According to the United Sections of the Supreme Court of Cassation (Judgment No. 6229/2024, 07.03.2024), the severance incentive, paid to the employee in connection with the termination of employment, is not comparable to the severance allowance, which, on the other hand, like the divorce allowance, meets the same welfare and equalization-compensatory purposes and is also determined in proportion to the duration of the employment relationship and the amount of salary paid, qualifying as a deferred portion of salary.

The Supreme Court, after extensively examining the institution and identifying its nature and characteristics, deduces that the severance incentive, since it is not related to the increase in assets produced, during the course of the relationship, by the work of the spouse who benefited from the indirect contribution of the other, is unrelated to the aforementioned notion of severance pay, not operating, unlike the latter, as deferred compensation.

In conclusion, resolving previous jurisprudential contrasts, the Court finds that the severance incentive cannot be included among the severance payments that fall within the scope of Art. 12-bis of L. no. 898/1970.