amateurism, must be insured against accidents at work and occupational diseases. The same provision applies to subjects operating on a voluntary basis.

author: Dott. Antonino Guarino