Vouchers to be capped at 3,000 euros - panel (5)

(ANSA) - Rome, March 9 - The use of widely abused vouchers for occasional work is to be capped at 3,000 euros for households and companies and hirings are to be automatically triggered if firms exceed legal limits, according to a paper approved on a House panel Thursday. The paper said the nominal value of each voucher would be set at 10 euros for non-entrepreneurs and professionals and at 15 euros for entrepreneurs and professionals without staff. The government is trying to reform voucher schemes so as to avert a union-sponsored referendum that would ask Italians to scrap them. Suasanna Camusso of the big leftwing union that sponsored the referendum, CGIL, said the proposed changes were not "radical" enough to void the referendum.
    Vouchers were intended to be used just for occasional work but their use has expanded exponentially to pay for longer term and sometimes steady jobs.