New State-Regions Agreement on training: the transition period has ended

The State-Regions Agreement on occupational health and safety training, published in the Official Gazette, consolidates the previous 2011, 2012 and 2016 agreements into a single text, implementing Article 37 of Legislative Decree 81/08. The 12-month transition period ended on 24 May 2026: from that date, training courses must fully comply with the new framework on duration, content, delivery methods and who is authorised to provide them.

There is some inconsistency between the Agreement's own text and subsequent ministerial FAQs regarding the exact date it came into effect: we check the applicable start date for each individual company on a case-by-case basis before acting on training plans.

Why the update isn't just a cost

Reviewing company training plans to align them with the new Agreement involves a cost — courses, instructors, classroom or on-the-job hours — but in most cases this doesn't have to be borne by the company's own budget: it can be funded through joint interprofessional funds for continuing training, a resource many companies already have available without realising it.

What interprofessional funds are and how they work

Legal basis: Article 118 of Law No. 388 of 23 December 2000, and Article 25 of Law No. 845 of 21 December 1978. Every employer is required to pay INPS a contribution for involuntary unemployment insurance; of this, 0.30% of each employee's pay can be allocated, at the company's voluntary and cost-free choice, to a joint interprofessional fund instead of remaining with INPS. In summary, how the mechanism works:

• joining is free, voluntary and revocable at any time — it involves no additional cost, since that contribution is already due regardless;
• a company that doesn't join any fund simply continues paying that share to INPS, with no way to recover it for training;
• once a fund is chosen, the company submits its training plans (qualification pathways, regulatory updates, skills retraining) and obtains funding for eligible activities, either through its own company training account or by taking part in the fund's public calls (system account);
• the Ministry of Labour authorises the funds' operation and supervises their activity under Legislative Decree 150/2015; the operating rules were most recently updated by the ministerial guidelines adopted through Director's Decree No. 8 of 9 January 2026, which replace the previous circular 36/2003 and ANPAL circular 1/2018.

In practice, updating mandatory training to comply with the new State-Regions Agreement is exactly the kind of measure eligible for funding by an interprofessional fund, for companies that have joined one: we check the specific plan's eligibility with the relevant fund before submitting an application, since conditions and calls vary from fund to fund.

Official sources

• Italian Ministry of Labour and Social Policies — Funds for businesses for continuing training (Italian)
• Italian Ministry of Labour — Director's Decree No. 8 of 9 January 2026, Guidelines on joint interprofessional funds
• Legislation — Art. 118, Law No. 388 of 23 December 2000; Art. 25, Law No. 845 of 21 December 1978 — Normattiva.it (Italian)
• State-Regions Agreement on safety training — Official Gazette, implementing Art. 37 of Legislative Decree 81/08

Requirements, durations and deadlines under the new Agreement, as well as the eligibility criteria of individual interprofessional funds, should be verified case by case for each company's specific situation before proceeding. For a tailored update plan, contact us.