When liquidity is needed, obtaining a personal loan is not always straightforward: guarantees required, variable interest rates, uncertainty over repayment timelines. However, there exists a tool specifically designed for employed workers that offers structured conditions and solid regulatory protection: the assignment of one-fifth of salary (cessione del quinto dello stipendio). Governed by D.P.R. n. 180/1950, this form of financing allows the loan to be repaid directly through the payslip, by means of an automatic deduction operated by the employer. Simple in form, yet complex in detail: here is everything worth knowing.
Who Can Access the Assignment of One-Fifth?
The assignment of one-fifth is a tool accessible to a broad range of employed workers, but with certain important distinctions tied to the type of employment contract.
- Permanent employees (open-ended contracts): may enter into amortisation plans for a maximum of ten years. This category enjoys the greatest flexibility, being able to plan repayments over long time horizons with lower monthly instalments.
- Fixed-term employees: workers on fixed-term contracts may also access this tool, but subject to a fundamental constraint: the duration of the repayment plan may not extend beyond the expiry date of the contract. In practice, the financing must be fully repaid within the natural term of the current employment relationship.
- Employees approaching retirement: those who are fewer than ten years away from acquiring entitlement to a pension are subject to a further limitation: the number of assignable monthly instalments may not exceed the number of months remaining until retirement.
These distinctions are not mere bureaucratic formalities: they reflect the legislature's intention to calibrate the financial risk against the actual employment stability of the worker, thereby preventing situations in which the repayment plan outlasts the employment relationship upon which it depends.
How Much Can Be Assigned? The One-Fifth Limit
The name of the instrument already reveals its central mechanism: the monthly deduction may not exceed one-fifth of the net salary. But how exactly is this amount calculated?
The reference figure is the payslip net of all mandatory deductions, namely:
- social security and welfare contributions payable by the employee;
- IRPEF income tax withholdings, including regional and municipal surcharges (addizionali regionali e comunali).
The monthly instalment is deducted across the twelve ordinary payslips of the year, excluding additional monthly payments such as the thirteenth (tredicesima) or fourteenth (quattordicesima) month's salary. Once the instalment is established, the employer bears the dual responsibility of deducting it from the employee's remuneration and transferring it directly to the lending institution by bank transfer.